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Tuesday, January 10, 2018

Ann Arbor, Michigan The Statement

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CAMPUS LIFE

Michigan ZBT charter revoked by nationals BRIAN KOSASIH/Daily

LSA sophomore Izzy Baer discusses plans to implement a mentorship program in a CSG meeting at the Union Tuesday.

CSG talks veto of student funding resolution, INNOVATE challenge Sarkar sides with spirit of the bill, hopes to reach a more comprehensive solution ABBY TAKAS

Daily Staff Reporter

The University Central Student Government convened for the first meeting of the semester on Tuesday evening to discuss the veto of the student

funding resolution from last semester and the upcoming INNOVATE competition. CSG President Anushka Sarkar reiterated her veto of the A.R. 7-026 resolution on Dec. 15 that proposed the University compensate CSG members for their time and their work.

“I support the spirit of the resolution and I believe in financial support in compensation for just labor as we and other student governments do, but I take issue with some of the specifics of how the resolution would actually impact students in

CSG and the organization’s integrity,” she said. Sarkar emphasized approving the resolution would publicize the socioeconomic status of the individual CSG representatives. Additionally, she noted receiving pay from an external See FUNDING, Page 3A

Official statement asserts Eta chapter violated Fraternity policies, hazing RHEA CHEETI

Daly Staff Reporter

Zeta Beta Tau’s International Headquarters voted to remove recognition of the University of Michigan’s Eta chapter on Tuesday. According to an official statement from the organization, ZBT staff, along with the University’s Office of Greek Life and Division for Student Life, conducted an extensive membership review to determine the future of the chapter. “Through the course of this investigation it became clear that members were violating various Fraternity policies,

Ambassador Daniel Fried discusses U-M group invents aid Western strategy in Central Europe

including those which prohibit hazing,” the statement read. ZBT International leadership ended the pledging process in 1989 in an effort to prevent hazing. The actions of the brothers of the Colony at the University of Michigan violated our policies and acted in ways antithetical to our mission and values,” the statement read. “Health and safety is a top priority of Zeta Beta Tau, and we are committed to facilitating a positive fraternity experience.” This decision follows the recent reinstatement of social activities by the Interfraternity Council See WITHDRAWN, Page 3A

RESEARCH

BUSINESS

to diminish ear ringing

Cribspot to shutdown within the next year

Tinnitus, condition of ringing inside the ear affects 15% of the U.S. REMY FARKAS

Daily Staff Reporter

A University research team has created a device to combat tinnitus, a condition that causes ringing in the ears, which affects 15 percent of Americans and is caused by nerve activity in the brain. According to the Center for Disease Control,tinnitus leaves two million people unable to work and is the most common cause of service-connected disability among veterans. While the condition has no cure, the device helps improve the quality of life for those who suffer from it. Tinnitus is often a result of nerve damage from things such as a loud concert or a gunshot, according to Medical School Prof. Susan Shore, who led the research team. Shore and her team identified a way in which touch and sound can relieve the occurrence of ringing. “Combining the stimulation of the somatosens with the auditory systems … showed that a particular combination of sound and the somatosensory stimulation can actually See TINNITUS, Page 3A

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Fried outlines “Five Points” to guide the future of American diplomacy SHANNON ORS

Daily Staff Reporter

and Public Policy Prof. Melvyn Levitsky. The lecture opened with Fried’s admiration for the sustained success of American foreign policy, while also noting the potential risk of leaving the Russian government unchecked. “Under American leadership, the West enjoyed its longest period of general peace since Roman times, an unprecedented prosperity in democracy,” he said. “Security challenges and

attempted subversion from Russia is not new. What is alarming, and dismaying are the doubts and divisions within the West. A questioning of our own model, of our own values.” Fried’s lecture continued to detail the events of the latter half of the 20th century and the current challenges both Central European countries and the United States face including economic stress, political stagnation, and questions of national identity. Through

a historical lens, which Fried credited to his undergraduate days at Cornell majoring in history, he laced historical strife with its modern consequences. “As Brexit, the Front Nationale, and other right-wing movements demonstrate, the prevailing post-national political culture in Western Europe is not always as popular as people think inside the Brussels beltway and it does not speak for the whole nation,” he See AMBASSADOR, Page 3A

On Tuesday evening in the University’s Weiser Hall, 100 years and one day since President Woodrow Wilson delivered his famous “Fourteen Points” speech, used to negotiate peace talks to end Word War I, Ambassador Daniel Fried delivered his own five points outlining how the United States should address the challenges of promoting Western strategy in Central Europe. Regent Ron Weiser, R, introduced Ambassador Fried to the podium as he recounted their work together when Ambassador Fried was the head of the National Security Council for Europe and Eurasia in 2001. Weiser emphasized the impact Fried has had on international affairs over his forty year career in foreign service. “This man has had enormous influence on the shape of Europe as we see it today,” he said. “A Europe whole and free, mostly whole and mostly free, and that is a product of much of the work he did for many many years.” Today, Fried is a fellow at the Atlantic Council, an organization that works to address global challenges by helping to inform strategy among international leaders. Fried’s lecture was attended by about fifty people ranging from undergraduate students with a developing interest in HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily policy to several of Fried’s former Daniel Fried, former Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and United States Ambassador to Poland, discusses past colleagues including Weiser and present political challenges in Europe at Weiser Hall Tuesday.

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Ex-employee says the company began to split in differing directions RUCHIRA ANKIREDDYGARI For the Daily

Cribspot, an Ann-Arbor based real-estate start-up that was founded by three University students, is slated to close parts of their Ann Arbor office this year, according to local landlords. As finding housing can be a difficult process for all college students — taking into account several different factors including cost, location and the conditions of the actual apartment itself — this closure has been received with mixed reactions. Over the years, Cribspot has expanded from Ann Arbor to college towns across the country, including Lansing and Chicago. The company has already begun the process of shifting management at their properties. A Cribspot spokesperson was unable to comment at time of publication. A current Cribspot tenant, LSA sophomore Sydney Bagnall, said she has yet to hear from Cribspot with regard to their closing. Bagnall explained she chose to use Cribspot because See CRIBSPOT, Page 3A

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

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News

2A — Wednesday, January 10, 2018

TUESDAY: On The Daily

MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers

WEDNESDAY: This Week in History

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THURSDAY: Twitter Talk

FRIDAY: Behind the Story

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY: OLD MAIN HOSPITAL WALLS COME DOWN Direction of Plant Extension and director of the demolition project. This includes removal of asbestos and the basement, restoration of the site, and replacement of the grass. The University’s Board of Regents decided in January of 1987 that it would be more cost-efficient to demolish the old building than to spend the estimated $3.2 million to maintain it. Since then, “Old Main” has slowly been readied for its demolition days. Although it was originally slated for demolition by explosives, O’Rourke Construction Company of Cinncinnati is demolishing it with a series of wrecking ball strikes in an attempt to save

Jan 11, 1989 By Dan Godson Daily Staff Reporter When an eight-ton demolition ball tore into the former Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University’s Old Main Hospital complex yesterday, it symbolically started the end of an era. The 63-year old building has been doomed for years, since the University began planning for its eventual replacement. The estimated cost for the demolition project— which is expected to be completed in July— is in excess of $8 million, said Paul Spradlin, University

money. Most time consuming was the removal of asbestos from the building’s structure. “You can’t demolish (the building) until the asbestos is removed,” Spralin said. The asbestos removal took several months because it was in the “insulation pipes, floor tiles, doors, and just about everything,” Spradlin said. After the new University Hospital was opened in 1986, the 7500,000 square-foot Old Main building was vacated. Nothing is scheduled to fill the site after it is cleared, but the “land will be available for construction in the future,” said Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor). JESSICA GREENE/ Former Daily Photographer

ON THE DAILY: FAAWN FIRES BACK SHANNON ORS

Daily Staff Reporter

Deer cull opponents fired back at City Council members Monday night armed with LED-clad posters spelling “#SAVE THE DEER.” The protest was staged on Huron Street outside Ann Arbor City Hall coinciding with the first City Council meeting of 2018. Approximately 16 people attended the protest organized by Friends of Ann Arbor

Wildlife and Nature. Despite the f lashiness, FAAWN members viewed the protest as a somber occasion, marking the start of the threeweek deer cull season. They described the event as a “vigil.” The deer cull was established by the city of Ann Arbor in 2016 to manage local deer populations. This year the city will devote $35,940 of budget to hire sharpshooters from White Buffalo Inc. who are permitted to kill a maximum of 250 deer. The cull permit is issued by the

Michigan Department of Natural Resources. FAAWN member Lorraine Shapiro shared her perspective regarding the deer cull with council members. “This is the day that I and others have been outside, hoping to see our deer — and we know our deer by how they look — one last time before they are killed,” Shapiro said to MLive. “This is the day that I wish I did not live in Ann Arbor. And this is the day you should not be very proud of yourself for your rush to kill

and your disregard of public safety” One of the chief concerns expressed by FAAWN members is the safety of those whose property is close to one of the designated shooting zones. According to MLive, council members did not respond to the protesters, but some supporters driving by the demonstration participated by honking their horns.

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Progress Michigan to investigate Lt. Gov Calley MAEVE O’BRIEN Daily Staff Reporter

With Michigan’s gubernatorial election looming ahead, Progress Michigan, a Lansing-based progressive organization that works to hold government officials accountable, is calling on Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette to investigate Lt. Gov. Brian Calley’s absences from the state Senate in 2013 and 2014. In his state constitutional role as president of the state Senate, Calley missed 61 of 177 session days to travel to Harvard University one day a week to pursue a master’s

degree in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Calley said he was paying for the transportation and education himself, although Progress Michigan says it is now questioning whether he used public funds to pay for these expenses. Progress Michigan is also asking Schuette to investigate if Calley ever paid the state back for missing a third of Senate session days. In a recent press release, Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, says it is essential to know if Calley put in the proper amount of work for taxpayers. “Bill Schuette has the power

to get to the truth of the matter and let us know if Calley was serving himself instead of working for the people of Michigan and if he ever paid back the state for hours he was off when he should have been working for taxpayers,” she said. Though the story of Calley’s absences broke in 2014, Schuette never questioned Calley for his absences, and they ran on the same ticket in the 2014 gubernatorial race. Now Calley is running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination against Schuette and is joining Democrats in publicly criticizing Schuette for having political staffers on the state payroll.

Calley is calling on Schuette to take four “constituent relations” staffers off of the state payroll, and Progress Michigan is separately arguing that Schuette is violating U.S. law. “Forcing taxpayers to subsidize any officeholder’s political ambition is a clear and disturbing breach of the public’s trust,” Calley said in a public statement. “Attorney General Schuette should immediately move the gubernatorial campaign field staff exposed in the story off the government payroll and refund the state for all taxpayer funds that were misspent on political purposes.”

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‘U’ opens second Clinical Simulation Center the amount of professionals mannequins respond to the guide teams to improve and students to train in a different medical interventions communication, efficiency Daily Staff Reporter simulation environment. that may be practiced by those and overall performance,” The University has opened The second Clinical training there. The technology Cooke said. “Intentional and its second Clinical Simulation Simulation Center is equipped allows professionals to train well-designed practice leads to Center, a 7,500-square-foot with state-of-the-art for real-life scenarios in a low- better outcomes.” space located in Medical technology, such as various risk environment. Nursing junior Rachel Sabin Science Building II. The adult and child mannequins At the new facility, also believes in the power of new center goes beyond the which have the ability to talk, computer-based simulation simulation learning. original, facility, cry, breathe and have full http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ lessons guide students, “The opportunity to learn Sudoku Syndication smaller allowing more than double heart and lung sounds. These physicians and nurses from your mistakes is priceless through practice exams in the nursing field,” Sabin said. and material. There are “Working through realistic five inpatient rooms clinical scenarios side-by-side that imitate those in the with my instructor has taught University Hospital, C.S. me to think critically and Mott Children’s Hospital practice the skills that I learn MEDIUM and Von Voigtlander in lecture.” Women’s Hospital. Such The School of Nursing rooms create a realistic as a whole has shown its environment, in efforts to commitment to simulation mimic real life scenarios learning, opening a new as closely as possible. building in the fall of 2015 Dr. James Cooke is an that includes six simulation associate professor of rooms. This allows students learning health sciences to practice real-life situations and family medicine they may encounter while and the executive working with patients. director of the Clinical Sabin is currently in her Simulation Center. He obstetrics rotation, during is a firm believer in the which she spends six hours effectiveness of simulation each week in the Nursing learning. In a press School’s simulation center. release, he highlighted “I feel so much more how simulation learning confident when I am allows interdisciplinary interacting with ‘real’ patients teams to work together, at the hospital,” Sabin said. as well as provide and “The new simulation center receive valuable feedback. will allow even more students “Debriefing allows to refine their skills and learners to ref lect on and ultimately improve patient © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. WARMING UP. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com discuss their medical safety.” decisions and allows expert facilitators to MAEVE O’BRIEN

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The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid.

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AMBASSADOR From Page 1A

said. “All of this took place against a backdrop of massive social and economic transformation resulting from free-market reforms.” Fried ended his lecture with a succinct five points — which he admitted were much easier to envision than to put into action. Broadly outlined, the points included the need for the United States to “show up” and present strategy, establish a message nuanced with sensitivity, defend Central Europeans against Russia’s offensive tactics, notify governments when they are risking democratic values and maintain the position as a leader of the free world. Following the lecture, Fried engaged with the audience during a 40-minute question and answer session. One audience member asked Fried the meaning of American leadership and

FUNDING From Page 1A

source could inf luence internal decisions; as a solution, Sarkar mentionedshe is planning on working with the Office of Student Life to reach a just resolution, possibly by offering free tuition to serving executive members rather than by compensating all individual CSG members. CSG also emphasized their launch of INNOVATE, the very first university-wide public service pitch competition, and discussed how to publicize the event and reach a larger audience. LSA senior Cassie Fields, CSG communications director, explained how students will be given the opportunity to work with mentors on their project ideas in an email sent to The Daily. “The upcoming public service pitch competition, INNOVATE, creates opportunities for students to further their efforts in public service, entrepreneurship,

WITHDRAWN From Page 1A following a two month long selfimposed ban. The committee voted to suspend all social events following multiple hazing and sexual assault allegations involving fraternity brothers. Twenty-seven fraternities, including ZBT, were given specific action plans in order to regain their social privileges. A statement obtained by The Daily, on behalf of the Michigan chapter of ZBT, confirms the members were given an action plan and were willing to work with the IFC to make necessary changes. The revoking of their official charter came as a complete surprise to chapter. “We were given sanctions and a rehabilitation plan by the normal IFC process and the university, we were fully willing to abide by those sanctions, then were blindsided

CRIBSPOT From Page 1A

she wasn’t planning to come back in the fall and at the last minute “they were all (she) had to choose from.” Business alum Liz Herrick described her chaotic experiences with Cribspot. She said there was a lack of communication with staff, the house was not cleaned at move-in and she had to threaten litigation multiple times. “I’m not surprised they’re closing. They just couldn’t manage what they took on,” she said. The timing of the closing of Cribspot came as a shock to

how the phrase is embodied in international affairs. “American leadership means having our power in the window so everyone can see it, but not talking about that — talking about our vision of the world,” Fried responded. Engineer junior Neil Karr said he appreciated the novelty of how Fried defined American leadership. “It was kind of reassuring to hear that there is a purpose to our leadership and to our values and that it is okay to have strong belief in your values if you think they are right,” he said. Public Policy senior Gabriel Lerner was also in attendance and said Fried’s analysis of a successful democracy resonated with him. “I think the point that he closed with that the successes of democracies in Poland are shared between liberal and conservative governments, sort of democracy is not of a party, but it is of a constitution, and a system, and a history,” Lerner said. “I thought that that was really compelling.”

and other issues they are passionate about,” Fields wrote. “Students will be given the chance to network with other students to form teams, listen to speakers, and receive guidance from mentors on their proposed ideas. Following multiple rounds of judging, the top teams will be awarded funding from CSG, the Center for Entrepreneurship, and University of Michigan Library to continue their work.” Many representatives were elected to new positions, including LSA sophomore Isabel Baer and LSA freshman Pragya Thakur, Baer to vice speaker of the Assembly and Thakur to chair of academic affairs commission. Baer emphasized how her experience in CSG has encouraged her to speak up and feel confident in voicing her opinions, and spoke of her plans to implement a mentorship program within CSG to promote new member’s mental health and confidence, in her position as Vice Speaker of the Assembly. Thakur said plans to implement LSA’s race and

News

Wednesday, January 10, 2018 — 3A

SNOW NO SNOW

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily Warmer weather melts student-made snowmen at the Diag on Tuesday.

ethnicity requirement across all schools, and aims to make calculators accessible for students to rent from the library as her position as chair of academic affairs commission. LSA senior Sujay Shetty, chief of staff to the president and Engineering senior AJ Ashman, chief of staff to the vice president, announced their resignation due to conf lict of interest in other organizations, effective Jan. 15. Both ref lected on their time and positive experience at CSG, and Ashman emphasized the importance of the organization. “The potential to bring about change on this campus is not equal to anywhere else besides this room,” he said. CSG aims to implement change this semester by reaching out to larger audiences through social media strategies such as Facebook networking, and by hosting office hours to meet with constituents and improve their communication and transparency with their operations.

depress the firing of these neurons,” Shore said. The researchers identified the intervals of sound and orders of touch that caused the depression of the firing nerves. They took that information and used it to stimulate the same nerves on a guinea pig for 20 minutes per day for 25 days. The results showed a reduction in the firing of the cells, thus reducing the tinnitus in the animals. “We use guinea pigs because they are a good model for auditory research because their … peripheral auditory system is similar to humans,” Shore said. “Also their brains are easy to access for recordings.” After seeing its success in guinea pigs, scientists took the experiment to humans, creating a non-invasive way to stimulate human auditory nerves for 30 minutes per day. In the 20-person trial, each subject was given a box with

wires attaching electrodes that connect to the face or neck and an earphone. In order for the device to work, scientists must program it to fit the subject’s unique tinnitus patterns and pitch. Inaccuracy in the device could worsen the subject’s tinnitus. The success of this trial provides insight into the science of the brain and auditory system.The hope is that this research can be used to help others with auditory disorders. The research team received funding in the fall from the National Institutes of Health for a larger 50-subject study. Following the larger trial, the team plans to commercialize the product, which it already has patented. “This tells us a lot about how the circuitry in the brain changes after noise damage and tells us how the auditory system works in general, so that can end up helping other kinds of hearing disorders as well,” Shore said. But according to a Gizmodo article about the device, it has its limitations. Following the end of the trial, much of the tinnitus returned in subjects.

The study also only worked with those with a specific form of tinnitus, so this means that the device might not work for 20 percent to 40 percent of its sufferers. “The subjects’ tinnitus largely returned a week after they stopped using the device, even for the two people who reported losing it completely,” according to the Gizmodo article. Business sophomore Jordan Stanton often spends time around loud music as a student DJ at WCBN radio station and member of the Michigan Electronic Music Collective, and he fears the effects of tinnitus. “I was basically told by a close friend with tinnitus who played the violin that I should be very careful about listening to loud music consistently,” Stanton said. “I recently decided to purchase some hearing-protecting earbuds to use during DJ sets and concerts to avoid tinnitus onset.”

TINNITUS From Page 1A

by this decision from ZBT national,” the statement read. “The reasoning we were given was minimal, and was certainly a culmination of unreasonable ongoing frustration between national and us.” The IFC worked with the Office of Greek Life to review fraternity guidelines for social events and develop a reformation process. Some changes include the removal of hard alcohol from IFC events and limiting social activities to specific days of the week. University spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen confirmed in an email correspondence the decision to revoke the national was made by ZBT’s headquarters. “Yes, the university is aware of the situation and the Dean of Students office is working with the students,” Broekhuizen wrote. ZBT’s Eta chapter was shut down in 2012 following a claim from the fraternity headquarters that the

University chapter had become an “unsafe environment.” An anonymous member at the time told The Daily these claims were not substantiated. ZBT was removed from the IFC in 2006, but remained on campus as an official chapter of ZBT International. The chapter had been expelled for violating their one-year suspension by recruiting new members. ZBT had also been suspended once before in 2000 for a hazing incident that resulted in a pledge being burned by bleach. According to the chapter’s Facebook page the University’s Eta chapter was “re-colonized” in 2016. The chapter was an official member of the University’s Interfraternal Council inducting its first pledge class in February 2016. between airports and hotels as well as hotel to hotel in Las Vegas and San Francisco. Through a mobile app, users can arrange for a worker to pick up their luggage at a designated time –– two pieces of luggage

pieces cost $35, and additional items are $10 each. The company will debut at CES to introduce itself to the consumer market. Last year, more than 184,000 people attended and 4,000 companies had exhibits –– Eu said he would use it to gauge consumer interests. “We see it as an opportunity because these people traveled there...they bring stuff there and they want everything to be productive,” Eu said. “With 180,000 people coming, we are trying to watch out for interests of the market share.” In an attempt to gain customers from an obvious base, the company will also offer a 50% off code to University of Michigan students and alumni for the first three months of usage. Anne Perigo, the Associate Director for the Zell Lurie Institute at the Ross School of Business, has advised Eu on his entrepreneurial journey since his first year

at the University. She also mentored the development of Carrycott, another company Eu co-founded. Carrycott offers strollers designed to be easily carried with one hand and cooling technology to prevent children from being hot or uncomfortable while in the stroller. In an email to The Daily, Perigo described her excitement about Eu’s new endeavor. “Benjamin is a great role model to other entrepreneurially-minded students at Michigan,” Perigo wrote. “He is willing to put in the hard work necessary to be successful and smart enough to really listen (to potential customers, coaches, advisors, judges) to know when to pivot or move on to a different idea/ venture. I look forward to seeing his success as a serial entrepreneur.” While he anticipates difficulty with attending school and managing his company, Eu remains optimistic of his ability

to balance his time between the two because of the way he and Yong will manage the company. “I will mainly be managing the technological and backend side of the operations while my co-founder will be in the state managing the drivers and operations,” Eu said. “That’s helpful for us because we are able to connect with the developers and develop the product while staying in school.” LSA freshman Kate Sherwin welcomes the idea of the company. While she is not a business traveler, she resides out-of-state and would find the service helpful for moving in and out of campus. “I think that a lot of people coming off airports don’t really want to deal with a lot of luggage,” Sherwin said. “Especially for me when I was moving into school, my family had to carry four or five suitcases...especially for students, it’s a great product and a great company.”

those in the housing business. In an email interview, Jon Keller, president of J. Keller Properties, said he would have expected the company to close at a different time. “The closing of cribspot came as a surprise to us at J Keller Properties,” he wrote. “I expected this to come during a softening of the rental marketnot at its peak.” Furthermore, he said relatively little is known about the cause of Cribspot closing. “I don’t know if it was a calculated closure or if the ‘rent guarantee’ was a cause,” he said. According to Cribspot’s website, their “rent guaruntee” ensures landlords of their properties will recieve 100 percent of the rent they charge, regardless of whether the

property has tennants. “You’ll receive the rent you want, no matter what, even if we struggle to find tennants or if our tennants stop paying,” their website states. ‘‘It’s your ensurance policy against vacancies.” While the reasons for Cribspot’s closing remain unknown, Keller speculated as to what factors may have led to the closing of the company — one such factor being its management model. “We had a feeling the Cribspot model was not sustainable based on the guarantees they made and rates they charged,” Keller said. An ex-employee of Cribspot, who requested to remain anonymous, explained a similar theory behind Cribspot’s closing. “Essentially what happened

— to the best of my knowledge — is that the company was kind of going in two different directions, one more tech oriented and the other more concerned with the physical business of Ann Arbor housing management,” he said. “With this in mind it was starting to look less feasible for the latter to continue functioning if the company was to follow these two separate paths.” Keller affirmed this point, adding limited experience may also have played a role in the difficulties faced by Cribspot. “I really liked the founders and the disruption they caused, but cribspot was a tech company first- with very limited experience in property management,” he said. Nick Hume, a property owner, agreed with this statement,

saying that a lack of property management knowledge in Cribspot contributed to the difficulties his tenants

offers many hurdles for newcomers to overcome, and those who have been in the market for a long time, such as Keller, believe it is difficult to stand out in the industry of housing management. “With that limited brokerage experience and a lack of supporting maintenance teams, it was certainly an uphill battle for them in a unusually tough college market,” Keller said. The anonymous employee agreed. “My opinion is that there was a lot of young energy in the office, a lot of millennials, and a lot of bright futures, although I somehow doubt that many of us will make our names in the housing management industry,” the employee said.

I’m not surprised they’re closing. They just couldn’t manage what they took on.

complained of. “They needed experience,” he said. The house-leasing market

Opinion

4A — Wednesday, January 10, 2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

RISHABH KEWALRAMANI | COLUMN Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

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

ERIK NESLER | COLUMN

Realise the benefits of diverse recruiting

e all know, and dread, the Fall Career Expo put on by the University of Michigan’s Career Center. The ballroom in the Michigan Union is always packed with nervous college students trying to get an internship or a full-time position at one of the 180 companies that recruit on campus. This year, I noticed that many recruiters trumpeted their company’s diverse and inclusive workplace. Awards from publications like DiversityInc as well as the Human Rights Campaign were proudly displayed at various booths, and recruiters were more than willing to speak about the gender mix at their firm and how it compared to specific competitors. Beside displaying awards and openly discussing their efforts to promote diversity, many organizations have beg un to specifically recruit diverse talent. Through accelerated internship recruitment (that can start as early as freshman year) and mentorship programs, companies are making an effort to hire more women, more racial minorities and more LGBT individuals directly from universities. As I passed through the dozens of firms advertising these programs, I wondered whether or not they were just for show. I thought that maybe they were a way to make the company more appealing to undergraduates. Trumpeting their firm’s diversity and inclusiveness would allow recruiters to rein in the very best talent that the University of Michigan has to offer, as everyone ideally wants to work in an inclusive and supportive workplace. I would later find out that there is actually a compelling business case for diversity. In one of my courses on human behavior, I learned that diversity in groups promotes heightened organizational performance and success. Academics emphasize the enhanced creativity and originality groups are able to achieve with more diverse members.

When you put people together with varying backgrounds and experiences, the performance of the team surpasses that of a team with members of relatively similar backgrounds. Diverse teams simply have more tools at their disposal to solve the problems the organization faces. Better performing teams yield a

Diverse teams simply have more tools at their disposal to solve the problems that the organization faces better performing company. LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company recently stated in their Women in the Workplace 2017 report that “diversity leads to stronger business results.” With this, it’s clear to see why companies are tirelessly recruiting more women, along with other underrepresented identities. After realizing that diversity promotes a certain competitive advantage, organizations have started to set “gender targets” along with various “minority targets.” These targets call for a specific percentage of women or minorities to work at certain levels within the firm, whether it is at the entry-level or in the C-suite. The Women in the Workplace report also discussed how companies who use these targets have faced staunch disapproval from employees, largely white men, who believe that merit-based hiring and promotion practices should be the norm. Despite their objections, companies have learned to successfully implement these targets (with employee approval) by clearly making a compelling case for diversity to all employees. The promotion of diversity and inclusion in organizations serves another purpose: Companies seek

to ensure that new recruits, particularly women and underrepresented minorities, feel safe and respected in the workplace. In the wake of the most recent election and the onslaught of sexual assault allegations from the “Weinstein Effect,” students are looking to work in inclusive environments, where no single identity dominates. After learning why more and more companies are recruiting diverse talent, it became clear my initial assumption— that recruiting diverse talent was merely a marketing technique—couldn’t be further from the truth. The accelerated internship recruitment and mentorship programs were, in fact, benefiting companies and employees alike. They were carefully thought out and strategically implemented to better their firms and the environment of the people they hire. Similar to how affirmative action brings different perspectives to universities, diversity-based recruitment programs help bring different perspectives to organizations. These different perspectives are imperative for companies to compete and to remain relevant in the ever-changing marketplace. Promoting diversity and inclusivity in organizations isn’t just the right thing to do; it may also be the best way to foster success. Students that are ineligible to take advantage of these programs may feel that they are unfair and borderline discriminatory, but I believe that they serve a distinct business purpose. I also believe this trend of recruiting diverse talent can teach everyone an important lesson. Companies are recruiting diverse talent because they are looking for unique candidates — candidates with different perspectives. Anybody, regardless of their gender or race, can differentiate themselves by possessing a unique set of skills and experiences and thus, possessing a different perspective. Erik Nesler can be reached at egnesler@umich.edu.

JOIN OUR EDITORIAL BOARD Our Editorial Board meets Mondays and Wednesdays 7:15-8:45 PM at our newsroom at 420 Maynard Street. All are welcome to come discuss national, state and campus affairs. MICHELLE SHENG | CONTACT MICHELLE AT SHENGMI@UMICH.EDU

My Democratic party

don’t blame my parents. I don’t look down upon them for their apathy. I definitely don’t consider them to be ignorant or anything less than intelligent. They were new to this country, to the lang uage, to the quirks and they had a family to feed. I don’t blame them for not knowing the first thing about American politics. Consequently, I got to fig ure out who I was politically by myself. My party identity wasn’t handed down like the necklace that’s given to new brides generation after generation in my family. My political leanings were organic because even as an eight-year-old kid, I was attracted to the g uiding message of one of the parties more than the other. Yes, you did, in fact, read that correctly — I was eight years old when I first got involved in American politics. I made “John Kerry for President” buttons at an event at my school. What attracted me then and continues to drive my liberalism to this day was the inclusivity of that campaign’s rhetoric. As a kid whose first lang uage wasn’t English and who was often picked on for bringing Indian food for lunch, all I wanted was to fit in. As I grew up, I felt that the Democratic Party granted that wish — I felt like I could belong. But, when I look at my party today, I can’t help but think if I was an eight-year-old in 2018, would I be making buttons for the Democratic Party? At the most inopportune time, it seems my party — the party I’ve worked for, donated to, even worshipped

to some extent — has decided that they want to follow a path that closes doors rather than opens them. Even a cursory glance at the liberal corners of social media shows a civil war within the party. When I worked for the Democratic National Convention Committee in the summer of 2016, one of the g uiding themes of the whole experience was that what made it so hard to put on a Democratic convention, as opposed to a Republican one, was the diversity in the party. From unions to minority and ethnic groups, the convention was supposed to be a celebration of the inclusivity that drew this kid looking to belong in the first place. But that utopia began to whittle away right in front of my eyes as on each night of the convention, different factions of the party decided to voice their displeasure. I sensed then that my party was at a tipping point. While this was going on, the Republican Party adopted one of their least inclusive platforms yet, promising walls and bans while helping only a select few at the top of the economic ladder. I went to high school in one of the most conservative townships in my state; in a 2008 mock election at my middle school, John McCain won 75 percent of the vote. I have friends who hold real conservative principles and whose families have voted exclusively Republican for generation upon generation. These people understand that the Republican Party is no longer the conservative party they grew up attracted to. They are honestly trying to find it

within themselves to be the first in their families to cast ballots for Democrats, only to be told by people on Twitter and on their campuses that we don’t want their membership and they are not progressive enough to be Democrats. I don’t know when exactly it happened, but somewhere along the way if you wanted to be a real Democrat it wasn’t enough to want a public option for health insurance or to make college more affordable; suddenly, if you didn’t believe in fullblown single payer or free college for everyone, your liberal card was taken from you. Furthermore, if you are a person of faith who believes that life starts at conception, then you can forget about it. We don’t want you. As a result, my friends, who were looking to belong just as I once did, were destined to a life as political nomads. In a time when one party has closed its doors and actively passes legislation that either hurts the majority or only helps the minority, my party should have stood up. My party should have said enough is enough. They should exclaim, “it doesn’t matter whether you’re Black or white, rich or poor, young, old, if you’re liberal or conservative or somewhere in between, you can be a member of this Democratic Party!” It’s not too late. My party can still be the party I grew up idolizing. My party can be the one that’s for helping people, and I couldn’t care less if you believe in a 50 percent top tax rate or one at 30 percent. Rishabh Kewalramani can be reached at rkew@umich.edu.

ISAIAH ZEAVIN-MOSS | COLUMN

Bape killed the moment

friend asked me last help change my perspective and night what parts of the how I understand what’s going University of Michigan on. Coming back to Michigan, experience I felt I missed I can now make out on. the necessary I said that I didn’t edits for myself to feel like there are any ensure my time is parts I’ve missed out on spent openly and because Michigan has collaboratively. simply become my life. And that’s such I have arrived at a place a beautiful thing. where I do not need That no matter to be doing anything where you are — specific to feel like I in an airplane, ISAIAH am doing the Michigan stuck in traffic, experience. Whatever ZEAVIN-MOSS lying in bed, events, lectures and sitting in an exam concerts occurred, I was either — you are always experiencing. there or not. And if I wasn’t, You are always breathing, you I was somewhere else, doing are always with yourself, inside something different — bowling, your mind and your body. You eating Bruegger’s, sitting in can always make the world a my room, napping, sitting in a little bit more your own. Wow! gloriously unoccupied UMMA What an existential delight that because everyone else was at really can be, if we take full this thing that I wasn’t at which advantage. meant I had a lot of space to The whole concept of “missing really get into my homework/ out on something” relies on Netflix/chat with a longtime norms and understandings of friend from home, etc. — and that counts just as much as anything else towards taking part in “The Michigan Experience.” I was abroad in Paris during this past semester, and yet I felt really close to my friends from home and from Michigan. Why? Because no matter where I am, no matter what I am doing, the friends and family that mean something to me stay in my life, they stay in the spirit of my mind. In fact, getting away from those friends actually increased my understanding of how much they mean to me. By not being “what to do” that are created by with them, I got to think about other people, defined before I who I think about, and who I even showed up by the patterns don’t care about at all! By gaining and habits of people I never distance from my roots and my even met. It presupposes that normal everyday routine, I could in order to not “miss out,” you identify the parts of that routine can do X, Y, Z, A, B, C, check, that are great and impactful, as check, check, and then you well as those moments I spend come out the other side and my life inactively or passively, you have arrived at a place of not deliberately defining my completion, of closure, as if you days for myself. I began to see were in a supermarket getting that I spend a lot of time, for all the necessary ingredients example, holed up in my room for holiday eggnog. What a or in relationships that do not brittle way of experiencing life actually make me feel good. I because it doesn’t allow for spend time both closed off from customization, it doesn’t allow the world and not letting new for your individual take on things in, such that nothing can things to shine through. Life is actually change. Bad moods more than a big jar of eggnog! persist and exacerbate when An example: The other day, I do not let in new material to my brother and I were walking

These big-time people define meaning for the smaller-time people

around SoHo in Manhattan and we came across the Bathing Ape store. Bathing Ape (Bape for short), for fashion outsiders, is an overpriced company that sells clothes. Outside the store, there was a huge line, and my brother and I were really shocked that someone would wait in line for hours just to spend tons of money on a piece of clothing. “What’d you do today, your big day out in the Big Apple?” “Oh, honey, it was terrific. I stood in line, in the cold and rain, and everyone else in line was on their phone just like me, idly passing the time until we got in the store. Then, finally, I got in, and I bought this diamond-studded mink jacket for a million dollars! And it’s Bathing Ape! Bape, honey!” Why were these people in line? Because they’ve grown to believe that these clothes matter, that they are worth hours of their time and money. The significance of the clothes comes from its status as a big-time brand worn by big-time people. These bigtime people define meaning for the smaller-time people waiting in line. It’s tragic that non-famous people endow famous people who are being paid by famous companies with a power to define what it means to look, feel and smell good because you don’t need to buy any particular thing to look good. Be comfortable, be naked, be yourself. Know yourself. Hide nothing from yourself. Define goodness and prettiness for yourself, get to know what turns you on and gets you jazzed. And then do it for yourself because you are who you are with all the time. In order for this to be a beautiful, beautiful thing, which it can so easily be, you have to accept that you can only be in one place. To understand that oneness of yours makes whatever you are doing, whether or not that thing is on the prescribed “list of cool things,” a layered and buzzing opportunity to be rich, full and rewarding. There is no missing out because you are always there. And you are enough. You are everything you need you to be.

Isaiah Zeavin-Moss can be reached at izeavinm@umich.edu.

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, January 10, 2018 — 5A

TV REVIEW

DAILY ENTERTAINMENT COLUMN

WALT DISNEY PICTURES

FOX

Dial ‘9-1-1’ and you’ll get star-studded mediocrity faces her emotion while on the job. Daily Arts Writer Then there’s the fire force, composed of Captain Bobby Fox’s new drama, “9-1-1,” (Peter Krause, “Parenthood”), aims to share that even those newbie Buck (Oliver Stark, who come to our rescue daily “Into The Badlands”), the Henrietta (Aisha and appear to tackle any danger brassy Hinds, “Under still carry their the Dome”) and own unfixable the witty Howie burdens of life. (Kenneth Choi, The series — “The Last Man created by the Series Premiere on Earth”), who celebrated duo Wed @ 9/8c together form a from “American rag-tag family. Horror Story,” FOX There is a clear Ryan Murphy and and palpable Brad Falchuk — chemistry follows the lives between the of a squad of members of the first responders, who are still occupied with fire squad, though so far, their their own personal struggles characterization and storylines back home while saving lives appear run-of-the-mill and and fighting crime. Though leave much to be desired. While the pilot episode is packed we get insight into some of their with unique criminal activity, personal dramas, including moments of sheer humor and a an alcohol addiction and an star-studded cast, “9-1-1” falls affinity for meaningless sex, f lat and comes off as formulaic. we only see the development The episode opens with 911 of one character arc, Buck’s. operator Abby Clark (Connie In taking on the trope of the Britton, “Nashville”) leaving rookie who must earn his her sick, bedridden mother stripes, Buck goes from being to hustle into work and start fired by Captain Bobby for receiving calls for the day. secretly taking the fire truck to Her character’s most pressing pick up dates, to saving a little work dilemma is feeling girl from a home invasion and underappreciated and out of the ultimately being brought back loop, as every time help arrives on the squad. This leaves me on the scene of an emergency, wondering what more could the caller hangs up and forgets come from this character, as about her dispatcher efforts his whole story was seemingly forever. Britton embodies spoiled in a single episode. Lastly, there’s the police, Abby as a first responder who chooses to distract herself whose force is questionably from her personal trauma by composed of only one meager investing herself in the fate — yet extremely badass — Sergeant Athena of the panicked people on the member, (Angela Bassett, line. Remarkably, Abby stays Grant calm and in control, and only “American Horror Story”). Her MORGAN RUBINO

‘9-1-1’

internal struggle may be the most sentimental out of all, as she is tasked with fighting crime by day and coming to grips with her husband’s coming out to their family by night. Her portrayal is strong and energetic, and it is her plot arc that appears to have the most potential for raw emotion and dramatic encounters. One of “9-1-1”’s most prominent weaknesses is its jumbled and zig-zagging plot. We rarely see the three different fields of first responders interact in this episode, and the plot rapidly and unexpectedly jumps back and forth between emergency and field far too often. The pilot lacked major cohesion, which I’m hoping will be generated as the season progresses. Overall, no matter how chaotic and cluttered, because of its uncommon plot points, considerable cast and edgeof-your-seat potential, “9-1-1” just might be worthy of tuning in for another week. For what it’s worth, the emergency scenarios presented in the show were quite original as compared to anything that I’ve seen before. In the first episode alone we were privy to a premature baby f lushed down the toilet and stuck in the pipes and a woman choked by her own collection of exotic snakes. This led to some moments of pure suspense and entertainment, but ultimately, staying aware that this is a network drama, it was wearily known that the first responders couldn’t and wouldn’t possibly leave an emergency unattended, unsettled or unsolved.

MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW Bruno Mars’s new video for “Finesse (Remix) (feat. Cardi B)” is a certified throwback. “Finesse” originally appeared sans Cardi B on Mars’s 2016 record 24K Magic. The track oozes with ’90s pop staples: record scratches, boy-bandy backup vocals and a jumpy beat. But the music video manages to elevate the aesthetic to a whole new level. Directed by Bruno Mars himself, the remixed video is youthful, lighthearted and nostalgic. It begins with quick cuts of Mars and Cardi B dressed in brightlycolored retro outfits, goofing around with paint brushes sion set while three similarly against a white-sheet backdrop. fashioned female dancers swoon As Cardi opens, rapping about playfully from a nearby balcony. making people “shook,” Mars These ladies — as well as Cardi B — eventually join in looks like a kid, “Finesse” grinning and on the feel good fun, dancing goofily dancing and DJ-ing Bruno Mars ft. in the backas Cardi picks up Cardi B ground. the tempo rapping, “got it going on, After Cardi’s Atlantic Records don’t it feel so good verse, the scene switches to be us?” to Mars and two male backup The video wraps up with Bruno Mars, Cardi and the dancers in classic ’90s apparel (conveniently re-trending now five dancers posing silently as in 2018) of layers, short-sleeved “Dedicated to: Living in Color” sweatshirts, light-wash jeans rolls onto the screen. This and white sneakers. They bop ’90s-inspired video is a homage to the sketch comedy show “In smoothly on the stage of what Living Color,” which aired for looks like an outdated televi-

Atlantic Records

five seasons on Fox beginning in 1990. Standing alongside NBC’s sketch comedy program “Saturday Night Live,” whose cast was comprised of primarily white people, “In Living Color” had a majority-black cast and gave rise to the careers of Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Lopez and Jim Carrey. While the “Finesse” video is a cute throwback to an iconic time, the video fades to black and breaks its conclusive silence with an iconic bit of modern pop culture: a signature Cardi B sigh. Never heard one of those? Just go watch the video. - Avery Friedman, Daily Arts Writer

‘The Last Jedi’ and the State of Film Criticism I hated “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” I thought it was a terrible movie with a poor plot, weak character development and a total lack of understanding of what made the previous films great. I’ve had a lot of conversations with people over the past few weeks about why I believe that is. As I’ve watched discussion and debate about the film play out online, I’ve come to an even more important realization. I’ve been a “Star Wars” fan all of my life, which is why I don’t like the newest film. But what I take even more of an issue with than the film itself is the discussion surrounding it. Almost as soon as “The Last Jedi” was released in theaters, it became clear that this was a divisive movie, maybe the most divisive ever for “Star Wars.” The originals are generally loved and the prequels generally loathed, with “The Force Awakens” and “Rogue One” both falling somewhere in the pretty-good-or-maybe-greatbut-not-amazing range. Before it was released in theaters worldwide, “The Last Jedi” boasted a stellar 94 percent on the critical aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. That number has since gone down to a still impressive 90 percent. But for whatever reason, audiences didn’t take to the film in the same way. The audience score on the same website currently sits at a middling 49 percent, the worst ever for a “Star Wars” picture. Across the Internet, debate raged about whether the movie was the best one yet in the series or a disgrace to George Lucas’s legacy. But rather than a productive debate about the merits of the movie’s themes, commentary on its characters or possibly what it was actually trying to say and whether or not it succeeded in it, much of the discussion that surrounds “The Last Jedi” resembles that of a political debate or a Twitter feud between celebrities. It’s a fight filled with ad hominem attacks rather than constructive criticism. One of the prominent narratives that surrounds this film is that the people who don’t like “The Last Jedi” don’t like it for one of the following reasons: All of its main characters are either women or people of color, it doesn’t respect white males and makes all the male characters stupid and they can’t let go of the old “Star Wars” they remember from when they are kids. Now let me preface this by saying that by no means are these the only criticisms being leveled at the film’s detractors, but they are the ones making the loudest splash and the ones that are most dangerous for allowing us to have a meaningful discussion about the film itself. One article that was making the rounds over this past weekend was titled “Why So Many Men Hate ‘The Last Jedi’ But Can’t Agree on Why.” The author’s argument essentially boils down to this: “Because there is no central criticism of this film that everyone agrees upon, the reason people don’t like it must be sexism.” She points to the prequel films as examples of films everyone

agrees are bad for the same specific reasons and uses that to explain that if “The Last Jedi” were actually a bad movie, everyone would have the same criticisms of it. This line of reasoning is nonsense. Art is, by its very nature, subjective. The reasons I hate “The Last Jedi” may be the same reasons another person loves it. People who agree that something is bad

IAN HARRIS are perfectly free to disagree with each other about why it’s bad. I loved the scene in which Carrie Fisher’s General Leia flew through space, and I hated the movie, but the majority of people I know who both liked and didn’t like the movie hated that scene. There isn’t a one size fits all for criticism, film or otherwise. I think that it is important that we as liberals not (to quote “Revenge of the Sith”) become the very thing we want to destroy. If we attack anyone who criticizes a movie that features a woman in the starring role simply because the movie features a woman in the starring role, we do ourselves a disservice. Do I think there are probably some crazy people out there who hate “The Last Jedi” because it’s about a female

Not every movie is going to be universally loved or hated and not everyone is going to agree on why they love or hate it.

Jedi, a Black stormtrooper and a Resistance led by women and people of color? Yes, of course, there are those people. But those people probably also hated the similarly diverse “The Force Awakens” and “Rogue One” and neither of those movies created the kind of division that “The Last Jedi” did. My issues with “The Last Jedi” involve basically every single part of the film, but what I do not have any issue with is the casting or the nature of the characters. Far from it, I believe these characters and these actors have been severely underserved by the story they were given. In my estimation, Daisy Ridley is far and away the most talented actor to ever lead a “Star Wars” film. She’s much

better than Mark Hamill in the original trilogy and she is eons beyond Hayden Christensen. She is a gifted actress who had a great character in the first movie that I believe was wasted in “The Last Jedi.” Rey basically sits on the sidelines for the entire third act of the film, in which Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren take center stage. Her entire storyline revolves around needing a man to bring back to the fight (first Luke, then Kylo). I don’t believe that “The Last Jedi” is bad because it stars a woman. I believe that it is bad because it doesn’t feature its main character (who happens to be a woman) nearly enough. It makes Rey into an agent of Luke and Kylo’s storylines, rather than using them as supporting players in hers. “The Last Jedi” wants to be seen as the most progressive and forward-thinking “Star Wars” yet, but in the last act of the film, it gives up on all of that to fall back on everything it claims it wants to forget. The film purports to be about realizing your heroes were flawed and not looking for an old man to come and face down an entire evil army, and then at the end of the movie Luke Skywalker comes out of hiding to face down an entire evil army. Seemingly the entire point of Benicio Del Toro’s character was to show that this isn’t a conflict with straight lines of good and evil, but one filled with shades of grey. And yet at the end of the movie, we are left with good guys vs. bad guys, one side that blows up planets and one side that saves lives. Rey and Kylo Ren are supposedly conflicted characters grappling with the darkness and light inside of them, but at the end of the movie Rey is unquestionably good and Kylo is unquestionably evil. There is no moral ambiguity about the ending of “The Last Jedi.” Even the movie’s attempts to critique the Han Solo archetype Poe Dameron fell flat on its face. While he is chastised early on for having a dumb plan that gets a few people killed, he later initiates an even dumber plan that leads to all but 10 members of the Resistance getting killed and nobody seems to care. You may agree or disagree with the last two paragraphs and my assessment of the movie. You make think I’m crazy and that I missed the genius thematic storylines that the film employed. You may think I just wanted to see “The Empire Strikes Back” again. Regardless, we should be able to have a conversation about a movie about space wizards who can make rocks move and fly through space without becoming mortal enemies in the process. Not everything is black and white. Not every movie is going to be universally loved or hated and not everyone is going to agree on why they love or hate it. That’s the nature of the beast. These things are complicated. Isn’t that what “The Last Jedi” is trying to tell us? I thought so. But then again, I hated the movie, and from what I understand that must mean I just didn’t get it. So be it then.

Arts

6A — Wednesday, January 10, 2018

FILM REVIEW

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

by all manner of ghosts, ghouls and poltergeists. They’ve wisely shifted the focus from the families themselves to Elise, a medium-for-hire with

“Insidious: The Last Key” Ann Arbor 20 + IMAX, Goodrich Quality 16 Universal Pictures UNIVERSAL PICTURES

‘Insidious’ can do better JEREMIAH VANDERHELM Daily Arts Writer

More than any other subpar horror series currently running, the “Insidious” franchise has the potential to become something great. All the pieces of the puzzle are there. Its world is steeped in an interesting mythology and its approach to demons, spirits and the afterlife is

refreshingly novel. The de facto main character, Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye, “Ouija”), is a compelling and likable presence, to say nothing of how impressive it is to see a 74-year-old woman leading a major horror franchise. And while it lacks the drop-dead gorgeous cinematography and deliberate pacing that James Wan — who helmed the first two installments — brought to “The Conjuring” and its sequel, the director’s self-

described stamp of “crowdpleasing but twisted” horror is still discernible. All this is to say that the “Insidious” films have always been a cut above other horror films of similar ilk, which is what makes it so disappointing that they’ve never nailed their stories. Each of the now four movies in the series is a slight variation on the classic “haunted house” scenario where a family moves into a new home and is quickly beset

COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK

We can all learn some lessons from Córdoba Finding the possibilty for religious coexistance in Spain TRINA PAL

Daily Arts Writer

There’s no city in the world quite like Córdoba. Situated in the south of Spain, Córdoba has all the quaint charm of a mugg y summer town. In May, colorful baskets of dainty f lowers hang from hooks on whitewashed walls outside homes and businesses. It’s easy to get lost in the narrow roads — roads cars couldn’t possibly fit through and whose houses boast beautifully decorated patios. All the houses are white with bright yellow and baby blue fringes as if the whole city had a color scheme. Strolling through the streets of Córdoba in July, in a daze due to the intense heat, I could have easily surrendered myself to the city’s ambiance alone. However, I wouldn’t be able to truly understand Córdoba without knowing its history. Córdoba’s past is so turbulent that it’s hard to forget. Córdoba is situated in the south of Spain, also called the Andalucia region. a part of the Roman empire, Andalucia was conquered by the nomadic Visigoths from northern Europe during the Dark Ages. The Moors soon took over, spreading Islam and building lavish mosques throughout the region. After a brief period of Jewish rule, the Reconquista of the 13th century converted Spain to Christianity. The Andalucia region was one of the last strongholds of the Moors before Catholicism reigned. From these religious upheavals came the Córdoba of today: a blend of Christianity and Islam — much like how Istanbul serves as the crossroads for the world’s three major religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism). When in Córdoba last summer, I visited its most famous site: the Mezquita.

The outside of the building was deceptively unappealing, standing only 40 feet tall and hidden from view until I stood directly in front of it. Little did I know that this building would change my perspective on the world forever. Upon walking in, rows of towering red and white striped arches greeted me. They seemed to go on forever, stretching back as far as my eyes could reach. The columns were so wide that I could stand behind one and be completely hidden from view. I recognized these arches — with geometric patterns instead of religious figures — and the wide open spaces between them, as classic to Islamic architecture. To my right, the mihrab — a traditional Islamic prayer room — stood bedazzled in rich gold. Everything pointed to the Mezquita being a mosque. Half an hour of exploring later, I was astonished to come face-toface with a grand Christian chapel. It was built in baroque style, with pearl-white marble columns, an extravagantly detailed dome ceiling and a religious nave. It was then that I began to realize how vast the Mezquita actually was. In its height of operation, the Mezquita had 19 doors leading into the complex. After an hour, I looked around and didn’t know what part of the building I was standing in. I couldn’t even find the room with the red and white arches where I’d started. Each section was unique from the rest,

The U.S. is a melting pot of cultures, but religious tolerance has a long way to go.

and each seemed to embody Christian architecture, Islamic architecture or a blend of both. Right beside the chapel was another section of Islamic arches, but the ceiling was built in the gothic Christian style. I’d never been in such a strange place before. Everywhere I looked, my eyes found two types of designs: two different colors of columns, two different ceiling heights and two different types of f loor tiles. The architectural styles conf licted with each other but coincided at the same time. Instead of leveling the building and constructing a new place of worship from scratch, the Christians blended their style with the pre-existing Islamic mosque during the Reconquista. A large Christian nave was placed in the center of the building where open space had been before. The Christians built upwards: Elaborate ceilings were added to the tops of the Islamic arches. Some parts are distinctly Islamic, others distinctly Christian. Today, the Mezquita is 70 percent mosque and 30 percent church. But somehow, it works. My whole life, I’ve seen religions clash around me. My parents are firstgeneration Indian immigrants. My grandfather f led Bangladesh in his twenties due to the persecution of Hindus by Muslims. I still hear stories of the continuing conf licts between India and Pakistan over the land of Kashmir between them. In the U.S., I’ve grown up surrounded by the clash between Muslims and Christians. Our war with the Islamic world is still raging, both physically in the Middle East and mentally in our effortless stereotyping of Muslims in the U.S. The Mezquita was the

Have we, in recent years, ruined something that used to work? It was certainly possible for both groups to pray at the same site

the ability to astral project into a spiritual realm called “The Further.” But even with Shaye’s consistently game performance, it’s impossible to dodge the feeling that this has all been done before and done better. To the credit of “The Last Key,” it continues this trend of leaning into the franchise’s strengths by finally putting Elise, and Elise alone, in the spotlight. Instead of any random family calling for her to investigate any random

first physical manifestation I’d seen of what I had never thought possible. The world’s largest religions were supporting each other instead of tearing each other down. There would be no baroque ceiling without the support of the red and white arches below. The mosque provided the foundation, but the church made the Mezquita unique. Córdoba is comfortable with its roots and embraces all that has made it unique. While Spain is predominantly Catholic, Córdoba knows that its Islamic inf luence has shaped the city today. Still, nothing is perfect. While technically labeled as a Mosque-Cathedral Monument Complex, Muslims are not allowed to pray in the

house, it’s her own childhood home, the place where she first discovered her ability and learned about The Further. It’s an admirable attempt to provide the character with an interesting backstory, and Shaye perfectly communicates that past Elise’s struggle to overcome the scars it left on her. Director Adam Robitel (“The Taking of Deborah Logan”) even avoids an overuse of jump scares, opting for a tension-based approach that lends itself to several impressive set pieces. One in particular purposefully uses tinny audio to terrific effect. Yet for all these strengths, “The Last Key” still winds up retreading the same climactic points that it has moved through for three movies in a row now. Inevitably, the story traipses its way back into The Further through a combination of idiotic character decisions and convoluted storytelling and inevitably some demon with a half-way decent design reveals itself to be the ultimate culprit beyond all the happenings. Even if it wasn’t repetitive in the worst way, it’s just boring this time around, and the monster behind it all is never given any clear motivation of its own to make it a worthwhile foil of Elise.

Even the thing’s name doesn’t make any sense; Javier Botet (“It”) is credited as Key Face, but the monster has keys on its fingers (it’s actually cooler

Mezquita today. At one point, Visigothic Christians and Muslims split the building as

before. The architects of the Mezquita embraced the idea. Why is everything distinct and divided now? The original intent, however, shouldn’t be lost on us. Places like Córdoba and the Mezquita — while not f lawless in modern times — still exist. The U.S. is a melting pot of cultures, but religious tolerance has a long way to go. We — myself included — can’t walk down the streets without labeling people based on their religious beliefs or race. It’s inherent. But that doesn’t make it an excuse. Deep inside me lies a hope that, if Córdoba managed to house two different religions under the same building hundreds of years ago, we can do it now too.

My whole life, I’ve seen religions clash around me.

a place of prayer, but modern religious wars have made this impossible. It makes me wonder: Have we, in recent years, ruined something that used to work? It was certainly possible for both groups to pray at the same site

Classifieds

The “Insidious” franchise, therefore, once again wastes its potential

than it sounds) not on its face. The “Insidious” franchise, therefore, once again wastes its potential on a story that its characters, its world, its star and, above all, its audience deserve better than. “The Last Key” makes some definite improvements, and if nothing else, it shows that Robitel may have a real future in the genre. But for those hoping that “The Last Key might finally break the mold for the series will be in for yet another disappointment.

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FOR RENT RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Share-a-ride pickup hrs. 5 Go wild with Wild Turkey, say 9 Golden Horde member 14 Pope __ VI (1963-’78) 15 Copied 16 Be nuts about 17 “The Simpsons” bus driver 18 Drink garnish 19 Old-time actress Shearer 20 Blindsided 23 “Let’s see ... ” 24 German city on the Danube 25 Set ablaze 28 The hit in the baseball mantra “A walk is as good as a hit” 30 Sugar source 32 Cultural funding gp. 33 Pumpkin pie maker’s tool 36 Beef inspection org. 39 401(k) alternative, for short 40 __ stick: incense 41 One of a global septet 46 Suffix with percent 47 College city on I-35 48 Sharp 52 Yom Kippur month 54 “Who am __ judge?” 55 China’s Chou En-__ 56 Flatbread lunch items ... and, as shown by circles, what 20-, 33- and 41-Across are? 60 Work really hard 62 ’60s-’70s pitcher nicknamed Blue Moon 63 Huge 64 Awards for Asimov et al. 65 Computer list 66 Concerning

34 Play charades, 50 Elk say 51 Where much Bee 35 Open just a crack Gees music was 36 Ton, for one played DOWN 37 Songs for one 53 Mayhem 1 Geological 38 Equestrian event 54 Graphic symbols timespans 42 Equestrian 57 Berth before birth equipment 58 It can come to 2 Woven Japanese mat 43 In the center of mind 59 Concrete 3 Colorful period 44 Panama landform 60 Cow or sow 4 Plod (through) 5 Small pastry 45 Grub 61 Unilever soap brand 6 Poppy drug 49 Go by 7 Keystone State Ivy ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 8 Scandinavian literary work 9 Brightly colored songbird 10 Deck out 11 Attacked with gusto 12 Limb with biceps and triceps 13 “In Dreams” actor Stephen 21 Netflix competitor 22 Flying aid 26 Light shirts 27 All __: listening 29 Annoying bug 30 First known asteroid 31 Lab gel 01/10/18 xwordeditor@aol.com 67 Suits 68 Musically low 69 Floral neckwear

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Arts & Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, January 10, 2018 — 7A

FILM REVIEW

‘Darkest Hour’ is a tour de force for Gary Oldman

SINGLE REVIEW Ahead of his Super Bowl performance, Justin Timberlake announced his fourth solo album, Man of the Woods. The album art is Bon Iver-esque, set in the woods with Timberlake donning a flannel under a wool jacket. With his lead single “Filthy,” fans who speculated a return to his Tennessee roots were mistaken. “Filthy” isn’t country — it’s an attempt for Timberlake to dip into electro-pop without fully committing. From the same team as “SexyBack” and Britney Spears’s dark-pop masterpiece the Woods leaves this synth-pop Blackout, the single leans behind and commits to Timberheavily towards early 2000s lake’s signature bubblegum pop. electro-pop. However, unlike “SexyBack” or — Danny Madi“Gimme More,” on, Daily Arts “Filthy” which both build Writer into euphoric Justin Timberlake choruses, “Filthy” stars RCA Records “Filthy” lacks out on a high momentum. By note, with Justin minute two, I Timberlake callwas ready for the ing out, “Hey, song to do something. The same if you know what’s good!” in robotic synth throbs endlessly his characteristic, high-energy over the song’s unneeded five belt. And it keeps climbing from minutes. When the lackluster there, but not in the way you’d chorus finally does arrive, it’s expect. indistinguishable from the For over half of its nearly verse. five-minute duration, “Filthy” is Repetitive production can jerky and deceptively low-enerexcel with the right lyricism gy, an understated jam with a (see Talking Heads’ “Psycho funky spring. Then the electric Killer”), but Timberlake’s song- guitar kicks in, and suddenly writing is equally disinterestthe song reaches the energetic ing. “Filthy” is a patchwork peak it has secretly been buildof one-liners that show Timing to all along — only to fall berlake’s disconnect with pop back again a few seconds later music’s pulse. With lines like into its own hypnotic under“Haters gonna say it’s fake” and current. The song ends amid “This ain’t the clean version,” a weirdly ghostly atmosphere Timberlake, now 38, is showing that feels like the exact antithhis age with corny “this is how esis of the place where it started the kids talk” lyricism. With out: A woman whispers, “Do a February 2 release date, I’m you see me? Can you find me? / hoping the remainder of Man of Look closer, through the trees /

The Churchill biopic excels both visually and narratively chapter in modern European history, there were still people Daily Arts Writer brave enough to stand up for the light. “We will never surrender!” Oldman’s charisma and energy Winston Churchill shouts in propel the film, demanding one of his most famous speeches attention every time he is on to the House of Commons, screen while simultaneously recreated in one of the most giving viewers a deep look powerful moments of the into the confused, conflicted, thrilling retelling of Churchill’s depressed but never conquered first few weeks as mind of Winston Prime Minister, Churchill. The film “Darkest Hour.” takes care to paint With France on its Churchill as a heels, the United flawed individual, States nowhere one whose vices to be found and occasionally got Focus Features Nazi Germany the better of him. Michigan Theater, seemingly on His relationship the brink of with his wife is Goodrich Quality domination over well established 16, Rave Cinemas all of Europe, in the first act Ann Arbor into the fray but does fall stepped Winston off a bit as the Churchill, who movie continues. would eventually Churchill’s succeed where complex Neville Chamberlain had so relationships with the King of infamously failed. Gary Oldman England and other members (“The Hitman’s Bodyguard”), of Parliament is rendered almost unrecognizable, portrayed in a portrays Churchill with a fairly unbiased gravitas and force that seems manner, though destined to rank among his best the benefit of performances. The stunning history will picture also features Ben clearly lead Mendelsohn (“Rogue One: A the audience Star Wars Story”), Lily James to fall almost (“Baby Driver”) and Kristin Scott exclusively on one Thomas (“Sarah’s Key”). Written side. by Anthony McCarten (“The The film is Theory of Everything), directed visually stunning. by Joe Wright (“Pan”) and It features sweeping overhead accompanied by a breathtaking shots of the Parliament chambers score composed by Dario and limited use of stylized war Marianelli (“Anna Karenina”), footage that gives the film a wide “Darkest Hour” reminds us of spectrum of interesting shots. how, in the midst of the darkest The overall aesthetic is cold and IAN HARRIS

RCA RECORDS

Do you see it?” And then nothing. Silence. Upon first listen, “Filthy” is a bit of a slow burn. It takes a while to decide what type of song it wants to be: A dancefloor jam? Five minutes of artsy background noise? To some extent, it never really decides. The lyrics aren’t really anything to turn one’s head at either — they ultimately boil down to a lot of repetitive lines like “Put your filthy hands all over me” and “Your friends, my friends and they ain’t leavin’ ’til six in the morning.” However, the song does succeed in blending a large number of genres — pop, electronica and funk to name a few — into an overall catchy song. “Filthy” doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not; at one point, Timberlake even sings, “You know this ain’t the clean version.” It’s unpretentious and genuinely fun. As far as what direction it’s pointing in, we may have to wait for Timberlake’s next single — or simply the release of his upcoming album, Man of the Woods — to know for sure. — Laura Dzubay, Daily Arts Writer

“Darkest Hour”

Oldman’s charisma and energy propel the film

Close and getting closer

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Wolverines looking to bounce back at home SARAH HURST

Daily Sports Writer

EVAN AARON /Daily

Michigan coach John Beilein said after the game that he was convinced Michigan had a play set up to win the game.

controversial review to give Purdue the ball, a somewhat controversial foul called on an in-bounds play and a half-court shot that missed just short. Those were the lasting moments from the Michigan men’s MIKE basketball PERSAK team’s 70-69 loss to the fifth-ranked Boilermakers. Any of which could have changed the outcome. The review came when redshirt sophomore Charles Matthews seemingly had the ball poked out of his hands by Purdue guard Dakota Mathias. During the replay, Matthews told Beilein the ball didn’t go off his hands, but after an unusually long look at the monitors, the referees disagreed. “I wish we could have got Charles to the rim,” Beilein said. “It looked like he was going to go lay it in, and all of the sudden, you know, with 5.6, or whatever

it is on the clock, that’s enough time. I really was convinced that we had a play set up that we were going to win the game. All of the sudden, they’re winning the game.” Considering how the game went, with Michigan crawling back from a 14-point first-half deficit and having the ball in its hands with the game on the line, it’s easy to understand disappointment. This would have been a huge win against a Boilermaker team that has looked as good as any in recent weeks. Yet, taking a step back, it’s hard to ignore how far the Wolverines have come. This isn’t the same team that lost to LSU, looked hapless against North Carolina and blew a huge lead in Columbus. On Tuesday, against a team that looked like it was a terrible matchup for Michigan, the Wolverines hung around. Freshman forward Isaiah

Livers and freshman guard Jordan Poole kept the Wolverines alive at times. They were hardly factors early in the season. Freshman guard Zavier Simpson hit two huge 3-pointers to give Michigan its first lead of the game with 4:38 left. He was benched after the loss to the Tigers. Most importantly, perhaps, the Wolverines made halftime adjustments and came back against an elite team when they were punched in the face to start the game. Against the Tar Heels, that seemed an impossibility. It was enough to give senior guard Muhammad-Ali AbdurRahkman encouragement. “I was pretty encouraged, but you never like to see your team lose,” said senior guard Muhammad-Ali AbdurRahkman. “I mean, a lot of guys showed a lot of great stuff. We’ve just got to continue to grow. It’s a marathon.”

“I wish we could have got Charles to the rim.”

crisp, fitting for a story about the darkest days in British history. There aren’t enough good things that can be said about the soundtrack in “Darkest Hour.” Few films in 2017 have featured a booming orchestral score so prominently, harkening back to a grander, more narrativebased method of scoring movies that has faded from prominence in today’s era of temp scores and generic action music. With his score for “Darkest Hour,” Marianelli has redefined himself as one of the most promising young composers in the industry. There are only two facets of the film in which it falters. One is the length. The second half of the movie at times feels like it’s spinning its wheels, with Churchill and the remains of Chamberlain’s powerbase fighting a war that feels like it could have been condensed. There also is a subplot that focuses on Churchill’s young aide eventually coming around to him that feels both outdated and out of place, and it seems like that storyline either could’ve been cut or the time would’ve better been spent elsewhere. “Darkest Hour” might be Oscar-bait, but it is also simply an amazing film. It features one of Britain’s finest actors as one of Britain’s finest men in the weeks before what would be one of its finest hours in history. Oldman gives a performance for the ages.

Michigan still has plenty of progress to make. The Wolverines still had trouble stopping Boilermaker center Isaac Haas, and if it weren’t for a strong, second-half shooting performance, Michigan might not have been in the game. But the adjustments were made, and if Matthews’ call doesn’t get overturned, or if Wagner doesn’t foul Haas, or if Matthews’ half-court heave goes four inches further the Wolverines come out on top. Steady improvement over the season has nearly become a patented trademark of Beilein’s teams. This one may be another example. Tuesday’s game was just the latest testament to how far Michigan has come this season. It’s why Beilein seemed so disappointed after the game. Saturday’s matchup with No. 4 Michigan State – possibly the best team in the country – will be the next opportunity to show it. The Wolverines might not get the lucky bounces in that game, either. They may lose again. Yet it seems they are approaching where they want to be.

Though the Michigan women’s basketball team didn’t come out victorious in its overtime loss to rival Ohio State on Sunday, it did play a closelyfought game full of back-andforth runs between the two teams. Sunday’s game was a tough loss for the Wolverines, as they had multiple opportunities to win in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, but just couldn’t capitalize on them. “We had them on the ropes, it was a great game. They jumped on us early but we battled back and kept our composure,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said in a radio interview on WTKA. “Sometimes you get over defeats quickly, but this one is going to take a little bit of time.” Time, however, is a luxury the Wolverines don’t have. Now, they need to turn around quickly and prepare to face Indiana on Wednesday. “Today we have to move on, we have to be focused on Indiana, we have to be focused on our next game,” Barnes Arico said. “That game will be with us for the rest of the year and I think it’s going to help us improve and help us get better.” Though the Hoosiers are just 8-9, they bring young talent to

the table for which Michigan must be prepared. “Indiana is a really good team, they’re led by two all-conference players, Tyra Buss and Amanda Cahill, and their other players are inexperienced and young,” Barnes Arico said. “They graduated their other players but they’re a team that has given us a tough game in the past and we know we can’t look past anyone.” The Hoosiers have just two seniors: Cahill and Buss, a forward and guard, respectively. Buss leads the team with 349 points on the season, averages 20.5 points per game and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team. Cahill has 142 rebounds on the season, averages 8.4 rebounds per game, and found a place on the All-Big Ten Second Team. The remainder of Indiana’s team, while talented, lacks experience. The Wolverines hope to take advantage of that with their veteran players. “We had that tough one, but the success of our team, our maturity, our experience (and) our upperclassmen have got to put the young ones on their shoulders and teach them the way,” said Barnes Arico. And on Wednesday, Michigan must not only face the challenges the Hoosiers present, but also prove that it can bounce back after Sunday’s tough loss.

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico says her team must move on quickly.

Sports

8A — Wednesday, January 10, 2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

’DUE PROCESS

After spirited comeback, Michigan loses, 70-69, to No. 5 Purdue

Purdue’s Haas, 3-point shooting sink ‘M’

ETHAN WOLFE

MARK CALCAGNO

With 28 seconds remaining and the score tied at 69, the ball fell into Charles Matthews’s lap. He was the go-to guy for the Michigan men’s basketball team’s final shot. The redshirt sophomore sauntered to the left side of the court before lowering his shoulder into Purdue guard Dakota Mathias and bursting to the hoop. Matthews had a better angle. Mathias had better reflexes. The ball sailed out of bounds, and it was back to the Wolverines. Or so they thought. In what seemed like an eternity, the referees deliberated at the replay monitor. Then the call came in: Matthews had touched the ball last. The Boilermakers would get the final shot. “I thought he was gonna lay that ball in with five seconds left,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “He had leverage, he had everything. I don’t know where the ball got slapped down, he said it did not go off him. Apparently it must’ve.” There was no climactic shot, though. Junior forward Moritz Wagner was called for a reachin foul on an outlet pass to Isaac Haas. The 7-foot-2 center sank the front end of the one-andone, and a 40-foot hail mary by Matthews clinked off the iron as No. 5 Purdue (5-0 Big Ten, 16-2 overall) avoided the upset, 70-69. “There was a long stretch … I knew it was one of those ... monitor games. They were gonna take over the game,” said freshman forward Isaiah Livers. “Luckily, they got their foul at the end. … If the play goes the other way, we go out on top.” Compared to the Boilermakers, Michigan (3-2, 14-4) was outmatched in size, 3-point shooting and most other

Like a sturdy Redwood tree, Isaac Haas planted his 7-foot-2, 290pound frame just outside the block. With four seconds left and the score tied at 69, Purdue’s center looked to make his patented move: Bully himself deep into the lane, spin and score. He wouldn’t get that chance, however. On the backside of Haas, the eyes of junior center Moritz Wagner lit up as a sideline pass came towards the duo. Wagner extended his arm around Haas and got a piece of the ball. Then a whistle blew. “I’m not crazy about calls that can influence the game and can probably go without,” Beilein said. “I don’t know if that was a good call or not.” And as anticlimactic as it may be, the matchup between two of the conference’s premier centers and teams came down to free throws. Haas would hit the front end of a one-and-one, lifting the Boilermakers over Wagner and the Wolverines, 70-69. “I was thinking I was just gonna make an easy hook,” Haas said. “When he fouled, he made it a harder game and I pulled it through for our guys.” That matchup was a focal point from the opening minutes on Tuesday night. On the second possession of the game, redshirt sophomore wing Charles Matthews slipped a pass to a cutting Wagner, who went up-and-under to hit a reverse layup. Then Haas went to work, gaining strong position and dunking on Wagner. Neither could defend the other, as they combined for 15 points before the first media timeout. It was Haas who sustained his aggressiveness, though. He shot 7-for-14 from the floor to score 17 points and grab six rebounds. Wagner couldn’t keep pace,

Daily Sports Editor

EVAN AARON/Daily

Redshirt sophomore wing Charles Matthews’s desparation heave rimmed out at the buzzer.

statistics you can think of coming into Tuesday night’s contest. From the get-go, sniffing victory appeared to be a Sisyphean task for the Wolverines. So in the first half when Beilein paced the sidelines, gesticulating furiously at a referee over a questionable offensive foul call, he couldn’t be blamed — Michigan needed every break it could get. The close, late-game situation was difficult to picture the Wolverines in. After Beilein’s show of rage and more blows from Purdue, they faced a 14-point first-half deficit. But Michigan was getting its breaks in a five-minute stretch. Fifthyear senior forward Duncan Robinson swatted Carsen Edwards and took it the other way for a fastbreak layup, and followed with two free throws the next possession. Freshman guard Jordan Poole banked a trey, and hit a runner in the lane. Matthews splashed another three. The Wolverines’ defense

looked the most fearless as it had all season. “We made our run and they made their run and obviously made it a tough game,” Haas said. “… Our defensive strategy worked well, but when those guys get going it’s hard to stop that.” With 2:19 remaining in the half, a 14-point margin became two. But like Sisyphus’s eternal punishment, Michigan once again was exposed to the best of Purdue. The Boilermakers responded with a 3-pointer, a layup and a feed to Haas for a 39-32 halftime lead. To begin the second half, the Wolverines went to their bread and butter — 3-pointers. Matthews stared down Haas and drilled one right in his face. Freshman forward and newfound spark plug Isaiah Livers got in the action with two corner threes. Poole hit three free throws after getting fouled behind the line to bring Purdue’s lead to only one. After trading punches, a corner three from Matthews

swirled around the rim, and the game was tied, 58-58. From there, sophomore point guard Zavier Simpson went to work with two consecutive threes to give Michigan its first lead of the game. The raucous enjoyment of the Crisler Center crowd was short-lived. The Boilermakers were electric from 3-point land — 12-for-21 — to keep it close despite the Wolverines’ efforts. All Purdue needed in the end was Hass’s free throw to bury Michigan for good. “We have way more room for improvement,” Livers said. “I think we could’ve done a lot more. We had a lot more chances that we should’ve taken advantage of, but basketball is basketball. Sometimes you’re gonna mess up, sometimes you’re gonna be on point. Just gotta grow.” The Wolverines had momentum on their side in the dwindling minutes of the game. But it was a Sisyphean task after all.

finishing with 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting. But Haas’s influence went far beyond his scoring total. Thanks to his physical advantage, Haas attracted with double-teams in the first have with Michigan shifting a guard down to double him. And even when an extra defender forced Haas to pickup his dribble, the Boilermakers scattered the perimeter with snipers ready to fire. Haas took advantage of that at the end of the first half, firing a pass outside to guard P.J. Thompson — one of 12 total triples for Purdue. “I think just having Haas down there,” said Muhammed-Ali AbdurRahkman.. “You have to have to worry about Haas so much and their back-up bigs. I think we just lost track of assignments, and they got easy shots.” On the other end, Purdue gave Haas’s counterpart plenty of attention — but without the consequences. Wagner scored 24 points in the second matchup between both teams last season, leading Michigan to an upset victory over the Boilermakers. Tuesday, they game-planned to stop Wagner, switching and going over the top on ball screens to limit his 3-point opportunties. “He destroyed us last season,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter. “We weren’t going to let him beat us again.” Despite the new looks, adjustments were made which helped keep the Wolverines close despite a multitude of Purdue runs. Struggling to finish, Haas went 2-for-6 in the second half. “After halftime, we said if he gets the ball down there, we have to be strong,” Livers said. “I think once we did that, it became a lot better ball game.” Wagner looked to be doing just that in the final moments. Instead, he was called for a foul, losing his final battle of the night against Haas.

Notebook: Lockwood’s injury requires surgery, Lavigne starter in net The sophomore forward, who missed extended time last year, suffered the injury at the World Junior Championships ANNA MARCUS Daily Sports Writer

After taking home a bronze medal with the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2018 World Junior Championships, freshman forward Josh Norris, freshman defenseman Quinn Hughes and sophomore forward Will Lockwood rejoined their Michigan teammates this weekend. But only two of the three were able to compete in Team USA’s final four games of the highlyanticipated tournament, held in Buffalo, NY from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5. During a preliminary round game against Canada on Dec. 29, Lockwood suffered a serious injury after landing on his left shoulder. The injury put him out for the rest of the tournament, and it is growing increasingly likely that he will be sidelined for the rest of the Wolverines’ 2018 season, too. Michigan coach Mel Pearson noted last week Lockwood would be reevaluated by the team doctor upon returning to the Wolverines. After further inspection this week, it appears now surgery will be unavoidable. “He was evaluated yesterday, and basically told the options that are in front of him,” Pearson said after practice Tuesday. “Him and his family will make a decision with what they want to do. It’s basically one of two things: He’s either going to try to play at some point this year, and he’s going to need surgery at the end of the year, and or just have surgery now, and call it a year, and just get ready for next fall.” Regardless of whether Lockwood will be out for a small increment of time versus the remainder of this season, the skilled forward’s absence is likely to leave a devastating impact on Michigan’s offense. Lockwood has tallied 11 points this season so far — the sixth-most of any Wolverine. Just a year ago, during

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Sophomore forward Will Lockwood will have to decide between surgery now or surgery after the season, according to Michigan coach Mel Pearson.

Lockwood’s elite freshman season — where he finished with 20 points — his performance was hindered when an injury to the same shoulder took him out for five games. He had surgery in the offseason and underwent a taxing rehabilitation process, making the approaching surgery he will have to go through all the more serious. “It’s pretty drastic either way,” Pearson said. “We just want to make sure he gets well, and doesn’t have any more setbacks like he had this year.” Pearson is very conscious of the drawbacks that will come with Lockwood’s vacancy, but also hopes his team will be able to step up in game situations in light of this unfortunate circumstance. “(Lockwood) is an exciting player, he’s a fast player, he’s a skilled player,” Pearson said. “He plays the right way, so yeah, those players are hard to find. And obviously we can’t just add

anybody, we don’t have a lot of depth to begin with. But having said that, it’s an opportunity for someone to step in, get some extra ice time and fill that void.” Lavigne set as starter Early on in Michigan’s season, Pearson expected a starting goaltender to emerge heading into the fifth weekend of play. But as it became clear that sophomore goaltenders Hayden Lavigne and Jack LaFontaine were performing at an even level, the decision to select a go-to man was put on hold. Now, a little over halfway through the Wolverines’ regular season, it appears that they have finally selected a starter. Following Michigan’s home-and-

home series against Notre Dame, Pearson stated that Lavigne’s performance — against the nowNo. 1 team in the nation, no less — has earned him the nod as starter in goal. “I thought he’s established himself this weekend as our guy,” Pearson said. “It’s just two games, but we haven’t had a guy put back-toback games like that, and good for him. We’re going to need that going forward … I thought he was excellent, and that’s all we need.” Lavigne played a crucial role for the Wolverines, making 59 saves throughout the weekend’s two full games. The goaltender allowed just four pucks past him when facing the Fighting Irish — one of the conference’s offensive

“I thought he was excellent, and that’s all we need.”

powerhouses. Michigan has yet to see consistency at the position. The Notre Dame series marked the first time a Michigan netminder has stayed in for two complete games. Pearson expects Lavigne’s sturdiness in the net will not only help to minimize the opposition’s scoring, but will additionally give his teammates an extra boost of confidence on the ice. “If you’ve got a goalie back there that you can trust and know is going to make a majority of the saves, that can really help,” Pearson said. “We play a little bit looser I would say, you’re not as uptight…and I think that can give your team confidence, and that’s what we’re looking for, for Hayden.” Big Ten update While the beginning of the season featured a large number of series splits, now, just beyond the halfway mark of the 2018 regular

season, a significant separation of skill level within the competitive Big Ten conference has emerged. Not only does Notre Dame now command the conference, but it also sits atop the country, earning the No. 1 ranking coming off its weekend against Michigan. The Fighting Irish are the only undefeated team in the Big Ten and are riding a 15-game win streak following their sweep of the Wolverines. Notre Dame has demonstrated the ability to shake up a conference it only joined this season, with the strongest team defense in the conference — including an allstar goaltender Cale Morris, who holds an impeccable 0.965 save percentage. No. 6 Ohio State holds the second-best conference record, a big shock as the Big Ten Coaches pre-season poll predicted the Buckeyes would finish third-tolast in terms of record. Ohio State had an upset sweep of Minnesota in early December, and also swept Michigan and Michigan State. The Buckeyes have utilized their special teams unit effectively, with the highest power play percentage (19.57) in the conference. No. 13 Penn State, No. 9 Minnesota and No. 18 Wisconsin all hold similar records, sitting in the third, fourth and fifth spots in the Big Ten, respectively. The Nittany Lions have the most dynamic offense in the conference, scoring 90 goals on the season so far — at least 25 more than any other team in the Big Ten. Michigan and Michigan State, as the sixth and seventhranked teams in the conference, currently place in the same spots they were forecasted in at the beginning of the season. However, the Wolverines rank second overall in team offense, thanks to ample contributions from senior forward Tony Calderone, as the conference scoring leader, and junior forward Cooper Marody, the leader in assists.

statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | JA N UA RY 1 0, 201 8

A Saturday

Cookâ€™s Library

Wednesday, January 10, 2018// The Statement

statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | JA N UA RY 1 0, 201 8

Managing Statement Editor: Brian Kuang

Photo Editor: Amelia Cacchione

Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford Jennifer Meer Rebecca Tarnopol

Editor in Chief: Alexa St. John

Copy Editors: Elise Laarman Finntan Storer

Managing Editor: Dayton Hare

Critical Questions: Privilege

“S

hutting your eyes and acting like the problem is going to go away — it’s not going to go away. You have to actively oppose it. Intercept it. And that is how we solve problems. You cannot sit idly, basking in your own privilege, and hopefully things go away — it doesn’t work like that,” Omar, a University of Florida student and a protest organizer, told The Nation. When white supremacist Richard Spencer arrived to speak at the University of Florida, more than 2,500 students protested and drowned out his speech. It was a victory against not just Spencer, but also against a school administration protesters felt was content to turn a blind eye to white supremacy as long as it did not directly attack them. Spencer refused to relent. In November, he requested to rent out a venue to speak at the University of Michigan. When University President Mark Schlissel and the University’s Board of Regents explained they would have to let Spencer speak because of his First Amendment rights, the campus erupted in anger.

BY ISHI MORI, COLUMNIST There’s plenty of coverage in The Daily about what activists, professors and city residents have to say about Spencer. But even more than the protests themselves, I was interested in how those disagreeing with Schlissel’s decision constructed their argument. Privilege is an intriguing concept. Here’s your textbook definition: “A group of unearned cultural, legal, social and institutional rights extended to a group based on their social group membership.” It was coined by Peggy McIntosh, a women studies scholar at Wellesley Centers for Women, in the 1980s, but oppressed groups have long known of it on an instinctive level. For instance, in the 1930s, W.E.B. Dubois identified a “psychological wage” that allowed poor whites to feel socially superior to poor blacks despite their economic parity. The most prevalent of these is white privilege, or socially-bestowed benefits received for being white. In American society, whiteness implies normalness (one is not foreign). Whiteness suggests safety (a white teenager wearing a hoodie

Darby Stipe/Daily Students put up signs protesting the administration’s consideration of a speech by Richard Spencer during a sit-in at LSA Dean Martin’s office on November 30, 2017.

on the street is not as readily labeled a “thug” as a Black teen). Whiteness says solvency (one is not lazy and is employed). Most of all, whiteness protects one from the threat of white supremacy. In the case of Spencer speaking at the University, the argument would be that the administration was blind to the suffering of students of color because of its white privilege. Spencer and his army of white nationalists would not directly threaten the majority-white white regents and administration. So the question becomes: Is Schlissel making a privileged statement? Can the University administration be discredited for this privilege? Are being aware of one’s privilege and allowing a white nationalist on campus compatible? In order to think about the implications of something like privilege, however, we must be able to define its boundaries. The political lexicon of our generation, especially terms relating to identity, is nebulous even to the most informed scholars. Terms like “microaggression” have morphed into something that often deviates greatly from the intentions of the creator. The concept of privilege, for example, becomes problematic when it is twisted to silence opposition. Telling someone they have no right to speak because of their privileged background is unconstructive, and ascribing a uniform label of privilege across a single group discounts the challenges and experiences of individuals. One may be born with privilege, but may have also been born in a low-income household, or with a single parent or dealt with any number of obstacles that most of their peers were fortunate not to face. And then there are the people who claim “white privilege” doesn’t exist. That is certainly a position I acknowledge — if you were white but born with scarce opportunities and worked harder than your well-off peers to reach your position in life, I can see how the whole concept of privilege can sound like a sick joke. However, humans can often be blind to the benefits they receive in life. Psychologists Tom Gilovich of Cornell

University and Shai Davidai of The New School for Social Research explain this as humanity’s fundamental propensity to exaggerate difficulties in life and undervalue the help we receive. They liken life to cycling or running, in which we wish for relief when there’s a headwind (burden), yet quickly forget about it once we actually receive the tailwind (privilege). It does not necessarily make someone a bad person if they are privileged in one form or another, but cautions us to watch our words and open our eyes to the experiences of others. I can think back to my experience as an Asian man in the U.S. “How does everyone in Japan feel about this issue?” (I cannot speak for all Japanese.) Or “Where do you really come from?” (OK, I actually was born in Japan, but I’ve lived in New Jersey for most of my life.) The ones who have privilege are the ones who are asking me these questions, the ones who never have to feel like an eternal foreigner in the country they lived in since they were three years old. Yet I also must remember my status as an out-of-state college student (class and educational privilege) who can move his four limbs (able-bodied privilege) and is attracted to women (sexual orientation privilege). Most people don’t take an issue with Buddhism, my religious affiliation (religious privilege) and recognize me as male (gender privilege). During discussions of race and ethnicity, my peers tend to take my concerns more seriously because I am a minority. When I’m walking out late at home in New Jersey, I don’t necessarily receive the same attention from the police as a dark-skinned or even white friend because I’m an Asian man. It doesn’t mean on a whole, I (or any other person of color) inherently have it better, but in certain situations, my race does work to my advantage. Taking each of these attributes into account allows me to be more aware during discussions and perhaps reach a compromise, instead of sticking to my own narrow perceptions. That is an exercise we all should take part in to protect and nurture our diverse democracy.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018 // The Statement

Let’s Bitch About It: Not all dogs are cute BY LYDIA MURRAY, COLUMNIST

ILLUSTRATION BY NATALIE BROWN

This column does not reflect the views of The Michigan Daily and received strong objections from multiple editors who were probably offended on behalf of their dogs. f there is one thing I stand by in this world, it is this: Not all dogs are cute. Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs. I have a dog and she is absolutely adorable, but that doesn’t mean your dog is cute. Many people may take offense to this take — how could I insult man’s best friend, a creature we hold so dear? But with this opinion I must be unapologetic, because there is a clear hierarchy in the cuteness of dogs, and if you disagree, you are not only wrong also but lying to yourself. Admittedly, I often lie to people and give out inauthentic “awws” at not-thatcute dogs, partly out of politeness, but mostly to avoid an incredibly awkward argument. I even lie to my friends who are aware of my specific dog opinions. It is easier to tell them their dog is toptier and gush over photos than it is to consistently offend them. You may find my dog ranking system to be the worst opinion you have ever heard. You may be personally offended on behalf of your dog, but on some level, you probably know that I am right. I am here to speak the truth in this column. Regarding the system itself, it is impossible to numerically rank every single dog breed, especially when considering the variety of dogs and mixed-breed dogs. Instead, my system focuses on a three-tier ranking

stratified into top-tier, middle-tier and bottom-tier dogs. Some dogs land in between tiers (for example, I often tell my friends that their dogs are upper-middle-tier to make them happy, even if I think their dog is somewhat ugly). Bottom-Tier Dogs My mental image of the typical bottom-tier dog comes from one specific dog: My grandmother’s. This dog is some sort of ambiguous mix of a Maltese, Bolognese or Bichon, but the overall idea is that it is small, white and ugly. This particular dog is overweight and incredibly lazy. It wobbles around my grandparents’ house seeking attention, but I never really want to pet it because its tarnished white fur always looks unkempt and dirty. This model can be applied more broadly to encapsulate bottom-tier dogs. Small white dogs tend to be at the absolute bottom of the list. They are ugly-looking and often have unfriendly and lazy personalities, which further minimize their cuteness. From this framework, other bottomtier dogs can be determined. Size and personality are weighted heavily in this classification. For instance, most terriers, Chihuahuas and Pomeranians are all clear bottom-tier occupants. The individual personality of a dog may improve its standing, but overall these types of dogs don’t have much to work with. Their size makes them more difficult to cuddle and play with. You could never go hiking or on any sort of adventure with this type of dog.

And if your dog is inactive, why not just get a cat? Middle-Tier Dogs The middle-tier is the largest and least-defined sector of this ranking system. It is easy to throw any dog which you don’t want to directly call ugly but is not quite top-tier material into this middle-tier. Because of this, most mixed-breed dogs fall here (though some may still be bottom or top-tier). Common middle-tier dogs include beagles, Labradoodles, anything with cocker spaniel influence and most midsize to large shorthaired dogs. Midtier dogs typically tend to be larger, more active and have a wider range of personalities. There is also more hierarchy within the middle-tier itself. For instance, a pug would be at the bottom of the middle-tier, a corgi is the most average dog in existence (Reggie) and a labradoodle would be near the top of the middle-tier. Whereas many bottom-tier dog owners will admit their dog is not the best, most people with middle-tier dogs will personally believe their dog is among the cutest in the world. These are the people who most need appeasement about the cuteness of their dog, and will constantly show photos to people. Owners of top-tier dogs can simply acknowledge a certain level of cuteness of the middle-tier dog while holding onto the knowledge of the superiority of their own dog. Top-Tier Dogs The highest tier of dogs is an exclusive ring tending towards those breeds with active and smart personalities,

Reggie, a solidly middle-tier dog.

larger dogs with longer hair and more pointed faces. Classic top-tier dogs include: golden retrievers, German shepherds, huskies, border collies (and other sheepdogs) and Bernese mountain dogs. As an owner of a top-tier dog, I can speak from experience. To know if you have a top-tier dog ask yourself this: Do you often see your dog breed featured in movies or commercials? Do people genuinely fawn over your dog pictures, or are they feigning out of politeness? Is your dog genuinely intelligent? (For instance, mine knows a series of complicated tricks and has an understanding of the world and my family life.) Does your dog have a good personality, or is it lazy or rude? If you answered yes to most of these questions, you still may not have a toptier dog. The top tier is reserved for truly remarkable dogs, and most people are not good at subjectively assessing their dog’s quality. If you really want to know where your dog falls in the ranking, follow me on Twitter (@lydiamurray97) and send me photos of your dog and I will provide the unfiltered truth. We have arrived at a culture with groups like Dogspotting, where we are expected to react to every dog like it is a gift to the world. Society expects us to hold all dogs in some high regard without any real critical thinking about the individual quality of each dog. We act as if all dogs are beautiful and perfect when in reality many dogs are fairly average or simply bad. I say we must reject that model and accept the world as it is: Not all dogs are cute.

Amelia Cacchione/Daily

Wednesday, January 10, 2018 // The Statement

A Saturday in Cook’s library A brief histor y of the Law Libra r y

by Matt Gallatin , Daily Arts Writer

n a Saturday I sit in the Law library. I often do this, busy or not, wasting my time pretending I’m using my time wisely. If I’m sitting in the library, I’m working, right? Of course, when I say “work,” I’m saying that I’m simply sitting, and by sitting in the library, I’m sitting productively. The Law library does that. It makes me feel like these hours spent curating a Facebook feed I never even use are somehow hours well spent, hours moving me in a forward direction, hours put into learning. I can call anything learning next these dimly lit bookshelves, amid the rows of old editions of the Texas Reports on Law with dates that feel strangely distant and somehow very present. The era when the Law library was built feels the same. This stretch between the 1920s and ’30s was the lifespan of prohibition, the playground era for f lappers and followers of the green light — cultural phenomena that students at the University might have been forced to endure in a high school literature class. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past,” Fitzgerald writes, and a roar of amen rises from North Campus as they throw their copies of “The Great Gatsby” into a wellfunded new recycling machine. To the students today who do sit within the Law Library, that era of prohibition likely feels ridiculous. The failed

campaign, an attempt at masquerading public sobriety as public morality, feels especially removed when considering modern lives and modern laptops. Many sitting around me might have rolled out of Meijer with several blue 24-packs just earlier today. Most will endure no jail time for it. But the Law Library, built in such a seemingly archaic time, is hardly a regressive stalwart against technological progress. Despite its buttressed ceilings, wooden walls and stained glass, the English Gothic architecture has not managed to keep modernity at bay. Gradient, cool mountains behind the white “Patagonia” label sticker Mac computers and pearshaped Swell water bottles. Other students have stickers that advertise coffee, or the Wolverine Support Network, or have a cute design inspired by the 2009 Pixar animation film “Up.” The donor of this library was William W. Cook. Cook came from a time at the University when suits were the uniform and sleevelessness a sin; when women were barred from the Michigan Union without a man by their side, and when North Campus did not exist. So Cook would probably gawk at the attire of the students sitting within his Law Library. Across the table from me, a boy wears a white t-shirt that reads “Saturdays / New York City.” I think it’s a brand but I don’t know it. His hair looks

vaguely like a ’80s movie star’s; brown, pushed back, but not aggressively. Or the girl, sitting a few seats down from myself, scrolling for lingerie on LoversLane.com. ***** No comprehensive account exists of the construction of the University of Michigan Legal Research Library, more colloquially known as the Law Library. Rarely in the early 20th century did builders keep detailed notes of the day-to-day process, unless significant design changes were made on the ground; even then, those changes are more likely documented in letters — say, between builder and architect, or architect and patron. This absence comes as a bit odd, even striking, when thinking about the ubiquity of the building. The Law Library is one of the first that comes to mind when describing the University’s campus, a glimmering piece of a classic, collegiate architecture on a campus with an often incongruous style. The Law Library stands apart from the Victorian storefronts downtown, the mixed style of the Michigan Union and the harsh brutalism of the Hatcher Graduate Library’s south stacks. The prominence the library would play on campus was not unknown when it was built. In October of 1930, The Michigan Daily raved about the building, seeing it as a great moment for the University: “The crying need for formulation, statement and improvement of all branches of the law into a form intelligible, not only to law students and lawyers, but to the layman as well, is at present being nowhere more adequately met than at this University, where, with the completion in a very few months of the Legal Research building, the latest addition to the Lawyers’ Club quadrangle, unprecedented facilities fors (sic) legal study will be available.” For the writer, the facilities for the study of law and the actual study of law go hand-in-hand. One cannot occur without the other; it’s as if this gothic building, designed in a tradition that is especially collegiate, is meant to impart a studious excellence. You might think the effect goes the other way; that students, not the buildings, should bring the atmosphere of scholarship to the University. But great collegiate architecture, especially the older, more gothic inspired buildings, can sometimes affect a desire for study in itself. The chandeliers, the long Courtesy of Bentley Historical Library tables, the wooden bookshelves — these Construction of the Law Quarangle as seen from the corner of Tappan and South University in 1924. all have a way of tuning a student into the

academic register. The building’s donor, William W. Cook, held this sense, that the facilities are necessary for good study. Cook, born in Hillsdale, Mich., in 1858, donated the Law Library and most of the Law Quadrangle. After earning his undergraduate and legal degrees in 1880 and 1882 respectively, he went on to practice corporate law in New York City, on which he eventually wrote a widely circulated book, “Cook on Corporations.” The book became a seminal work for corporate law, widely cited and reissued several times. Cook’s writings would help shape American corporate law just as it was becoming increasingly relevant, with the second industrial revolution ushering in the first large national companies. One of Cook’s other writings, “Trusts,” would help lay the foundation for Ohio’s famous anti-monopoly case to break up John D. Rockefeller’s corporation, Standard Oil Company. He became one of the most prominent donors to the University, eventually giving a total of nearly $16 million (worth over $200 million in today’s money), which he says was in part to memorialize his father and in part a ref lection of his strong desire to make the University one of the foremost leaders in legal study. He operated at first under a condition of strict anonymity with his donation, and he navigated publicity carefully. He once stated he wanted no buildings named after him, but after his death, the Law Quad and its buildings were renamed, and they all now bear his name. Cook’s hand was heavy in the construction of the buildings, having requested plans for the library as early as 1924, without prior consultation with the law faculty. He contracted the New York-based architectural firm York & Sawyer, whose work he was familiar with, as the firm designed Cook’s own brownstone apartment in the Upper West Side of New York City. As construction of the Law Quad commenced, Cook showed an increasing concern with the specifics of design. Though Cook had some prior stipulations, it was during the planning of the Law Library when animosity and willfulness began to show their colors. “I know nothing about architecture but have had more experience in legal research than any of them,” Cook wrote in one letter, and he indeed imposed this will, requesting specific alterations in the location of bookcases, carrels, tables and so forth.

Though he concerned himself with the aesthetics, he above all believed in fostering the best possible place for “the scientific study of law, in all its aspects — social, political and economic,” at the University. His donations more than anything aimed to accomplish this. The faculty, though, grew irate with Cook during the construction of the Law Library. “Cook’s manner is arrogant and he is, of course, wholly ignorant of local conditions,” Henry Bates wrote, the dean of the Law School at the time. Cook was also growing unhappy, and the Law Library became the battleground between Cook and the University. Cook increasingly saw the University — besides a few select individuals — as inept, and began to take an even stronger role in working with the architects on study carrel arrangement, brick choice, bookshelf placement and so forth. At one point, Cook wrote of “serious differences between Bates and (President Clarence Cook) Little and myself as to the proposed new library building,” to the point where he threatened to remove funding. Soon after, he wrote to York, one of the architects: “I don’t believe I shall ever like the present design. It looks for all the world like a cathedral.” The building was completed in 1933. ***** The student with that confounding “Saturdays / New York City” t-shirt, studying in the William W. Cook Law Library, has gotten up. Behind he leaves a Starbucks cup and a laptop. The Starbucks cup is the festive all red one, which recalls Christmas and, if you will it, Satan. He returns about 10 minutes later and charges his laptop. I go down the stairs of the Law Library into the basement, where Saturdays T-shirt just returned. Next to the green-carpeted extension, which was completed in 1981, are the men’s and women’s restrooms and vending machines. The men’s bathroom in

Students study in the Law Library.

the basement of the Law Library is a dark and sickly gray color, particularly fitting for an austere Gothic design. On my campus tour, my guide enthusiastically compared the Law Quad to Hogwarts, Harry Potter’s Gothic, magical school of wizardry. The comparison seemed a bit cheesy, sort of forced at the time. The buildings are nice but I can’t fly on a broomstick or conjure frogs out of spiders, despite how much I’ve tried. But the comparison works in this bathroom. The cracked tiles and well worn urinals, as grimy as they are, give the place a sense of magic—because they’re real. Not that I think magic is real. But Hogwarts and Harry Potter wasn’t just some prim and proper Disney ride, omitting the grit of the wizarding world. There were ups and downs. There were murders. And I can see “Moaning Myrtle,” that poor girl killed by an enormous, bloodthirsty snake in book two, sitting in the last stall on the right in the men’s restroom. I walk in that stall and don’t find Myrtle. Rather, a phrase sticks out, scribbled on the left divider: “This is the best place on campus to shit.” They — whoever they are — might be right, and this was likely meant to be fraternal, but instead, it has an oddly violating, sort of voyeuristic sense to it, and Harry Potter and his broomstick-flying friends disappear, leaving one-ply toilet paper in their place. ***** William Cook died in 1930 at the age of 72, before his library and the Law Quad were completed. He never, so much as we know, paid a visit to see the buildings as they were constructed. The Michigan Daily wrote of a rumor that he feared actually observing the buildings might result in disillusionment with the grand project he set out to create. He did, though, ask for monthly statistics and reports on the usages of the facilities. He did the same for the all-female Martha Cook Residence

Amelia Cacchione/Daily

Construction of a Law Quadrangle dormitory in 1924.

Hall, which he also donated and had named for his mother. The same architectural firm Cook hired for the Law Quad, York & Sawyer, designed Martha Cook. Cook’s reputation with the University is complicated — not nearly as simplistic as the benevolent donor narrative that $16 million is bound to make for you. Cook had large strings attached to some of his donations, even outlining the specific terms for eligibility into the Lawyer’s Club, which was built just before the Law Library. Arguments over those conditions are at least part of the reason President Clarence Cook Little — who is known today for his eugenicist views — was forced to resign in 1929, pushed by the regents because they felt he lacked diplomacy in the matter. Cook’s legacy remains nonetheless vital to the University. Today, the Law Quad, and the Law Library especially, represent the utmost in architectural beauty at the University. Cook’s donations also helped, as he hoped they would, to solidify the University as a place for legal excellence, which it has remained since the erection of these facilities. ***** I’m thinking about legal excellence, looking at the table across Saturdays T-shirt, as a boy puts his forehead flat down on the wooden table. The patterns in the wood on which he lies are mesmerizing, and if stared at long enough, induce a kind of psychedelic experience. Near the boy’s resting head sits a sign that reads, “Food Forbidden — Noncompliance will result in removal from the premises.” Next to the boy with his head down on the table, a girl in a Delta Delta Delta sweater reads a psychology textbook, open to a page about the brain, looking at a section about the amygdala, a little almond shaped nucleus in the temporal lobe. Two girls whisper to each other at the table next to her, and she glares at them, then grabs a handful of nuts from her trail mix.

Courtesy of Bentley Historical Library

I leave the Law Library, walking out the heavy doors and into the bitter cold, head numb from dull democratic theory. There comes a point after exiting the library when the synapses stop firing, when you disconnect entirely from the collective groupthink, the brain that sits beneath the floor corked for added silence, and suddenly that paper on de Tocqueville seems absurd as your friend regales you of the endowment of their most recent fling. Of everything Cook concerned himself about regarding the exterior of the Law Library, it was the minarets, as he called them, on the four corners of the building that occupied him most. He was adamant about these, and he got his wish. “At any rate kindly raise the corners 20 or 30 or 40 feet and let us see how the whole building will look,” he wrote to York and so they did. It’s unclear why these corners were of such specific interest to Cook, who seemed far more concerned with function and practicality than aesthetics. But these pillars stand tall now, defining features of the Law Library. For those who live on South Campus, walking home from Ashley’s will pass these unmistakable pillars. I’ve made this walk many times and never fail to look left on State Street with a prideful sense of awe at the spires leaping into the sky. Those minarets give setting to the flocks of crows which often occupy a few nearby trees, and in the evening it’s not uncommon for a few of those black birds to swirl and shriek around the pillars. On this particular evening, the sky is strangely red, sort of frightening, like a scene from an old horror film about werewolves and vampires, shot in grainy blacks and grays. Looking at those pillars, I thank Cook for the extra 20 or 30 or 40 feet. Inside, a girl with the phrase “The Lodge” on her red T-shirt sits in the seat where Saturdays T-shirt sat before. She locks eyes with the Tri-Delt eating almonds from her trail mix and takes a deep breath.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018 // The Statement

Let’s Talk About It: Writing through my obsessions

was recently tapping away at my keyboard keys writing an article I was not feeling passionate about. This was deeper than a few bad weeks of writing. I recently felt the same way about my poetry, but learned to build my confidence in writing poems through a workshop class last fall semester. Every week I would write — even on days I did not feel I could keep writing — and when I did, I discovered something new about the way I think.

BY RABAB JAFRI, COLUMNIST or when I wanted to put the ideas behind my own choices into words that would resonate with other people. This connection was invigorating for me and gave me a confidence I never had before. I stopped writing poetry when I started feeling like I was repeating myself, but I learned to stop fearing how my words would be perceived before they even reached the page. I started to treat writing as a process of discovery instead of right or wrong.

And yet, so often when people do an act that is a process instead of something polished, we stop ourselves from doing the very things that keep us going. We put pressure on ourselves to be perfect, to create an image to uphold over social media or for our friends, or even people we have never met. We do not allow ourselves to fail and focus on the end result of everything that we do. We focus on becoming a “brand” instead of just a person trying to fig ure out

what they want to do in this life that’s ever-changing. I realized the problems I was having in my writing were the same ones I was having elsewhere in my life. Instead of focusing on the present, on what I wanted to write in this moment, I started to focus on myself as a writer 10 or 50 steps from now. To be mindful and present is an accomplishment in and of itself, and one that is too often overlooked.

And so, as I wrote through my poems, they revealed to me why I had started writing and why I had stopped. On the first day of my poetry workshop, I walked in and told my professor I was worried about becoming known as the “Muslim poet” in class because I write frequently about religion. What she replied with stuck with me. She explained that it is your obsession that chooses you, and you must write through your obsessions even if it feels like you are writing the same poem twice. From then on, I saw the poems we read in a much different light, watching my peers write through their obsessions while I tried to write through mine. I find myself often falling into the trap of focusing on being productive to perfection, forgetting that some of the greatest thinkers in history began by working on improving themselves before sharing their ideas with the world. And so, as I wrote through my poems, they revealed to me why I had started writing and why I had stopped. I started writing poetry as a means of telling stories to counter common stereotypical narratives that frustrated me. I wrote as soon as I saw a news headline I did not agree with

ILLUSTRATION BY RABAB JAFRI

Wednesday, January 10, 2018// The Statement

Anatomy of a home BY ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY, EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

bout 200 miles south of Ann Arbor, off exit 50 on I-275, and after a series of left and right turns, sits an old Tudor-style house. Safely positioned at the end of a cul-de-sac, painted a soft brown with maroon shutters, it now sits empty, with only the remnants of what used to be a bustling home of a family of five — my family of five. I grew up in a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio and experienced the quintessential suburban childhood. I attended a local public school, played endless games of capture the f lag and wiff le ball in our tight-knit neighborhood, spent early mornings at Weller Park at soccer tournaments with the local community team, went to school dances, learned to drive and for the most part, had a childhood that was both normal and a privilege. I was consistently supported by my parents, Indian immigrants who had no idea what a quintessential American childhood entailed yet were somehow able to provide it for my brothers and me. Cincinnati is the place where my family of five spent the most time together, living under one roof, all together, something I eventually took for granted. Halfway through my senior year, after my older brothers graduated and fled the nest to their respective colleges and jobs, my parents decided to leave: to leave the place we lived for 18 years. To leave the creaky house at the end of Ironwood Court, where memories were embedded into every crevice of a house; where I decided I was an undiscovered artist and drew flowers in sharpie on the wall of our yellow kitchen, the gaping door handle sized hole in my parents room created after I slammed the door so hard after one argument or another, the chewed out corners of our family room coffee table which our yellow lab Cooper designated as his preferred toy, our tri-level maroon deck where each of the Roy-Chaudhury kids had their graduation parties and my grandparents would sit and read for hours on end. They decided to leave the creaky house, which for 17 years prevented any sneaking out in the middle of the night and always ensured that when one person woke up in the morning, everyone did. They left the dented mailbox at the foot of the driveway, which for more than 10 years doubled as a soccer goal post. They decided to leave a house that saw parties of all shapes and sizes. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and the usual “Indian dinner party” were all

held in the creaky house on Ironwood Court. They decided to leave a house that saw moments of absolute and pure happiness, infectious laughter and the gatherings of friends and family, who provided the needed insulation to our life in Cincinnati. They left a house that at the same time saw moments of intense anger and sadness. During the summer after my senior year of high school, my parents moved to Tucson, Arizona for my dad’s job. For the majority of my last semester in high school, I remember feeling almost nothing. No sense of sadness or loss in anticipation of my parents pending embarkment west. I was too caught up in the excitement of senior year and my own upcoming move to Ann Arbor. I naively believed their move would have no influence on me, because I was leaving too, and more, I assumed I was ready to leave. Come August, while my parents went back and forth from Cincinnati to Tucson, moving some of our stuff and leaving others, the time finally came to pack up my own room. I said my goodbyes to friends, who like most people in Cincinnati, were more family than anything else. I spent the first 18 years of my life in one place, molded and shaped by those who surrounded me. My friends and family from Cincinnati had front row seats to my life; they were my biggest supporters and my most important critics. We packed our car to the brim, with just enough room for me in the backseat, surrounded by everything I assumed I needed, not realizing just how much I was leaving behind. I think we all understand how hard college can be, especially as a freshman. It’s the feeling of jumping off the high dive at the pool; exciting, nerve-wracking and the sense that you’ll never know if you keep your body straight enough to avoid a painful impact. My first months at school began with that same nervous excitement and unfolded into a skewed and twisted jump off the high dive. Once I got to school, all I wanted to do was leave; to go back to the house on Ironwood Court, to the blue and yellow kitchen and the green couches. I wanted to walk in through the squeaky garage door and hear my brother watching TV, smell my mom’s chicken curry and the mumble of my dad on a conference call upstairs. I wanted us all to be back in the places we had been for almost 17 years. I wanted things and people to be where they were supposed to be, how they were. The discomfort of being a freshman, thrown into an environment where I

ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY KOFFSKY

knew no one and relationships were made quickly and then ended just as fast, had me dreaming of Cincinnati. Although freshmen typically feel this sense of homesickness, mine was multiplied and rooted in a deep resistance to change. Ann Arbor was still unknown. Thoughtful and real relationships in my new home had not been formed yet, and Cincinnati was no longer home base for my family. Tucson, a small city nestled between the Catalina Mountains, was foreign to me, and for a while, every second spent there was a reminder of how much my life had changed. In an attempt to feel some sort of grounding and stability to endure the awkward, lonely and also exciting moments of college, I clung to Cincinnati. I held on so tightly to something I felt was going to slip away. Every break initiated a fight between my parents on how many days would be allocated where, every relationship formed had me comparing it to the lifelong friends I had in Cincinnati, and the answer to “Where are you from?” was met with a rehearsed answer, when internally, I had no idea. Yet, I soon realized I was holding myself back. As my grip around Cincinnati tightened, my ability to be present in Ann Arbor was lacking, if not nonexistent. Now, in the second semester of my junior year, I look back at that first semester and, like most of us, see a completely different person. The creaky house in Cincinnati wasn’t a home because of all the physical things — the countertops, the couches, the dented mailbox — it was a home

because the four most important people in my life lived there. The friends who are now, and forever will be, family were only minutes away. The memories I so attributed to tangible things existed because of the people who created them. Holding on to Cincinnati prevented me from making those same memories in Ann Arbor and creating the relationships I was so lucky to have where I grew up and now, am fortunate enough to have again in college. The idea of home was once singular for me. It was that brown and maroon house at the end of a cul-de-sac. The yellow and blue kitchen, the sharpie adorned walls and dented mailbox. Now, I am lucky enough to have three homes: Ann Arbor, Cincinnati and Tucson. And, all three of these places are virtually opposite in every aspect except one; each is home to people I love. And, in the end, isn’t that what a home actually is? Not where the laughs or fights took place, but who they were with. Not the yellow walls or the dining table, but the conversations and memories that formed around and within them. As a junior, I realize that in a year or so I’ll be going through the same process, leaving a place which is embedded with memories, tangible landmarks of some of the most exciting and hard times in my life thus far. Yet, just as my home in Cincinnati was a home because of my family and friends, Ann Arbor is the same. After all, if I have learned anything over the past three years, it’s the people that matter most, not the place.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018 // The Statement

V I S UA L STAT E M E NT: A R C H I T E C T U R E

Last week I visited my friend Martina Potlach, a junior in the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, in her studio in the College’s newly renovated building on North campus. Students spend hours in the giant space working on countless iterations of projects, often late into the night. Since it is the beginning of the semester, while it might not seem like it, the studio was empty and clean compared to later in the semester when models and drafts of projects pile up on every surface in the room. Walking around, it was amazing to see the creativity and uniqueness of each student’s studio space, packed with old projects and materials, which they supply for themselves.

Photos by Evan Aaron