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Monday, January 22, 2018
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Another Sweep The Michigan hockey team continued to show its steady progress under Mel Pearson by earning its second consecutive weekend sweep
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Day Four of Nassar trial, calls for action from MSU SOPHIE SHERRY & RIYAH BASHA
Managing News Editors MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
Students and members of the public gather in the Diag for the second annual Women’s March Saturday.
Second Women’s March rallies around #MeToo, voting efforts
March, themed “Power to the Polls,” draws crowd of over 4,000 to Ann Arbor KATHERINA SOURINE & ELIZABETH LAWRENCE Daily Staff Reporters
Pink pussy hats, bubbles and handmade signs flooded the University of Michigan Diag Saturday, signs that the Women’s
March in Ann Arbor had returned for its second annual rally. The first march in Washington, D.C., occurring the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, protested Trump’s sexist rhetoric and policies. The theme of this year’s local march, according to vice chair of the Washtenaw County
Board of Commissions Michelle Deatrick, who is also running for Michigan State Senate in Ann Arbor, is “power to the polls,” to encourage people to get and stay engaged as the November elections approach. Approximately 4,000 students, faculty and community members assembled on the Diag for the
rally. As one of hundreds of women’s marches occurring nationwide, this year’s gathering included voter registration and poster-making tables, as well as outreach stations from organizations.
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Twenty-one more survivors rose to stand in the Ingham County courthouse to share their experience of sexual abuse at the hands of former Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar on Friday. Nearly every seat in the courtroom was filled by survivors and their families, and at the conclusion of each impact statement the room erupted in applause. Nassar, the former doctor for USA Gymnastics and MSU, has pled guilty to seven counts of first degree sexual misconduct in Ingham County and three counts in Eaton county, including sexual assault and abuse of girls as young as six years old. Survivors testifying Friday
morning recounted years of abuse along with the life-long mental and physical suffering which followed. Trenea Gonzcar identified herself as one of “the originals” who has known Nassar for 31 of 37 years and stood by his side through most of it. “I remember thinking that if no one could fix me, you could,” Gonzcar said. It was not until recently Gonzcar identified herself as a survivor. Calculating the amount of times she saw Nassar for “treatment” through her life, she estimates she was assaulted nearly 800 times. During her statement, Nassar broke down shaking in tears as Gonzcar told him she was done defending him, choosing to stand alongside the other survivors.
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Chicago mayor discusses Apply-ins taxing for struggles with public schools
ACADEMICS
potential students
Applications otherwise helpful to administration in Ford, Public Health REMY FARKAS & SAYALI AMIN Daily Staff Reporters
Protesters decry lack of funding, exorbitant police academy JORDYN BAKER Daily Staff Reporter
On Friday afternoon, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel spoke to a full house of University of Michigan students and community members at Stamps Auditorium. As part of the class Entrepreneurship
407: Entrepreneurship Hour, Emanuel discussed entrepreneurship and innovation, drawing both on his past and present experience in politics. Emanuel was elected as mayor in 2011, and before served in Congress and as Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama. He explained that during his time in the
White House, there was never a shortage of crises, specifically within the financial sector and automotive industry. But he noted with each challenge came a new lesson in his role as a politician.
As list of speakers continues to grow, another day expected until sentencing
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CARLY RYAN, ANDREW HIYAMA & AMARA SHAIKH
LSA sophomore Amanda Wasserman was nearly in tears as she hit the submit button. A stressful and overwhelming process had led up to this moment — she had just submitted her application to pursue an undergraduate degree in the School of Public Health. After taking a public health class and learning about various health crises, Wasserman dismissed thoughts of going into medicine and instead was sold on the broader impact of public health. But not everyone is accepted into the program. Wasserman is one of many University of Michigan students applying into a major or program for their upper level coursework. Students must apply to get into undergraduate programs in more than nine schools at the University.
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Mayor of Chiago Rahm Emanuel speaks about the future of entrepreneurship in Chicago as a part of the Entrepreneurship Speaker Series Friday.
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INDEX
Larry Nassar, the former doctor for US Gymnastics and Michigan State University, is the defendant in three criminal cases –– two in state courts and one in federal court –– for possession of child pornography and sexual abuse of over one hundred athletes whose medical treatment he was responsible for. Nassar received a degree in kinesiology from the University of Michigan in 1985, and worked with the University’s football and track and field teams while he was a student. The dates of the assaults span decades, with the earliest occurring in 1992, when Nassar was still a medical student at MSU, and the latest occurring in 2016. Several of the lawsuits against Nassar also include MSU as a defendant. MSU employees were notified of Nassar’s abuse as early as 1999, but largely either
Vol. CXXVII, No. 59 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
dismissed or suppressed the complaints. MSU President Lou Anna Simon was notified of a Title IX complaint and a police report against Nassar in 2014, which she said were reported to her as being “against an unnamed physician.” Ingham County criminal case One of the cases, a criminal case in Ingham County, has drawn widespread attention with 120 women and girls accusing him of sexual assault, many of whom are Olympic gold medalists. Nassar has pleaded guilty to 7 counts of sexual assault, though over one hundred girls have been able to speak on their experiences of assault. Though not a part of the Ingham County case, Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Jamie Dantzscher also spoke on their abuse by Nassar. The sentencing hearing began Jan. 16 and will last at least 5 days. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina set aside time for survivors to share statements in front of Nassar.
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ON THE DAILY: RESEARCHERS OUTSMART MOTION SICKNESS RACHEL LEUNG Daily Staff Reporter
Reading in a moving car can be an issue for a lot of passengers who suffer from motion sickness, but University of Michigan researchers announced Friday they may have a solution. Not only are the researchers looking
for innovations to help with motion sickness itself, but they are looking at how these systems can be useful in self-driving cars. According to the Michigan Medicine, motion sickness occurs when the body sends conflicting signals to the brain, which often happens when a passenger is not watching the road when inside a moving vehicle. Researchers predict that more adults will
experience motion sickness in self-driving cars. In 2015, researchers from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute asked approximately 3,200 adults from six countries what activities they would do in a self-driving car. The study found a third of Americans would partake in behavior –– reading, watching TV, working –– that
would increase the possibility of motion sickness. In a 2016 UMTRI report, researchers asserted potential gains in productivity that selfdriving cars encourage could be hindered by increased cases of motion sickness.
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Rackham students organize conference, “The Other America” King Jr.’s legacy. The conference associate professor of Political presented three panels throughout Science at the University of Daily Staff Reporter the day on discrimination African Washington, spoke to the audience Americans face in today’s society. on “The Strange Fruit of American A multi-panel event, titled The conference was organized Politics,” which included allusions Sudoku http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ “The Syndication Other America: Still by Rackham students Hakeem to both past and current racial J. Jefferson and Steven issues, such as the August incidents Moore. Each panel examined in Charlottesville. Additionally, a different realm of racial Francis stressed top universities injustice and inequality, don’t typically host events with ranging from mass such directness surrounding incarceration and police racial injustice, emphasizing the MEDIUM violence to socioeconomic and importance of the conference. educational inequalities. This “These types of conferences event followed Martin Luther don’t happen at institutions,” King Jr. Day celebrations on Francis said. “In so many ways, Jan. 15, and gave the audience a I think this conference is history deeper insight into the realities making.” African American life in the The panel also featured U.S in a way that indicated Frank Baumgartner, professor of much of the fight against Political Science at the University racism is far from over. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The conference’s first panel, Baumgartner touched on issues “Criminal Justice and State of criminal justice and the gap Violence against Blacks in the between Blacks and whites United States,” was held in the being questioned or searched at morning and featured three a traffic stop. In his presentation, panelists from distinguished Baumgartner cited the greater universities and backgrounds. likelihood of being searched as The discussion, moderated an African American and the by Political Science professor consequences of racial profiling on Christian Davenport, focused the roads. Baumgartner also noted on the history of the African- age and gender, in addition to race, American struggle within play a role in the probability of the United States, as well as being pulled over. the continued discrimination © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. BLONDE ROAST. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com faced by African Americans Read more at today. MichiganDaily.com Megan Ming Francis, Generate and solve Sudoku, Super Sudoku and Godoku puzzles at sudokusyndication.com! DANELLE PASEKOFF
Separate. Still Unequal.,” was held Friday at the Michigan Union to highlight continuing racial injustices from economic, social and political standpoints, while commemorating Martin Luther
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Michigan in Color
No Role Models
YOUNG LEE
MiC Columnist
“No role models and I’m here right now No role models to speak of Searchin’ through my memory, my memory, I couldn’t find one” – J. Cole Think of the first person you’ve ever admired. Perhaps you thought of someone in your neighborhood growing up or a family friend. Maybe you struggled with finding someone nearby. Role models do not have to be limited to older members living in your community. For many, to fill the void of suitable role models, there are always figures in culture to hold in high regard. Even growing up in a community where you feel like the outsider, at least there is always someone to
relate with through another medium, the messages society and media feed to you as the ideal to aim to be. Think of the poise and confidence of Tom Brady evading defenders left and right in the passing pocket. The furrow in his eyebrows while being brought down by a defensive lineman, eyes still locked downfield to see if his receiver made the catch, crowd roaring. Or maybe it’s the character in the sitcom who is slightly awkward but still becomes the mediator at the right times and shines during their moment. Growing up can be hard, and part of that process of discovering yourself and finding your uniqueness inevitably involves having role models: individuals who you can look up to for assurance that going down your current path will be able to lead
to a desired outcome. For individuals with the privilege of having someone who looks like them represent them on media, they are able to validate their every nook and cranny of their personality. For every quirk in character or behavior, human beings want to know they are normal. And for most people, there is that somebody, whether it be in the community or in media, who normalizes your behavior or personality and who acknowledges and represents your full humanity, full of nuance and complexity. For most of my life, I had no conception of what it meant to be a Korean-American man, to be able to envision myself in 20 years. The best representation was always my dad. Stern and stoic, his only interests were to make sure my sisters and I enjoyed prosperous lives in the future. His perceived one-
dimensionality, a common stereotype of Asian parents, carried into the one-on-one conversations we had in car rides. (It would only be years later when I first initiated a conversation with my dad about my struggles when he shared his own hardships.) Feelings were never discussed. Instead, food was on the table, and I was put in varying extracurriculars to fill the time not in school. It was assumed that I would end up becoming successful somehow, always biding my time for a mythical future. What I didn’t have was any fathom of was what to do with the time in between. Looking for myself among the sea of faces on television, there was no one. Instead, the few times that do pop into mind were always varying permutations of the same stereotype of the nerd or the martial artist. Was it okay to be introverted but still possess a deep personality? Could I be interested in humanities but still pursue a career in the STEM field? It felt as though every time I deviated from my parents’ wishes, I was pushing the envelope in what society and the messages I grew up with expected of me, when it shouldn’t be that way. There is an undeniable connection that comes from seeing someone like you on television that can’t be mimicked no matter if there was a person of another background playing out your life’s key events. Representation also extends beyond just having role models. Representation also involves other deeper underlying issues. From corporations in America to the locker rooms, voting booths and Hollywood, Asian Americans are not being represented. This past year included both highs as well as lows in progress for increasing
Monday, January 22, 2018— 3A diversity in Hollywood. Though there may have been a slight mishap during the Oscars, “Moonlight,” a movie portraying a gay AfricanAmerican teenager growing up in Miami won Best Picture. It’s a full-length movie that is able to portray the protagonist Chiron’s myriad of social identities as well as his daily struggles. The movie does a masterful job of depicting Chiron’s transition from boy to man, trying to figure out life like the rest of the audience. However, a low point last year was Matt Damon being casted as the lead for “The Great Wall,” a movie set in China where he “discovers” the secrets behind the Great Wall and plays savior. I know many people who ask, “What’s the big problem? Why does it matter who gets the lead role in a movie?” But when you’ve never come into contact with someone of another race in your entire life, the only image of a person that comes to mind are ones that are already saturated in culture. Unconscious bias plays a huge role, and media shapes it. This is a well-documented psychological phenomenon called implicit bias. Perhaps it doesn’t matter as much in casual social settings, but what about in the rooms of corporations while choosing new potential candidates? Think of a scenario when it comes down to two people, one with a more “exotic” sounding name and one with a generic English name, but with the exact same specifications. In a study from Ryerson University and University of Toronto, job applicants with more Asian sounding names such as “Soyou Han” were 20 percent less likely to get called for an interview than Anglo names like “John Smith.” As the person hiring, you can only think of the
numerous shows you’ve seen with the immigrant speaking broken English, meek and shy, unable to be seen as a leader. In a 2015 study of Silicon Valley, Asian-Americans represented 27 percent of workers but only 14 percent of executives at the surveyed big tech firms. Perhaps for the company it was only a decision, but for me the message I got was simple: Asian Americans aren’t leaders. Who would you hire them? Representation matters. I’ll say it again. Representation matters. It is not just Asian Americans. There are other groups in this country who also do not have proper representation, such as those with disabilities. Representation that means being cast in those lead roles and being in front of the spotlight, but not in a way that relegates my heritage to the level of food on a sampler plate, only thought of as extra and as an appetizer for the main course. Representation in all its entirety and nuance, and all with individuals one can aspire to become. At the end of the day, human beings want few things. As social creatures, we desire friends and acceptance. For many individuals, there are ways to validate themselves through media. Nerdy band geek? You got it. Jock with a passion for art? You got it. However, there are people who do not have this same opportunity to feel empowered. Be that role model for another person. Show them that life does not have to be defined in neat little categories. Your quirks and character “f laws” can be your greatest assets. Maybe I would have still gone down my current path in life without any representation or role models, but damn, would it have been easier.
IMO (In MiC’s Opinion): The Government Shut down MiC Editorial Staff
On the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, congressional Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on a budget that would secure continued protection for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. As of now, this has resulted in political gridlock: While Republicans have pushed for CHIP, the Trump administration seems to be against protecting DACA. On the other hand, Democrats have been fighting to continue funding and support for both. While an argument can be made that this government shutdown is a direct result of the fight to protect CHIP and DACA — two programs that benefit people of color — it is important to understand the impact this fight will have on marginalized communities. Lack of action on CHIP and DACA More specifically, CHIP helps children across the country live healthier lives by granting children from low-income families access to medical care. Unfortunately, this program’s funding expired this past year, and no agreement has been met on supplying its future funding. Though CHIP only represents 3 percent of our total Medicaid costs, Republican opposition to the program may condemn low-income children across the United States to being raised without access to necessary vaccines and other health coverages. Up to 1.7 million kids may lose their healthcare in the upcoming weeks. In 2017, around 67 percent of CHIP recipients identified as people of color, which is why the loss
of this program would result in severe ramifications for these communities. DACA, on the other hand, is a provision from President Barack Obama’s administration that guarantees two years of safety for undocumented individuals who arrived in the United States as minors, as long as they are registered with the federal government. Today, there are approximately 800,000 registered Dreamers who have been promised they could stay in the country. However, the current administration has issued threat after threat against undocumented individuals. This means that Dreamers — our friends, neighbors and classmates — who took a huge risk by sending their personal information to the federal government in order to register for DACA may now see this information be used against them. Even on campus, DACA has sparked a larger dialogue about what students, staff and faculty can do to protect undocumented students. Earlier in Trump’s presidency, Central Student Government even passed two resolutions supporting DACA. Later, after the president tried to pass his travel ban, University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel stated the University is committed to protecting the rights of all community members and will not release the immigration status of any students. Additionally, he assured students that campus police would not ask them about immigration or citizenship status while working on campus. “The leadership of the university is committed to protecting the rights and opportunities currently available to all members of
our academic community, and to do whatever is possible within the law to continue to identify, recruit, support and retain academic talent, at all levels, from around the world,” Schlissel wrote in his Jan. 28 notice. The Trump administration’s visible disdain for people of color has been the cornerstone of the president’s policies since the beginning of his campaign. With this government shutdown, which we, the editors of Michigan in Color, feel is a testament to the lack of value the current administration places on undocumented individuals, his racist ideas and rhetoric are resulting in widespread failures of government that will cut off resources for many Americans. And perhaps unsurprisingly, people of color will be forced to bear a disproportionate amount of the burden. Effects of the shutdown Perhaps the most apparent consequence of a government shutdown is its effect on payment for federal employees. Those deemed “unessential” — roughly 700,000employees, the vast majority of all federal government workers — are now placed on furlough until Congress can reach a deal. This means that while Congress gets paid during the gridlock they created, over three-quarters of a million federal employees will not see a paycheck until a deal is reached (assuming that Congress passes a deal similar to one passed after the last shutdown, which granted back pay to furloughed employees). This pay freeze may seem relatively innocuous in the bigger picture; however, it’s crucial to understand the effect this will have on individual federal employees — especially those from marginalized groups.
Starting after the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, African Americans began f locking to federal jobs with newly-available positions for Black applicants. While jobs in the private sector were (and still are) limited by racist and exclusionary policies, federal jobs were largely seen as open to all racial identities and agents of upward mobility. According to a study from the University of California, Berkeley, which was reported on by NPR, “among industries that pay blacks the highest wages, the biggest proportion of those blacks work in the public sector.” The article went on to state that the report found “the earnings gap between whites and blacks, which exists in all industries, is the narrowest in government… [and] for every dollar earned by white government workers, black women in government earn 89 cents and black men earn 80 cents. Overall, black women earn 85 cents and black men earn 74 cents for every dollar earned by whites.” As a result of this history, Blacks are vastly overrepresented in federal government roles. Despite making up only about 13 percent of the country’s population, African Americans occupy almost 20 percent of all federal jobs. As a result, it’s easy to see why this shutdown disproportionately affects the group. This inequitable distribution isn’t a crazy coincidence or an inconsequential fact, it’s representative of a bigger problem: People of color, and members of other marginalized identities, all too often must unfairly bear the burden of government gridlock. Additionally, the impact of halting the services these federal employees offer will harm some groups more
than others. For example, 96 percent of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will be furloughed as a result of the government shutdown. HUD was created to address housing needs for “America’s most vulnerable populations” — which the department defines as the working poor, minorities, Native Americans, people with disabilities, people with AIDS, the elderly and the homeless. In other words, the majority of the groups described as “America’s most vulnerable populations” are minority groups (and even groups that aren’t exclusively made up of people of color, like the homeless, see a disproportionate share of minorities). Services provided by other government agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, will also be drastically reduced. According to Parlapiano and Yourish, 95 percent of employees at the EPA would be affected by a government shutdown, meaning many of the EPA’s services will be halted. Though this agency has a contingency plan that will allow it to operate for one week through a shutdown, if Congress is unable to bring this gridlock to a swift conclusion, crucial services — such as the regulation of air, water, pesticides, hazardous waste and the climate — will be delayed. The suspension of these services are more likely to impact people of color in a multitude of ways. For example, the regulation of air is imperative in safeguarding the health of people living near factories and other smogproducing industries, urban areas populated primarily by people of color. The final victims of the shutdown are children of color. According to a White House report from the 2013
fiscal year, over 6,300 lowincome kids in six states couldn’t attend their Head Start programs in preschool during the shutdown, leaving them in need of a place to stay while parents were at work. The majority of the children who comprise these Head Start programs are ethnic minorities — 29 percent Black, 4 percent American Indian/Native American, 2 percent Asian, and 37 percent of Hispanic or Latino origin, according to a 2016 national report. Similarly, Women, Infants, and Children, a program that works to fund supplemental nutrition for women and their children has also been compromised. This program not only gives support for low-income families through educational programs, but also supplies postpartum and breastfeeding women with supplemental foods and vitamins for their newborns. This not only creates issues for many of the families that may already live in food deserts, but also for women who desperately need nutritional foods to nourish their child within the vital time period of the first 28 days to one year of breastfeeding. In short, the government shutdown disproportionately puts a further burden on marginalized communities. While we firmly believe that CHIP and DACA are important policies that should stay, people of color should not be the ones to bear the weight of this government impasse. What we see with this shutdown down is the further exacerbation of systemic inequality that negatively affects the income, occupations, living conditions and the health of people of color. Ultimately, this shutdown sends a message from the Trump administration that the needs of marginalized communities
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Opinion
4A — Monday, January 22, 2018
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NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Happy anniversary, Mr. President. You wanted a shutdown. The shutdown is all yours.
Ali Safawi Sarah Salman Kevin Sweitzer Rebecca Tarnopol Stephanie Trierweiler Ashley Zhang
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.
— House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s comment on President Donald Trump’s influence on the government shutdown
MATTHEW FRIEND | COLUMN
O
What duty do I owe to the world?
ver the past few years, I have seen my older brother, a mentor of mine, become increasingly involved in social justice and civil rights issues. Two weeks ago, he began his professional career as a paralegal, working on death penalty defense cases on behalf of the state. This line of work is notoriously both difficult and emotionally draining. In his words, it is a fight against a system where the defense is routinely given fewer resources and tools than the prosecution and asked to do the same work. Being the arrogant business student I am, I recently asked him why he wants to devote his life to a field where he will continue to fight a frustrating uphill battle, all the while being compensated less than he might be in another field. According to him, he could not, in good conscience, live in a state that was routinely and unjustly mistreating its own citizens without doing something about it. In his opinion, those that are bystanders just contribute to the issue itself. His response took me by surprise, and in all honesty, I felt almost personally attacked by his answer. I try to subscribe to a life philosophy best characterized by the Elbert Hubbard quote, “Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll never get out of it alive.” By my brother’s standards though, acknowledging that problems exist in the world, and willfully choosing to ignore them on behalf of my own happiness does, in fact, add to the problem itself. While I initially tried to ignore that disconcerting thought, returning back to my world here at the University of Michigan, I couldn’t help but check my own reality, and think about all of the small, willfully complacent behaviors that exist in my daily routine.
Not a week goes by that I don’t find myself walking through the Diag on the way to class or downtown Ann Arbor, passing individuals protesting for causes I wholeheartedly agree with, yet rarely stopping to participate. I take Ubers and Lyfts around Ann Arbor when the weather drops below freezing in the winter, and though I have been told that one of these entities treats its employees better and provides them with a larger portion of the fare than its counterpart, I choose the service that is least expensive every time.
“Was I entitled to be unconcerned with issues that did not directly involve me?” As my mental register of complacent activities continued to grow, I began to consider the larger implications of this lifestyle. Was this philosophy of choosing to engage in behaviors that were most comfortable and convenient for me selfish, or was I entitled to be unconcerned with issues that did not directly involve me? I’ve spent the past few days working on this column, contemplating these questions and attempting to rationalize the belief that I was not responsible for the world’s problems. Those efforts have proven futile. If I walk past graffiti filled with racial slurs here on campus and choose to stay silent, I am in effect validating the behavior of the assailants. If I see a friend, or even stranger, being harassed at a party, and walk by when they are in need of help, I am part of whatever
NIA LEE | CONTACT NIA AT LEENIA@UMICH.EDU
may happen next. At the same time, there are an infinite number of wrongs in the world that could very well justify our attention and action, and perhaps it is just as unreasonable to have a stake in every fight. Should I refuse to buy a Chick-fil-A sandwich because the company has donated to anti-LGBTQ causes? If I take a stand against this food retailer, then do I also have to take a stand against McDonald’s, who sources some meat from firms known for inhumane animal practices? Should I refuse to buy diamonds because I am unsure they originate from ethical sourcing? Interestingly, I still see student organizations selling Chick-fil-A sandwiches on campus to raise money for their philanthropic causes (pretty ironic, huh?), long lines at the airport as people wait to satiate their hunger with some McNuggets and young nervous men buying engagement rings in preparation to pop the big question. In every one of these cases, we are in fact contributing to harmful institutions, and our action (or inaction) could be making the world a better (or worse off ) place. But it is unrealistic, and harmful to our personal wellbeing, to try to take a stake in every fight. It is important to acknowledge that every decision we make has consequences and to prioritize where we can and should take action. I am still figuring out where this balance exists for myself, and depending on your personal moral compass, everyone has their own unique balance. But if you can just try to be a little better every day, constantly improving yourself and the world around you, then you should not feel guilty for being selfish from time to time. Just make it up tomorrow.
Matt Friend can be reached at mjfri@umich.edu
”
KEVIN SWEITZER | COLUMN
Dems wrong in government shutdown
A
t its basic level, the in our country in hopes of role of our American scoring political points. government is to serve The consequences of as the voice of the people. this shutdown can’t yet They fundraise from be quantified. the American people Thousands through taxation, and of federal use those funds in the workers will best interest of the be furloughed country. Despite the starting today, last year’s whirlwind and some of the of political news, the nation’s critical essential functions infrastructure of government have and services are remained working to now shut off. serve the American Standard & Poor’s KEVIN people throughout SWEITZER estimate that the all of the turmoil 2013 government in Washing ton, D.C.. shutdown cost the U.S. Last Friday’s government economy $24 billion. This is shutdown was a failure of a cost that nobody — even the that critical responsibility, most outspoken Democrat on and Congressional Democrats Capitol Hill — wants for the are largely to blame. American economy. Shutting Congressional Democrats down the government is bemoaned the 2013 suspension almost certain to usher of federal services, and their in a period of unfiltered cries now ring hypocritically chaos for public sector hollow against their actions in workers and the millions of leading the U.S. Government Americans who rely on the to a crisis point. In 2013, federal government for their Republicans, led by Sen. economic well-being. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, halted government operations for 16 days in an attempt to pull funding for the unpopular — at the time — Affordable Care Act. In sacrificing the moral high ground, Republicans cemented the ACA’s place in public policy — and public opinion. Now, Congressional Democrats have taken the same shameful stance, and have driven the fight over the budget off the edge of a dangerous cliff. In a Thursday morning tweet, President Donald Trump Aside from the financial seemed to confuse his stance ramifications, the political on the issue of the Children’s ramifications of partially Health Insurance Program closing the nation’s — which finds its funding government are even higher. up for renewal during this The shutdown in 1995 led budget fight — and demanded to massive public disdain that Congress find a lasting for Republicans, and 2013’s solution. Republicans, who shutdown ushered in the proposed a short-term lowest approval rating of extension of CHIP, can’t the Republican party in agree with Democrats, who 20 years. Democrats are want a permanent funding currently riding a massive solution for CHIP. By shutting wave of positive public down the government, opinion — brought on by Democrats run the risk of the unpopularity of the having CHIP funding follow Trump administration and in the footsteps of the ACA Congressional Republicans’ opposition. In that case, inability to make actionable 1.7 million children in 20 progress on electorallystates and D.C., will lose mandated policy proposals. their health insurance. The Flushing that positive elevation of CHIP funding to public opinion down the a political level now risks the drain to prove a point to permanent defunding of the Republican leadership isn’t program, while failing the just a bad political move — most underserved children it’s a failure of their most
“A solution to DACA exists without funding the borderwall and without shutting down the government.”
basic responsibilities as our elected off icials. Even more shameful than the Democrats’ inaction on the budget is their insistence on using the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as a hostage in their negotiations to keep the government open. This program, which prevents the deportation of certain undocumented immigrants who were brought by parents to the United States as minors, is a policy that affects 800,000 young people. A judge in California already temporarily blocked implementation of the DACA repeal, and young immigrants deserve better than to have their lives used as a bargaining chip by people claiming to protect them. A solution to DACA exists without funding the border wall — as President Trump insists — and without shutting down the government. Gambling the fate of young immigrants, including many of our fellow University of Michigan classmates, on Republicans’ willingness to do the right thing is never a safe bet, and is a bet that will likely harm everyone involved. The way forward for the progressive policies that America desperately needs is through the retention of public opinion behind the Democrats. These policies also have no chance of implementation if the government isn’t running. Democrats’ best plan isn’t to stoop to the level of Ted Cruz in 2013 or Newt Gingrich in 1995, but rather to do their constitutionallymandated duty to fund the federal government, while working with Congressional Republicans to ensure that people protected under DACA will be able to remain in the United States and that the CHIP program can be funded in the long-run. The American people deserve better than a government shutdown, and Children’s Health Care coverage and the fate of DACA recipients should never be used as a bargaining chip in a political fight.
Kevin Sweitzer can be reached at ksweitz@umich.edu.
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Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Monday, January 22, 2018 — 5A
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
A proper home: on Animal Collective and finding mine SEAN LANG
Daily Arts Writer
Animal Collective recently played their 2004 album Sung Tongs in full for Pitchfork’s 21st birthday. As I watched a bootleg of the performance, I found myself falling back in time, a slave to the wanderings of my mind and its melancholic musings. “Sweet summer night, and I’m stripped to my sheets / Forehead is leaking, my AC squeaks / A voice from the clock says ‘You’re not gonna get tired’ / My bed is a pool and the walls are on fire” I’m barely conscious, drifting in and out of sleep in the back of my family’s 2001 Honda Odyssey. We’re driving down to South Carolina for spring break, and the van’s air conditioning is shot. Ten more hours until we reach Folly Beach — population 2,600 — the quiet, seaside tourist destination my parents have selected for the final vacation before my high school graduation. Later this week, Sufjan Stevens will release Carrie and Lowell, and I will become obsessed. As listening for the ride down, though, I’ve asked my girlfriend what albums I should download. She recommends five or six, but the only one I remember is Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009). One listen through and I was confused. After a few more admittedly drowsy attempts, I still couldn’t understand the appeal. The songs took too long to get anywhere. They were boring and had an oddly dark quality; Sometimes I still describe Animal Collective’s music as sounding evil. Nonetheless, I felt like I had to choose at least one song to say that I really liked. I settled on “Guys Eyes,” a tune with plenty of pleasant layers and harmonies that could only be inspired by the Beach Boys. Just under a year ago, I actually looked up the lyrics to the song, leaving me without a doubt that it is purely and proudly a song about masturbation. “So I used my mind / And I used my hand / It was what I want to do,” Noah Lennox
(aka Panda Bear) slyly croons, allowing the more naïve listener plausible deniability. “I really want to show my girl that I want her / If I could purge all the urges that I have and keep them for you / I really want to show my girl that I need her / I keep it locked right now” Around the same time, senior year of high school, I started reading Pitchfork. I didn’t know all that much about music — not that one has to or even should in order to enjoy it — and my favorite artists were Rise Against, Avicii and The Head and the Heart. I had joined Spotify late in 2012, the beginning of my sophomore year of high school, and revisiting my earliest playlists now is funny, if not wince-inducing. One in particular, entitled “nighttime,” bounces between Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iron & Wine, Ellie Goulding, City and Colour, OneRepublic and Neutral Milk Hotel, among various others. It’s a mix that I’m not sure I could stomach today, but one with songs that still hold a special place in my heart. I hate to say that Pitchfork was the sole resource used in my quest to discover my taste — aimless listening on Pandora can only take you so far — for two reasons. First, there’s something inherently dangerous about idolizing one publication’s preferences over another’s — something I’ve been guilty of on more than one occasion. At the end of the day, an album review is only one writer’s opinion. Second, Pitchfork really wasn’t my only resource. Right around the same time I immersed myself in the publication, I realized that many of my friends were also beginning to discover how much music was really out there. We began to have conversations about Kendrick Lamar, Passion Pit, MGMT, Bon Iver … the list goes on. “If I don’t think you know just what you’re doing / You pretend to know exactly all the things you keep on moving” Our listening didn’t go very deep, and there’s no way we really knew what we were talking about — I’m pretty sure I still generally
don’t — but we were learning about music and about ourselves. The way that we listened changed, as did what listening meant. We were no longer beholden to our parents’ tastes. Instead, the music that we liked, or chose to like, became a sort of identifier. It was a way to align ourselves with certain beliefs, a particular aesthetic, people we thought were cool. Discovering a new artist felt personal and unique and good. Looking back, my first real romantic relationship (with the aforementioned girlfriend) was initially based almost entirely on music recommendations we’d send back and forth and the conversations that would come from them. She adored punk folkrockers AJJ, and I showed her San Fermin, with their soaring brass melodies and oh so crisp vocals. It sounds silly, almost fake, like I’m putting music on too tall a pedestal, but my earliest understandings of the world truly beyond my hometown of East Grand Rapids came from music. AJJ’s “American Tune” (“So if I see a penny on the ground / I leave it alone or fucking flip it / I’m a straight white male in America / I’ve got all the luck I need”) was my introduction to the concept of privilege. Perfume Genius, Blood Orange and Owen Pallett illustrated what it means to be gay in America while Kendrick and Vince Staples detailed their struggles as Black men, both realities that I still learn about every day. At the same time, Pedro The Lion’s discography led me to questions about my faith and about who and what people actually are. “People / Always got to wash them at their ends. *** Fast forward to just under a year after Folly Beach. I’m walking between Mason Hall and the UMMA, Animal Collective’s Strawberry Jam playing through my headphones. It’s the beginning of a new semester — winter of my freshman year at U of M. “What’s pain? What’s sadness anyway? It’s not crying like a child / What’s graying? What’s aging anyway? It’s not growing in the
Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Monday, January 22, 2018
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
wild” I am scared. The day I come back from holiday break, I hallucinate my friends’ voices outside my dorm room, thinking they had followed me back from home. Maybe they’re going to surprise me. Their breaks are all almost a week longer than mine, so it’s not unfathomable. After more than a minute of wondering whether that really was Casey, Tristen, Elliot and Corey whom I hear outside, I get up from my bed and check the hallway. No one. The idea was ridiculous anyway. I check again, just to be sure. “And an obsession with the past is like a dead fly / And just a few things are related to the ‘old times’ / Though we did believe in magic and we did die” No, they haven’t planned a surprise visit. It really was too much to ask, but for some reason I’m still sad they aren’t there. I’ve just endured a full semester of friendlessness, save for my RA, and I can’t help but remember the faces of high school acquaintances when I told them the best friend I had made was someone whose job it was to make me feel welcome. The two weeks at home for holiday break were paradise, one that I loathed to relinquish. “Maybe I don’t belong here,” I think. “Maybe I should just go home.” Though a bit dramatic, the sentiment was real, especially when I was in the thick of it. “Our homes are all white / And we go dancing on a lake / And sleds will carry us tonight / And snowflakes will blow us on our way” One of my friends whom I had hoped would visit (and actually has many times since) had long insisted that I listen to Animal Collective, and something about my loneliness prompted me to take his recommendation more seriously. January of freshman year, I began listening to Strawberry Jam. The evil, dark quality of the band’s work that had previously repulsed me was now alluring. Within hours I found myself completely enamored, practically seduced (for lack of a
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ACROSS 1 Cried on cue, say 6 Nimble-fingered 10 Auntie on Broadway 14 Africa’s Sierra __ 15 Butterlike topping 16 Beatnik’s “Understood” 17 *Grocery store 19 Join the chorus 20 Like the chains in a chain necklace 21 Camp beds 22 Swear (to) 25 Pair in a dinghy 27 Employee’s reward 28 *Vessel for a cheesy dip 33 Cone-dropping trees 34 Recycling receptacle 35 Maps within maps 36 Therapists’ org. 37 *Ballroom dance that’s also a phonetic alphabet “F” 39 Shatner’s “__War” 40 Cash in, as coupons 42 “I __ only kidding” 43 Shoulder muscle, for short 44 *All-terrain high shoe 46 Sandburg and Sagan 47 Highest in quality 48 Gives a thumbsup 49 Wrinkle-removing injection 52 Acquires, as debts 55 State firmly 56 Stream crossing for pedestrians ... and what is literally provided by the interior letters in the answers to starred clues 60 Filet mignon order 61 World power initials until 1991 62 How contracts are signed 63 Iditarod vehicle 64 Fishing rod partner 65 Occur as a result
DOWN 1 1980s TV ET 2 Corporate VIP 3 Also 4 Tiresomely long 5 Downfall 6 Nerdy sort 7 Sommer of cinema 8 Get nourishment from 9 Trike rider 10 Applies incorrectly 11 Score after deuce 12 Ermine cousin 13 They’re often scrambled 18 Tiny farm denizen 21 Main impact 22 Repetitive barking 23 Taiwan’s capital 24 Rabble-rousing outburst 26 “Hasta la vista” 28 Predicament 29 Quarterback’s “Snap the ball at the second ‘hut’” 30 Fizzles (out) 31 Verdi opera with Desdemona 32 “You should be ashamed!”
34 Lays an egg on stage 37 UPS alternative 38 Word before or after pack 41 Nudged sharply 43 Best Western competitor 45 Lazy 46 Underwood who performs the “Sunday Night Football” opening
48 Classroom stand-in 49 Happy hour places 50 Mirror shape 51 Ran like mad 53 Smoke detector? 54 PC corner key 56 Calico coat 57 Put down 58 Oxlike antelope 59 Barely manage, with “out”
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better word). Where Merriweather is lush, rolling, spacious, perfect for spring break, Strawberry Jam is harsh and less melodically direct. Opener “Peacebone” begins with chaotic noise and contains some of Dave Portner’s (aka Avey Tare) best screaming. After a couple of weeks, I decided that the album was perfect, and one cut resonated especially well. “I only want the time / to do one thing that I like … / take a walk out in the light drizzle / at the end of the day / when there’s no one watching,” Lennox sings on “Chores.” After this forceful chorus, he fades into a soft, wordless duet with Lennox. At the time, walking was my number-one hobby, and something that I did for probably an hour or two every night. “Do you want to stroll down the financial street? / Our clothes might get soaked but the buildings sleep / And there’s no one pushing for a place / As we end up at an easy pace” If I couldn’t figure out how to make friends, I could at least take pride in my knowledge of the streets of Ann Arbor, of the storefronts and shortcuts, what I thought were the best kept secrets of the miserable college town — I’m not sure I can justify calling it a city — where I found myself ensnared. I didn’t have anyone to walk with, but as soon as I found someone, oh! the places we would go. It’s cliché, but the music pulled me through that time. I invested myself in this band and felt rewarded. I dug deeper, into Feels, into Spirit They’ve Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished and into Campfire Songs. The music was weird and unlike any other I had ever heard. The further back I listened, the weirder it got and the more my fascination grew. Sounds I had never heard before opened up my mind to possibilities for creation, the likes of which I had never imagined. A song can be anything. It can carry a narrative, it can make no sense at all to anyone other than the writer, it doesn’t need to serve any purpose and it certainly isn’t even remotely beholden to the stifling laws of reality. “Feeling envy for the kid who’ll dance despite anything / I walk out in the flowers and feel better / If I could just leave my body for the night” The group’s founding members, Portner and Lennox, released their first collaborative effort, Spirit They’ve Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished, in 2000 when they were just 21 and 22, respectively. The album is noisy, psychedelic and long-winded. Its hyper, unpredictable quality makes it a challenging listen, and if you don’t believe me, I invite you to listen to “Untitled.” See how long you last. While Spirit They’ve Gone is aggressive and difficult to parse, something about it feels attainable. The narrative structures (or sometimes complete lack thereof) are nuanced but not clearly defined, and the instrumentation is sparse: synthesizer, piano, Lennox’s lifelike percussion and the occasional acoustic guitar. This album was recorded largely in Portner’s parents’ home, and it’s not difficult to tell. Portner and Lennox used the tools they had at hand in the limited space that was available to them to create something completely original. Though the album is rough around the edges, especially before it was professionally remastered, they pioneered a new sound. They aren’t snobbish about their music, and they certainly don’t put an excessive quantity of effort into maintaining a heavily curated image. They proved to me that I could make something. I just needed to start. “I’ll, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll, someday, someday… / Someday, someday, someday, someday… /Someday, someday, someday, someday…” What was even more exciting was the way that these two 20-somethings were expressly against tradition, or at least against a blind acceptance of the path in front of them. Before the release of Sung Tongs in 2004, all but one of the now four band members decided to drop out of school in order to focus on music. A pretty hardy move, and Portner has recalled during interviews how he spent no insignificant amount of time collecting on unemployment, in and out of his parents’ house
without a reliable income. “You don’t have to go to college” I don’t believe that I will ever make anything as good as what Animal Collective has created, and dropping out of school to pursue music is the last thing I would consider. I have, however, since that fateful winter semester, redoubled my efforts into learning guitar. I try to write melodies whenever I can and pen down lyrics in my spare time, all of them bad. Nevertheless, I feel encouraged to continue whenever I listen, and not just in the realm of creating music itself. When I first delved into Animal Collective’s prolific discography — Winter 2016 — it was with the knowledge that they would be releasing a new album, Painting With, in mid-February. Having been frustrated with the way I carried myself first semester, actively listening to Animal Collective was just one of many decisions I made leading into the new year. I was fed up with the sheer amount of time I’d wasted on Netflix, done with spending my Friday nights watching whatever was on Comedy Central. Something, I decided, needed to change. “We can get him started, yeah / Bad mind, let me put on good habits / Been working to put on good habits / Sometimes I can’t find my good habits” I began taking chances, reaching out to people I’d met briefly first semester and finding opportunities around campus. I remember being elated when I found someone who would go to the San Fermin show with me that January — someone I still regard today as one of my closest friends. I joined a few organizations, including The Daily, and though I was disappointed by the culture of organizations in general — so many students were just looking for résumé padding — I met beautiful, wonderful, optimistic and creative people. My application to the Arts section of The Daily contained a review of Animal Collective’s Painting With. The trajectory that began with Merriweather in 2015 and continued through Strawberry Jam and the rest through 2016 finally found me among a group of people who had as much a desire to interact with the arts as I had. They can be pretentious (as can I), and I don’t always agree with them, but they’ve collectively provided me with a space where I can be creative, self-reflective and, above all, self-indulgent. “Now I think it’s alright to feel inhuman / Now I think that’s a riot / Now I think it’s alright we’ll sing together / Now I think that’s a riot” It’s difficult for me to credit Animal Collective for my eventual adjustment to life at college, but the fact that my immersion in their music coincided with an exponential increase in my social confidence and understanding of myself as someone with a real personality, emotions, influence and responsibility is something I can neither shake nor deny. What is certain to me is that I would not be who I am today had I never listened to them. The degree to which I would be different is up for debate, and not something I want to explore on paper — on screen? — but still an interesting idea to entertain. “Am I really all the things that are outside of me? / Would I complete myself without the things I like around?” The details of this story, if one could call it that, are personal, but the context surrounding those details is hopefully somewhat universal. I’d like to think that most university students experience a time of extended loneliness, or at least a transient sense of not fitting in. Maybe my story will encourage those who, upon reading, find themselves in that position. Maybe a reader or two will be intrigued by my obsession with Animal Collective and give them a listen. And maybe, just maybe, those readers will find in Animal Collective what I’ve found, or will identify with my love for Animal Collective through whatever band or artist has narrated the recent years of their own lives. Whatever the case may be, dear reader, I hope you’ve found something human here. “Oh there will be time to fish fry, for letters by, yours truly / Yours truly”
Arts
6A— Monday, January 22, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FILM SPOTLIGHT
WORLD MUSIC COLUMN
‘Phantom Thread’ is final Serge Gainsbourg and the bow for Daniel Day-Lewis art of French folk music SYDNEY COHEN Daily Arts Writer
Daniel Day-Lewis is regarded as one of Hollywood’s most versatile and skilled character actors. In the wake of his recent announcement that he is retiring from acting, the State Theater commemorated his legacy by screening a series of his most celebrated performances. The series began with “My Left Foot” (1989) — the movie that earned DayLewis his first Oscar for his
In ‘Phantom Thread,’ Day-Lewis undertakes the most challenging and most subdued role of his career incredibly challenging role of Christy Brown, an artist with cerebral palsy. In an almost complete role reversal, the following film “The Last of the Mohicans” (1992) spotlights Day-Lewis as a hunky, tanned leading man, the adopted son of the Mohican tribe who fights in the French and Indian War, with a luxurious mass of hair and a deeply V-necked blouse. In the third film, “In the Name of the Father” (1993), Day-Lewis again proves his talent and intrigue as an actor, depicting the emotional turmoil of the wrongly convicted Gerry Conlon in the aftermath of the IRA terrorist attack in 1974 London. These first three films are all solid and interesting performances by Day-Lewis, ones that put him on the map as a skilled and promising actor. But it’s not until “Gangs of New York” (2002) that Day-Lewis embodies the performative streak that becomes his legacy. In Scorsese’s chaotic and enduring portrayal of urban criminality and immigrant factionism, Day-Lewis plays the brutal but charismatic war
chief of Old New York, hovering between flamboyant charm and deranged bloodlust. Next in the film series was the critically acclaimed Spielberg film “Lincoln” (2012), where DayLewis becomes unrecognizable
“Phantom Thread” Focus Features State Theater as the titular 16th president, wholly embodying Lincoln’s voice, mannerisms and magnetic presence. The series rounded out with Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” (2007), where DayLewis plays a more subdued but power-hungry oil magnate in the black gold frenzy of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Arguably his most compelling performance, Day-Lewis’s seedy lust for wealth and his indifference to being soaked in oil is absolutely mesmerizing. Day-Lewis’s acting career is a collection of unbelievably taxing and impressive roles, each demanding a deeply complex and fully imagined person. He is one of Hollywood’s greatest, proving time and time again his ability to completely embody his role, including his immersive method acting preparation (he hunted game to prep for “Mohicans” and shadowed a butcher for “Gangs of New York”). With heavy hearts, the film community says goodbye to this master of the silver screen; Day-Lewis officially announced his retirement from acting, with his newest film “Phantom Thread” as his swan song. In “Phantom Thread,” DayLewis undertakes the most challenging and most subdued role of his career. He plays Reynolds Woodcock, a polished, elegant designer of women’s couture. He is a narcissistic genius, wholly consumed with himself and his own brilliance, whose designs are worthy of the praise. The opening scene of the film is one of the most captivating and gorgeously done sequences in cinema — we see Woodcock meticulously grooming himself in a series of simple frames that together introduce his detail-oriented personality, his refinement and his quiet magnetism. The stormy dynamic between Woodcock and Alma (Vicky
Krieps, “The Colony”), a waitress he quickly becomes infatuated with, is the binding thread of the film. She becomes his muse, living in his house and modeling for his designs — in many scenes she is like a porcelain mannequin, draped in luxurious fabric, more of a doll than a person. But Krieps does a brilliant job of shading Alma with layers of nuance, showing both her eagerness for the trappings of Woodcock’s world and her trepidation at the uselessness of it all. “Phantom Thread” is a dark, moving drama peppered with moments of subtle hilarity that ring true to director Paul Thomas Anderson’s unorthodox sense of humor. Stitching the film together is a spectacular score by Johnny Greenwood (“There Will Be Blood”), of Radiohead fame. His composition is sharp and
Day-Lewis’s acting career is a collection of unbelievably taxing and impressive roles, each demanding a deeply complex and fully imagined person quivering, needle-like and sweepingly elegant, like the fabric of Woodcock’s gowns. It’s enough to make Alexandre Desplat shake in his boots. The costume design is also incredible, with each scene featuring a collection of artfully tailored couture gowns. “Phantom Thread” is a quietly haunting film and a homage to the radiance of Daniel DayLewis. It is an elegant sendoff to a man who has made his irrevocable mark on the industry and his audiences.
FILM REVIEW
FOCUS FEATURES
'FC Feb 5, 2018
SAYAN GHOSH
Daily World Music Columnist
“I’ve succeeded at everything except my life.” Somehow, this statement rings true for the man who coined it, Serge Gainsbourg. Provocative, clever, intriguing and singular are just some of the words that can attempt to explain one of the most popular and influential singersongwriters to ever live. They can also be used to describe his 1971 album Histoire de Melody Nelson, a perfect introduction to his rich discography. Gainsbourg was born in 1928 in Paris to JewishUkranian parents, spending his adolescence under the shadow of Nazi-occupied France. Blending a series of genres from the traditional French chanson to the (at the time) increasingly popular rock and funk, he created a style of music that was unprecedented and unique — accompanied by lyrics that were clever, dark and sensual. He eventually grew into one of the biggest celebrities on the French and world stage, having highly publicized relationships
with Jane Birkin and Brigitte Bardot, fathering actor and musician Charlotte Gainsbourg with the former. Running at just less than half an hour, Histoire de Melody Nelson is a self-contained concept album in which Gainsbourg narrates the story of a middle-aged man who accidentally collides his car with the bicycle of the teenage Melody Nelson (“Princess of shadows, cursed archangel, Modern Amazon”) as well as that of the ensuing romance. The lyrics and subject matter are typical Gainsbourg: seductive yet repellent, rich with description and filled with worldplay. Gainsbourg’s voice, barely above a whisper at certain points, simply glides over the instrumentals. They resemble spoken word narration more often than actual singing, and you can practically envision Gainsbourg sitting in front of you with his trademark disheveled look and a cigarette in his hand. He is joined by Jane Birkin for “Melody,” “Ballade de Melody Nelson” and “Cargo Culte,” who similarly pops in and out, barely above a whisper.
Despite the lyrics playing a large part, the album is still a rewarding listen for nonFrench speakers. Composer Jean-Claude Vannier provides a set of lush, operatic orchestral arrangements. “L’hôtel particulier” features the best example, as most of it simply features Gainsbourg slowly describing a mysterious mansion (with “long endless passages, spiral stairways decorated with Baroque bronzes, golden angels”) with the backing of a bass guitar and slightly syncopated guitar line. However, at the end of each verse, strings suddenly appear and beautifully accent Gainsbourg’s final description. The last third of the song features only the strings, beckoning the listener to fill in what transpires after Gainsbourg finishes his tale. Histoire de Melody Nelson has had an immeasurable impact on both French pop music, as well as genres such as trip-hop, even showing up as a sample in a De La Soul song. It as an album as complex and filled with contradictions as the man himself, and a must-listen for any fan of pop music.
Zell Visiting Writers at U BAILEY KADIAN Daily Arts Writer
The Zell Visiting Writers Series brings writers from across the country and world to Ann Arbor to engage with the community through various events, including a public reading, a Q&A session and workshops. MFA students are able to work directly with visiting writers through direct forums and feedback from writers about student work. The Q&A sessions are also open to undergrad students. It’s a great way to share a space with the visiting writers and be surrounded by people who are incredibly passionate about their work. During these visits, writers share their personal experiences behind their writing and encourage young writers by sharing their backgrounds. The Zell Visiting Writers Series will kick off their first visit of the semester with visiting writers Jane Hirshfield and Brit Bennett. Hirshfield has written eight books of poetry, earning immense praise and numerous awards. Among these awards, she has received the Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, Academy of American Poets Fellowship and National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. Brit
Bennett returns to Ann Arbor after receiving her MFA at the University to share her work, which has been featured in publications such as The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine. During her time in Ann Arbor, she received the 2014 Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers and a Hopwood Award in Graduate Short Fiction. “The real purpose of the visiting writers series is to bring the world of contemporary literature to Ann Arbor, serve the local community and also to serve the MFA students,” said Maya West, Assistant Director of the Helen Zell Writers’ Program, in an interview with The Daily. “Many undergraduate Michigan students have a frame of reference for sports or politics or different kinds of celebrities. For contemporary literature, it’s a little more obscure. I would love to figure out a way to explain that.” Many University students, particularly undergraduates, do not necessarily expose themselves to any form of contemporary literature beyond what is offered in the classroom. The Zell Visiting Writers Series allows students to spend time hearing from writers who are thriving and engaged with the impact of their literature. The series aims to bridge the gap between learning from classical
texts studied in class and understanding the influence of contemporary literature today. “I didn’t realize until I got to the university that the literary world is a living, breathing organism — not something that is sort of on a slab for us to dissect and study. It is something for us to talk to and engage with,” West said. “That can revolutionize our understanding and experience of all literature.” In academic settings, students might feel like the tasks of essay writing and reading required texts forces them to pick apart literature in search of its meaning. West suggests that we engage with texts on a new level in efforts to understand how literature transforms, as well as understand how it is living among our current society. How does the literature of contemporary writers speak to the pressing issues and concerns of our world today? “It is significant that young people who aren’t really involved with contemporary literature don’t realize that literature is a thriving, living community,” West said. “It’s not just dead people. It’s not just writing essays about names you’ve vaguely heard of.”
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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | January 22, 2018
SPORTSMONDAY
Evan Aaron/Daily
Design by Jack Silberman
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Michigan earns second consecutive sweep BENJAMIN KATZ Daily Sports Writer
For the second straight game, the No. 20 Michigan hockey team denied No. 12 Penn State’s offense — ranked the best in the nation with four goals per game coming into the weekend — quality chances throughout most of the evening. For the second time in as many nights, Jack LaFontaine skated out to fellow sophomore goaltender Hayden Lavigne to give him a bear hug as the final horn sounded. And for the second consecutive weekend, the Wolverines (7-7-2-1 Big Ten, 12-10-2 overall) headed into the dressing room and sang “The Victors” — a sign of a weekend sweep — after avoiding a late disaster and defeating the Nittany Lions (6-7-3-2, 13-10-3), 3-2, Saturday night. “I’m really proud of our players, they found a way to win the game,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson. “We came a little unglued there, we didn’t play the situation with the extra attacker at the end very well. “… But overall, great weekend. … We’ve been on the
Passed torch
Senior guard Katelynn Flaherty was honored during the men’s basketball game for surpassing Glen Rice’s all-time scoring record.
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other end where we’ve felt that we should’ve done better for us this year, so it all evens out. But great effort, great win for our team.” It took just 26 seconds into regulation for Michigan to strike first. After an odd-man rush for Penn State to open the game, the Wolverines broke out of their defensive zone with a three-on-one counterattack. Junior forward Brendan Warren found a streaking Josh Norris down the middle of the ice, and the new linemates didn’t miss a beat. The freshman forward took the puck and buried a one-timer for his second goal in as many contests, putting Michigan on the board first. After a dominant 4-0 victory Friday night, the Wolverines picked up right where they left off, firing on all cylinders early. Michigan easily entered its offensive zone, maintained control of the puck and quickly stifled Nittany Lion opportunities on the other end of the ice. Halfway through the opening period, Penn State was called for interference, and the Wolverines found themselves
on the power play for the first time. After going 0-for-4 with the man advantage the previous night, Michigan made sure its golden opportunity wouldn’t go to waste this time around. With 34 seconds left on the power play, and after a handful of quality chances, senior forward Dexter Dancs received a pass from junior defenseman Joseph Cecconi in front of the net and stuffed it past goaltender Peyton Jones’ right pad to double the lead. The Nittany Lions had a power play of their own with three minutes to go in the first period, but Lavigne stood tall between the pipes to make some key saves — including one with the toe of his skate — and keep the two-goal advantage intact. The second period began with Penn State knocking on the doorstep, with multiple scoring chances in the opening minutes. And less than six minutes into the stanza, sophomore defenseman Griffin Luce was called for interference, giving the Nittany Lions another opportunity to tack on their first goal of the weekend. But again, timely saves from Lavigne — including seven
on the ensuing penalty kill — protected the Wolverines’ lead. Despite being outshot 17 to eight, Lavigne’s mix of both routine and flashy saves, combined with solid play in the defensive zone, muted the powerhouse Penn State offense for the fifth straight period. Lavigne would go on to make a career-high 43 saves on 45 shots, a feat Pearson chalked up to his netminder’s newfound confidence and composure in the crease. “I thought we got away from our game in the second period and Hayden did a great job of keeping us in,” Pearson said. “… We had to rely too much on Hayden this weekend, especially tonight. He was the star of the game. “He just looks like he’s so calm in the net and he’s in the zone. He made some great saves in that second period, you just shake your head. But when you’re on, you’re on.” The third period started with back and forth play, with both teams creating similar scoring chances and their respective goaltenders making highlightreel saves to continue the stalemate. Through the first ten
minutes, Michigan narrowly outshot the Nittany Lions seven to six. With 7:25 left in the final period, Luce was assessed a penalty for roughing, giving Penn State its third man advantage. However, 37 seconds later, forward Andrew Sturtz was called for goaltender interference after running into Lavigne, resulting in four-onfour play. And with 12 seconds left of both sides being down a man, forward Dakota Raabe received a crisp outlet pass from junior defenseman Luke Martin and found himself on a breakaway. The freshman deked Jones and laid the puck into the back of the net for his first career goal and a bit of insurance — which seemingly all but solidified the win and weekend sweep for the Wolverines. “(That was) a big goal from Dakota Raabe in a critical moment,” Pearson said. “It didn’t seem like it was a huge goal, but it ends up being the winning goal, so good for Dakota. We’re getting contributions from a lot of players now and that makes us a better team.”
Though down by three goals, Penn State and its deadly offense wouldn’t go away without putting up a fight. With 1:57 remaining in the game and an extra attacker for the Nittany Lions, forward Liam Folks tapped the puck into the net off an errant rebound to finally get Penn State on the board. Sixtyfour seconds later, defenseman Kris Myllari snuck a shot under the crossbar to cut the deficit to one with just 53 seconds to go. But as was the case throughout the entire weekend, Lavigne made his presence known in net as the final seconds ticked off the clock and three blocked shots in the last minute preserved the win — and the sweep. “You just have to stay calm in that moment,” Lavigne said. “Obviously, that’s not the swing you want to see when you’re up 3-0, especially not against a team like that, but we know they can score and they put the puck to the net. “But when that happened, we all just took a deep breath and I don’t think they got another shot after it was 3-2. We locked it down defensively and paid the price to win.”
A “tired” victory
The Michigan men’s basketball team was able to overcome Rutgers despite playing sloppily throughout the matchup.
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SportsMonday
2B — Monday, January 22, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Pearson’s plan already paying off
M
el Pearson has always had a plan. It involved overhauling an entire offense — as he had at previous stops — with a group primarily made up of veterans who were used to a different style of hockey. By his own admission, and underKEVIN standably, that SANTO plan takes time. It’s one that he admits the Wolverines struggled with over the first half of their season. But, if the last few weeks are any indication, that plan is finally coming to fruition. And to anyone outside Yost Ice Arena with reasonable expectations for this team with largely the same personnel as last year, that progress happened a lot quicker than they could have expected. With this weekend’s sweep over No. 12 Penn State, Michigan already surpassed its 2016-17 conference win total. A week prior, the Wolverines went to Minneapolis and left having recorded their first sweep of the conference season against then-No. 9 Minnesota. It was the first time in 41 years that they swept the Golden Gophers at Mariucci Arena. If that wasn’t significant enough, when the horn sounded on Saturday night’s victory over the Nittany Lions, it marked the first time Michigan swept backto-back weekends in three years. The weekend was by no means perfect. There were still defensive zone turnovers, though goaltender Hayden Lavigne largely rendered them irrelevant. The only time he didn’t was late in the third period Saturday night, when Penn State pulled its goaltender for an extra attacker and turned a 3-0 blowout into a
EVAN AARON/Daily
Michigan coach Mel Pearson has the 20th-ranked Wolverines on a roll in his first year behind the bench; Michigan has now swept two consecutive series.
3-2 nail-biter with 53.3 seconds remaining. And then there was the second period, one in which the Nittany Lions outshot Michigan, 17-8. In that frame, Pearson admitted that the Wolverines “took a little bit of a step back” from the systems that have yielded their recent success. Overall, though? “We’re getting there,” Pearson said. That they are. The fact remains that Michigan went toe-to-toe with the top-ranked offense in college hockey this weekend. The Nittany Lions entered the series averaging four goals and 40 shots per game. Not to mention they seven goals in two games when the teams met in State College in October. Some of that remained the same, some of it didn’t.
Penn State stuck to its identity, letting 79 shots loose on the weekend. But Michigan shut them out Friday night, and was just under two minutes away from doing so again Saturday. The performance on the opposite end was equally representative of progress. The Wolverines got only one goal from their top line, a powerplay goal by Dexter Dancs in the second period Saturday night. Michigan’s two Hobey Baker candidates — Cooper Marody and Tony Calderone — didn’t record a single point on the weekend. Instead, for the first time this
season, Michigan got most of its contributions from somewhere else. Freshman Dakota Raabe scored his first goal of the season Saturday night in what would end up being the game-winner. A night prior, freshman Jack Becker found twine twice, despite lighting the lamp only once entering the series. Holistically, the Wolverines have come a long way since September. But that’s all a part of Pearson’s plan, too. And as he describes it, he needed Michigan to buy in at the beginning.
Pearson needed Michigan to buy in at the beginning.
“I think that’s the biggest thing,” he says. In part, “buying in” comes with breaking habits. Pearson isn’t willing to call them bad habits, per se. But the habits may run counterintuitive to the larger system. Early on, when the going got tough, those habits resurfaced. They’re still not entirely gone either — Saturday night’s second period being Pearson’s evidence of such. But with consecutive sweeps and two narrow losses to Notre Dame in the last three weeks, that system has been validated. “It’s proven now,” Pearson said. “We can lean on them a little bit more now and say, ‘Hey, we play like this, here’s the results. If we don’t here’s the period we can have.’ It’s good. But we’ve got to make sure our guys — our scorers
who maybe have a tough night — they’ve got to continue to play the way we’ve been playing. And they’ll be reminded of that this week.” Added Lavigne: “I think there was definitely a little bit of frustration with the hot and cold streaks we were having earlier in the year. Now we’re kind of seeing the benefits of it (and) it’s more motivating to stay with it. And we know that what we’re up to now is working and in the long run can lead to good things.” It sure looks like it. So ask Mel Pearson if he expected this much progress this quickly, and he’ll admit that it takes time. He’ll say he needed the buy in. He’ll say he needed to break habits to get here, and that it’s easier for his team to understand it when the results come with it. But those results are coming now. Michigan split with Minnesota in November, then swept the Golden Gophers last weekend. Michigan split with Penn State in October, then swept them this weekend, too. Of course, that doesn’t mean Pearson’s work is done. “We saw six consecutive games where we’ve come out hard and played well, and played collectively as a team for a full 60,” Lavigne said Saturday. “I think that’s kind of showing us that we can play at any level with anybody here. The Big Ten’s extremely strong this year and we’ve seen that we can compete within our conference. So the next step is getting into that tournament and competing nationally.” Maybe they won’t make the tournament. Maybe they won’t win the Big Ten, either. But with every plan comes measured steps. Consider step one a success. Santo can be reached at kmsanto@umich.edu or on Twitter at @Kevin_M_Santo.
Raabe’s reward: anatomy of a first goal JACOB SHAMES Daily Sports Writer
On a Tuesday afternoon following a preseason practice in September, Michigan hockey coach Mel Pearson was asked about the potential impact of the Wolverines’ incoming class of freshmen. Pearson highlighted the obvious names — forward Josh Norris, a first-round NHL Draft pick last June, and defenseman Quinn Hughes, a likely top10 selection next summer — calling them “worth the price of admission.” But alongside those two blue-chip prospects, Pearson also brought up a lesserknown newcomer. “We’ve got a kid named Dakota Raabe,” Pearson said, “who’s shown really well so far.” A dedicated observer might have been familiar with Raabe’s skill and skating ability. The 5-foot-9 forward from Capistrano Beach, Ca. spent three productive years with the Wenatchee Wild of the BCHL, where he notched 58 points in 58 games his final season. However, through Michigan’s first 23 games, the casual or firsttime hockey spectator would have had a hard time detecting Raabe’s presence. If one only looked at the boxscore, they might not have noticed him at all. Coming into this weekend, Raabe was the only Wolverine, save goaltenders Hayden Lavigne and Jack LaFontaine, to not have registered a single point. But that’s not what Pearson or Michigan’s coaching staff focused on. On Friday night, freshman forward Jack Becker scored the Wolverines’ first two goals in a 4-0 rout of Penn State — the first multi-goal game of his career. After the game, Pearson was asked if Becker’s performance was indicative of players growing into their roles, something Pearson has stressed constantly. “Some nights you’re rewarded offensively with some points,
and others you’re not, but you still have to bring it every night,” he said. “It’s good to see guys rewarded for all their hard work. I thought Dakota Raabe — I don’t know if Dakota’s got a point yet, but I had someone call me this week and say, ‘Wow, who’s that 12 (Raabe’s jersey number) playing at Minnesota? I mean, he was all over the place!’ “He’s doing some good things, killing some penalties. He’s not maybe putting up the points, but his contributions aren’t unnoticed.” To a trained eye such as Pearson’s, those contributions have been on full display the past few weeks. During the third period last Saturday at Minnesota, Michigan’s third line of Raabe
and sophomores Adam Winborg and James Sanchez suffocated the Golden Gophers with a clutch, 45-second shift in which the puck never left the Minnesota zone. Raabe has found a home on the Wolverines’ penalty-kill as well. The unit was languishing before this weekend, having stopped just 75 percent of their opponents’ chances — ranking among the five worst teams in the country. The Nittany Lions — who rank sixteenth in the nation on the power-play — had five such opportunities against Michigan, and failed to capitalize on a single one. Raabe played an integral role in all of them, making crucial clearances on a number of chances, and swiftly
“It’s good to see guys rewarded for all their hard work.”
skating all over the ice to stifle Penn State’s attack. “He’s done a good job,” Pearson said Saturday. “He’s given us some speed, but … he’s playing grittier. Getting involved, he’s got a good stick. He was a good scorer in junior hockey last year, he’s capable and he killed penalties. So he’s smart enough, he can understand on the PK what to do.” Pearson’s final comments Friday expressed optimism about Raabe’s future. “You’d like to see him get rewarded,” Pearson said, “and he will eventually.” With just under six minutes to go in the third period Saturday, Michigan led Penn State 2-0. An earlier roughing penalty on sophomore defenseman Griffin Luce, coupled with an interference call on Nittany Lion forward Andrew Sturtz, had resulted in two minutes of 4-on-4 hockey, half of which had already elapsed.
Penn State forward Liam Folkes chased the puck towards the boards behind the net, but Michigan defenseman Sam Piazza got there first. Piazza chipped it left towards sophomore defenseman Luke Martin, who put his stick on the puck and turned up the ice. Looking up, Martin saw Raabe streaking ahead of everyone near center-ice. With three players on either side of the passing lane, he would need a perfect effort to hit his target. Martin took four strides forward and let fly near the right circle. The puck found the sweet-spot of Raabe’s stick like a quarterback hitting a receiver on a fly pattern. A picture-perfect “dime,” to borrow more from football terminology.
It was clear no one was going to catch Raabe from behind. Peyton Jones, the Penn State goaltender, was the only chance. Raabe turned up the ice and towards the net. When he was about three feet in front of Jones, he held the puck out to his right. Then, just as soon as it was there, Raabe pulled it away. The next time Jones saw the puck, it was in the back of the net. Yost Ice Arena erupted. Raabe raised both his arms in jubilation as his momentum carried him into the embrace of Piazza and sophomore forward Jake Slaker. The Wolverines led the No. 12 team in the nation by three goals with five minutes to play. The goal itself was such a textbook finish, you’d think Raabe had done it before. Raabe, in fact, couldn’t even recollect the play. “Honestly, I don’t even remember it,” he said. “I think I blacked out when I did it. Great pass by Martin and it was a great experience for sure.” But while he may not remember exactly how it happened, Raabe certainly remembers the fact that for the first time in his college career, he had scored a goal. All his hard work killing penalties and chasing pucks around the ice had been rewarded. Not only that, the Nittany Lions scored two goals in the game’s final two minutes, making Raabe’s first collegiate goal a game-winner. It appears 23 goalless games were worth the wait. “It was frustrating for sure,” Raabe said. “A lot of it was just — I think it’s just little things and I was trying to stay positive. At times, negatives would creep in, but I would just try to play it simple and just do what I could and what Mel wanted me to do. “And it finally paid off.”
“I think it’s just little things and I was trying to stay positive.”
EVAN AARON/Daily
Freshman forward Dakota Raabe scored his first career goal in the third period of No. 20 Michigan’s 3-2 win over No. 12 Penn State on Saturday night.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
Monday, January 22, 2018 — 3B
Michigan throttles Illinois, 86-42 Rice, ‘M’ honor Flaherty’s record HUNTER SHARF Daily Sports Writer
As the clock ran out in the first quarter, Katelynn Flaherty pulled up from the far right side at midcourt. The ball swished perfectly through the net. “When I saw it was high enough, I was like, ‘It feels pretty good,’ ” Flaherty said. “Then it went in I was like, ‘Wow, that’ll never happen again.’ ” It was that kind of day for the No. 19 Michigan women’s basketball team, as it went on to defeat Illinois by 44 points, 86-42. After allowing a quick five points to start the game, the Wolverines (6-2 Big Ten, 17-4 overall) were locked in. Throughout the final 8:10 of the quarter, Michigan outscored the Fighting Illini 24 to seven. The strong play in the first was the byproduct of team basketball. Though, as often is the case, senior guard Flaherty was the star of the quarter. After missing her first three shots, Flaherty hit three straight 3s, including her half-court heave. Her typical strong performance continued, as she finished with 27 points, eight assists, four rebounds and four steals. After the opening surge, the Wolverines cooled off. Michigan and Illinois (0-7, 9-12) were even in the second, scoring 12 apiece. The Wolverines went through a four-minute drought without a basket, but were able to maintain a lead with solid defense. The only place the Fighting Illini found some success in the first half was from behind the arc; 50 percent of their first-half points came off 3s. While Michigan’s defense was extremely good in the first half, it was even better in the second. “We did a really good job in the first half of taking away the foul line,” said coach Kim
Barnes Arico. “They made some shots late in the shot clock and some off offensive rebounds (in the first half ). So we knew if we could clean that up a little bit, we would be able to get more stops.” And that’s exactly what they did. The Wolverines allowed just four points in the third quarter and 18 total points in the second half. Comparatively, Flaherty scored 14 and freshman forward Hailey Brown scored 11 in the second half. Brown had one of the best games of her young career, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, a career-high 14 rebounds and one block. She was a force down low, where Michigan outscored Illinois 40 to 12. “We knew when Hailey committed to us that she would be an outstanding addition
to our program,” Barnes Arico said. “Hailey just keeps grinding, just keeps working and improving each and every single day. Last week she was recognized as freshman of the week nationally.” Throughout the game, the Wolverines were able to create offense from their defense. Michigan forced 21 Fighting Illini turnovers, scoring 31 points off those mistakes. Illinois, on the other hand, had just two points off turnovers and four steals. Junior guard Nicole Munger had five steals of her own. While it’s always nice to win by 44, the Wolverines shouldn’t be too surprised — the Fighting Illini have now lost eight straight. Don’t expect it to be this easy when the Wolverines face rival Michigan State this Tuesday.
ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer
For Katelynn Flaherty, it’s easy at this point. Wait for the defense to contract around a stampeding Jillian Dunston then slide in behind as the trailer. Three points. Run off a Hallie Thome pindown, leaving her defender behind. Three points. Or, loft one up from half-court, a heave that falls through the net as the buzzer sounds. Three points. The senior guard does all of the above, all in the first quarter, on the way to a 44-point win over a conference opponent. It’s par for the course. “Just crazy,” she said. “I do not know how the hell I would be able to do (a half-court shot) again.” Flaherty is Michigan’s all-time leading scorer, an honor earned with a 3-pointer (what else?) at Nebraska last week, to move atop
the list. Not the women’s basketball program’s all-time leading scorer, mind you — though she holds that honor as well. The school’s alltime leading scorer. She passed Glen Rice’s record of 2,442 points, leaving the three-time NBA AllStar in her dust. Rice sent Flaherty a congratulatory Facebook message after the record was broken, but didn’t meet her in person until Sunday — a ceremony during a break in the Michigan men’s basketball team’s win over Rutgers. “I always say records are made to be broken and to be able to have it done by Katelynn, who’s had a tremendous career, tremendous athlete, tremendous scorer — I mean, God, that’s almost like another Glen Rice out there watching her shoot the basketball and do what she does,” Rice said. “For me, it’s an honor to even be in the same sentence as she is.”
DARBY STIPE/Daily
Senior point guard Katelynn Flahery led Michigan with 27 points in the 19th-ranked Wolverines’ 44-point win over Illinois on Saturday night.
Underclassmen shine in season’s first dual-match
MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
‘M’ finishes second THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer
DARBY STIPE/Daily
Freshman Alyvia Jones acquitted herself well in Michigan’s dual match of the season, winning both her doubles and singles matches against Kansas.
PAIGE VOEFFRAY Daily Sports Editor
With the score knotted at 30-30, Chiara Lommer and Alyvia Jones were feeling the pressure. If they could just take this game, the underclassmen would clinch the doubles point for the Michigan women’s tennis team. If they faltered, the point would go to Kansas. They did not falter. The No. 2 doubles pair set up back-to-back unforced errors to take their match, 7-5. The victory was just the beginning of Sunday’s dual match, but in the end, the Wolverines finished on top, 7-1. Though the ITA Kick-Off is not until next weekend, Michigan didn’t want to wait to play. By starting its season early, it’s just one more opportunity for coach Ronni Bernstein and the team to see what works well and what doesn’t. “We’re trying to figure out a way to win the doubles point,” Bernstein said. “We’re trying
to find someone that plays aggressive with someone that sets them up. Today we got (the doubles point), which was great, but we’ll change it until we feel like it’s good. “But that doubles point is big and I think it was a momentum thing for us today.” Some may think that a freshman and sophomore doubles duo is risky, but it clearly paid off for the Wolverines. In fact, their senior pair at No. 3 doubles, made up of Mira Ruder-Hook and Kara Hall, was the only team that dropped their doubles match. The underclassmen didn’t just shine in doubles, though. The first two players off the court were Jones and freshman Bella Lorenzini, at No. 3 and No. 6 singles, respectively. Jumping out to a quick start, Jones eventually lost her 2-0 lead and the score was tied up again. While the first set was a grind for the freshman, she took control early in the second set. Braced with a 5-1 lead, Jones was down
on points, 40-15. But Jones was eager to end her match, forcing the game to deuce and winning a baseline rally on a Jayhawk error. While Jones just joined the Wolverines at the beginning of the winter semester, she has already proved herself. She earned her way into the doubles and singles lineup due to her unbeaten record. “She’s aggressive, she’s got some weapons,” Bernstein said. “She’s got a big serve, big forehand, she plays defense well, too. I think she has it all. … Definitely a big addition mid-year.” While the freshmen breezed through their matches, that wasn’t the case for every Michigan player. Normally, when a team reaches four points the match is over and all matches are abandoned, but Ruder-Hook and Lommer were given the opportunity to play out their third sets. With all her teammates watching, Lommer was the last on the court. She had a 5-2 lead
in the final frame, but was down on points, 40-30. She fought off a game-point to set up deuce. With no advantage scoring, this was Lommer’s chance to end it. Kansas was going to make her work for it, though. After a rally of over 30 shots, both players were clearly exhausted but neither wanted to go for the big shot and make a mistake. It became a matter of who was going to make the error first, and in the end, it was Jayhawk Janet Koch. Lommer won her match, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. As fall tennis is all about individual play, it was clear that the Wolverines were excited to get back to being a team. They rushed up to Lommer to greet her and exhaled as their first dual match was in the books. With ITA Kick-Off on the horizon, Michigan’s season is just getting started. But with a strong veteran force and eager underclassmen, the Wolverines are poised for another impressive season.
Rice knew Flaherty was coming for his record well in advance, a reality of having a female sharpshooter who couldn’t leave early for the NBA in his midst. By Sunday, Flaherty was already at 2,505 points, a virtue of dropping 21 and 27 points in two games since breaking the record. “When I found out I was gonna be coming here and scouting the game (for the Miami Heat) and they told me, ‘Oh yeah, you know, you’re not the all-time leading scorer anymore,’ ” Rice said, “I went, ‘Oh really, great. Let me guess: Katelynn.’ Yes, it was her. I (had) seen it coming, a while back.” There’s a poetic justice to Flaherty — a sharpshooting guard whose favorite play is a pull-up jumper — passing Rice, who shot over 50 percent from beyond the arc, leading Michigan to the 1989 National Championship. Though a senior, Flaherty has yet to make the NCAA Tournament. But the No. 19 Michigan women’s basketball team (6-2 Big Ten, 17-4 overall) is well on its way. And, like they did with Rice, opponents are pulling out all the stops to keep Flaherty from beating them, face-guarding her 25 feet from the basket with regularity. “You got defense working night in and night out trying to stop you and at the same time, when you’re a scorer and you know it’s coming, you work that much harder to stay ahead of what they’re trying to do as far as strategy and stopping you, so I feel it,” Rice said. “I understand the body of work that she (has). She’s put in the work and when you put in the work, you accomplish what she is accomplishing. It’s pretty easy when you’re in that spot because you understand exactly what you gotta do to keep going forward.” With eight games to go before the Big Ten tournament, Flaherty is well on her way to setting a near-unbreakable scoring mark. The only thing left for her to accomplish in her collegiate career: A tournament run.
In the face of 2,000 screaming fans at the new U-M Indoor Track Stadium, fifth-year senior Micah Beller came sprinting down the stretch of his 3000meter race, neck and neck with Michigan State’s Clark Ruiz. As they neared the finish line, Beller narrowly pulled ahead, holding his advantage with a final lean of his chest over the finish line. “Once it was within 200 meters, it was just the crowd carrying me the whole way,” Beller said. “They really got into it, and it was awesome being able to feed off that atmosphere.” It initially appeared that Beller’s victory gave the Michigan men’s track and field team the advantage it needed to hold off Ohio State and take home the Simmons-Harvey Quad meet. However, a late disqualification in the 4 x 400 race dropped the Wolverines to second place. Despite the disappointing ending, Michigan came away from the meet optimistic about its all-around showing. “We performed in almost every area,” said Michigan coach Jerry Clayton. “Obviously the throws and then (junior) Taylor (McLaughlin) in the 400, the 4 x 4 there at the end. Overall, from top to bottom, very good team effort.” While Beller’s 3000-meter was the most exciting race of the day, the Wolverines were also dominant in the throwing circle. Junior Joseph Ellis and senior Grant Cartwright placed first and second, respectively, in the weight throw, while sophomore Andrew Liskowitz and Cartwright were the toptwo shot putters. To contend for a Big Ten title next month, these throwers — the self-proclaimed ‘Meat Factory’ — know they will need to repeat Saturday’s performances.
“We took that responsibility (to be team leaders) on last season,” Ellis said, “when we scored 30-some points at outdoor Big Tens so the team is expecting a lot of us but we expect a lot of ourselves. Ideally the ‘Meat Factory’ — me , Grant, Andrew Manning — we’re making moves onto the next stage at nationals and we start to score big points for the team.” Clayton was equally pleased with the performance of his throwers. “The marks at which they opened at (were) about exactly what we were expecting,” Clayton said “so we’re real excited with where they’re at.” Back on the track, Michigan saw two personal records in the 800-meter race produce another 1-2 finish. Junior Matt Plowman clocked in at 1:51.83 while his sophomore teammate Anthony Berry ran a 1:52.18 in his first collegiate race. “That was really a big step forward, because those guys are younger,” Clayton said. “To step in and compete against the teams we had here, that was an outstanding race for both of them.” While the Wolverines were pleased with their work on the track, perhaps the most encouraging performance was from the stands. Many of the Michigan athletes credited both the crowd and their sparkling new facilities as supplemental to their success. “I can’t speak enough to how this facility has helped us (train) over the last couple of months,” Beller said. Even the throwers — normally hidden from the fans — noticed a difference in the crowd. “It’s kind of nerve-wracking” Ellis said. “Normally the throws are off to the side and now we’re just surrounded by fans.” Added Clayton: “The crowds we’ve had these last two meets have just been great. We’re excited and we’re glad the fan base is too.”
SportsMonday
4B — Monday, January 22, 2018
Wolverines plagued by first-half woes
“Tired” Michigan beats Rutgers, 62-47 MAX MARCOVITCH Daily Sports Editor
Michigan shot 43 percent from the field, 32 percent from three, made just eight freethrows and still won by 15 points Sunday afternoon. In what may kindly be deemed a defensive struggle — and not so kindly, a downright ugly game — the twenty-third ranked Wolverines improved to 17-5 overall and 6-3 in Big Ten play with a 62-47 win over Rutgers. For much of the first half, the Michigan offense seemed as disjointed as it was against Nebraska earlier this week. Luckily for the Wolverines, the Scarlet Knights’ was worse. They scored just .68 points per possession in the half, including zero made 3-pointers and eight turnovers. Rutgers failed to register an assist in the first half, and had just one the entire game. “We were trying to take the 3-point line away,” said junior center Moritz Wagner on his team’s defensive strategy. “And they have the tendency to go to one-on-one plays once you take the first play away — at least that’s how we scouted. Our guards, especially, did a good job.” But the Scarlet Knights came into the game with the best scoring defense in the country and seemed intent early on winning with that style. Michigan missed 10 of its first 11 shots, falling to an early 8-2 deficit. “Well,” Wagner said, “we’re kind of used to it now, right?” Added Beilein: “There’s some things I can’t explain coming out. … Whether it’s
nerves, whatever it is, they’re also reading how the team is gonna play us. And when they’re going through those reads I think it’s giving us some paralysis. It’s something that we’ve gotta keep working on and getting better starts.” Slowly but surely, the Wolverines started to crawl out of its now-regular first half offensive woes. Led by a surprising boost of energy from fifth-year seniors Jaaron Simmons and Duncan Robinson, Michigan pieced together an 8-0 run in the middle of the first half to grab a 15-10 lead. Regardless of the optics, the Wolverines took the lead into halftime for the first time since Jan. 2 against Iowa. Even with bumps in execution, they never relingquished that lead. From there, Rutgers simply lacked the offensive firepower to force a competitive game. While Michigan, as has come to be the norm, found its footing from beyond the arc in the second half, the Scarlet Knights struggled to find consistency, relying heavily on guard Corey Sanders to create in isolation. Robinson made four of his seven 3-point attempts in the game, matching the number of threes he’s had in his previous five games combined. He finished with 12 points on the day. Beilein said he knew Robinson was due for a big game, and sent him a text before the game saying, “Duncan, you’re going to be terrific today. Just come off shooting.” Robinson is shooting just 37 percent from 3-point-range this season, five percentage points lower than his previous career low. The shooting slump,
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combined with his defensive struggles guarding out of his normal position, forced him to the bench in favor of freshman forward Isaiah Livers. Regardless of role, though, Sunday could be a step toward Robinson regaining his value. “That’s the dude I know,” Wagner said. “That’s my roommate. That’s the player I’ve played with the last three years, so I’m not surprised at all. I’m very proud of him the way he bounces back.” Wagner and sopohmore point guard Zavier Simpson also finished in double figures. The duo combined for an effective pick-and-roll play in the second half to help the Wolverines pull away. Wagner finished with a game-high 16 points, including 12 in the second half, to guide an uninspiring game to a merciful finish. “As you can tell in this game, we’re tired. We’re beat,” Beilein said.” … “I’m just so glad we could gut through this game, and get refreshed both with our legs but also with our game.”
ETHAN WOLFE Daily Sports Editor
It was as joyous as it was ironic. Halfway through the first half of Sunday’s game against Rutgers, two Michigan greats — current guard Katelynn Flaherty from the women’s team and former forward Glen Rice from the men’s — were being honored at Crisler Center as the leading scorers in Wolverine basketball history. Shortly after, the men’s basketball team jogged to the tunnel for halftime after scoring its third-lowest first half point total of the season, a 27-21 lead. The fewest and second-fewest totals came in the previous two games against Nebraska and Maryland. “We’re kinda used to it now, right?” joked junior forward Moritz Wagner. The platitudes and and jests don’t do justice to how No. 23 Michigan has performed recently — offense is nonexistent, especially in the first half. After upsetting No. 9
Michigan State on Jan. 13, Michigan was averaging 76.7 points a game. In its following three contests, that number has dipped to 60.7, largely influenced by poor starts. Sunday, of course, exacerbated this notion. A 1-for11 performance to kick off the game had coach John Beilein burying his face in his palms, while assistant coaches Luke Yaklich and DeAndre Haynes were standing and barking orders at their players. An eventual 62-47 victory rested more in the hands of the Scarlet Knights’ ineptitude than the Wolverines’ talent. But, like Nebraska and Maryland, Rutgers was capitalizing on Michigan’s predictability. “Again, another team switched every ball screen — most of them — so we’re trying to figure it out,” Beilein said. “I can’t put my finger on that, but hopefully we’ll have better starts going forward.” Added fifth-year senior forward Duncan Robinson: “There’s some really good coaches in this league. We gotta
“As you can tell in this game, we’re tired. We’re beat.”
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Redshirt sophomore Charles Matthews was part of a stagnant Michigan offense that scored just 27 points in the first half.
Wolverines bounce back with statement win
FOOTBALL
‘M’ snags grad transfer DB MARK CALCAGNO Daily Sports Editor
CAT MYKOLAJTCHUK/Daily
Fifth-year senior Kevin Beazley and the eighth-ranked Michigan wrestling team bounced back in a 29-10 win over Wisconsin.
JACOB KOPNICK Daily Sports Writer
From the opening minute, the No. 8 Michigan wrestling team looked untouchable. Bouncing back in dramatic fashion from a demoralizing loss against No. 1 Penn State, the Wolverines (3-1 Big Ten, 6-2 overall) trounced Wisconsin (1-2, 4-2) for an inspiring 29-10 win. To begin the meet and ultimately spell doom for the 23rd-ranked Badgers, fifthyear senior Adam Coon took on Wisconsin’s Ben Stone, a match that didn’t make it out of the first period. Coon muscled his way to a first-period fall a mere 40 seconds into the contest. Cliff Keen Arena erupted into a chorus of approval as the Wolverines began their statement campaign. “It’s always good to start things off like that,” said fifthyear senior Domenic Abounader. “It gets the team going, it gets the momentum going and some confidence going for our team.”
Michigan used this momentum to its advantage as the Wolverines found success in the first five matches of the night. After these victories, including two falls, Michigan looked unbeatable. However, the Badgers did have some fight in them as they managed to escape with two upsets, taking down redshirt junior Alec Pantaleo and fifthyear senior Kevin Beazley. The two ranked wrestlers fell to their unranked counterparts, 3-0 and 3-2, respectively. After losing a close contest against the Nittany Lions, Michigan needed a big win to reaffirm its status as a collegiate powerhouse and instill muchneeded confidence. That is exactly what it got as the Wolverines came away from the contest winning seven out of ten weight classes. This confidence was perhaps most apparent in redshirt junior Malik Amine. Last week, Amine let his emotions get the best of him as he
was called for three unnecessary roughness penalties, essentially delivering the match to his opponent. This week was a different story. Amine ended the match early, pinning Cole Martin in the first period. Triumphantly emerging form his pin, Amine also demonstrated how his emotional wrestling style could be a positive, strutting across the mat and hyping up the crowd. “After Penn State, I had to go back to the drawing board,” Amine said. “It’s better to wrestle emotionally for me then to come out flat. If I go out there flat, I lose or I barely win. Controlled emotion is probably the best for me.” Going forward, it will take consistent control and aggression from all the Wolverines to push them over the top. In the two upsets of the meet, a glaring lack of aggression seemed to be at the root of the losses. In his loss, Beazley began the first period sluggishly, struggling to gain momentum. It
wasn’t until the third period that he showed signs of life before ultimately running out of time. “I think Kevin needs to wrestle the first period like he did that third period,” said Michigan coach Joe McFarland. “He wrestles like that — he probably wins the match. He’s really gotta start stringing moves together. It’s a mindset, we talk a lot about being aggressive, high pace and he finally got that going in the third period.” Growing pains aside, this match was everything the Wolverines needed it to be. Complete with two falls and two major decisions, Michigan secured the energy needed to compete in the Big 10 moving forward. “We didn’t really get a chance to dominate against Penn State,” Coon said. “So when we had the opportunity here in those matches where we could dominate, we definitely came out and put the hurt on them. We need to get a couple matches where we dominate.”
realize as a team that teams aren’t gonna just let us do what we wanna do. They’ll take away our first, second and sometimes our third option. Adjusting to that (is needed) and being aggressive in different ways than our prep.” The Wolverines have shown that they are capable of making some of these adjustments in the second half. For the past six games, Michigan has improved upon its first half point totals — not necessarily the tallest task when field goal percentage has hovered in the 30s. Against the Scarlet Knights, the Wolverines started attacking the hoop with higher percentage shots, and the results showed — 9-for-14 from the paint in the final 20 minutes. This efficiency propelled Michigan over Rutgers. A second-half resurrection got the Wolverines barely over the hump versus Maryland. But in the 72-52 throttling by Nebraska, they couldn’t adapt. “We just don’t have that sense of urgency yet,” said senior guard Muhammad-Ali AbdurRahkman. “We lost that game in Nebraska, and you’d think we’d come out with a little more energy. We didn’t. We had a pretty good lead at halftime, but it’s gotta be better. … We can’t sit around and wait for things to get better in the second half.” Not all should be forgotten in Michigan’s sluggish first half. The long-awaited arrivals of Jaaron Simmons being a capable ball handler, Jon Teske’s midrange jumper and shutdown defense by Robinson were all welcome sights. As for the rest of what happened in the half? That’s been a sour taste that isn’t getting out of the Wolverines’ mouths. “We’re a better scoring team than we were today,” Beilein said. “But we’ve gotta get through and get some fresh legs again so we can make some shots.”
The transfer market has already been kind to the Michigan football team. In one of the most highprofile singings of Jim Harbaugh’s tenure, former Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson committed to the Wolverines last December. Sunday, Michigan tapped that market once again. Utah graduate transfer cornerback Casey Hughes will finish his career in Ann Arbor, he announced on Twitter. “It’s a blessing to say that I’ll be finishing my last collegiate season at the University of Michigan,” Hughes wrote. “I want to thank the entire Michigan coaching staff for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to join their program.” During his first year playing a major role, Hughes made 35 tackles and had one pass breakup in 11 starts. Last September, he forced two fumbles in a win against Arizona. A native of Las Vegas, Nev., Hughes is a former threestar recruit, according to 247 Sports. After redshirting the 2014 season, Hughes served predominately on special teams as a sophomore and junior. Though connected by the
timing of their commitments, Hughes and Patterson have highly contrasting outlooks for 2018. Though his eligibility is still undecided, Patterson is expected to battle sophomores Brandon Peters and Dylan McCaffery for the starting job under center next fall. Hughes, meanwhile, will likely serve as a depth piece in the secondary. Hughes joins a strong and deep position group that figures to return five corners, including incumbent starters Lavert Hill and David Long. Three-star recruits Gemon Green and Sammy Faustin have already signed into the Wolverines’ class of 2021, while Rochester Hills native Vincent Gray also announced his Michigan intentions Sunday. Michigan is also pursuing offensive tackle Calvin Anderson — a Rice graduate transfer also receiving interest from Auburn, Texas, TCU, Oklahoma and Pittsburgh. With the loss of four-year starter Mason Cole, Anderson figures to be the biggest target on the Wolverines’ remaining radar. Harbaugh, offensive coordinator Tim Drevno and assistant Sherrone Moore met with Anderson last Monday in Houston. But only time will tell if Anderson follows Patterson and Hughes’ footsteps to Michigan.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown has a new player to work with.