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Tuesday, January 30, 2018
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Non-profits at University eligible for Lyft grants Student orgs based in A2, Detroit eligible for $1000 grants for transportation ELIZABETH LAWRENCE Daily Staff Reporter
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Erica James, a professor of medical anthropology and urban studies at MIT, discusses hauntology and how race and class affect the spectral realm at Tisch Hall Monday.
MIT professor talks preservation of POC history, infrastructure
Erica James grapples with personal Southern ties in monument conservation KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter
Erica Caple James, MIT associate professor of medical anthropology and urban studies, discussed the importance of historical preservation of monuments and sites and their implications in modern society in to more than 50 students and faculty Monday afternoon in a talk titled “The Matter of Black Lives: Hauntology, Infrastructure, and the Necropolitics of History in the
American South.” James’s talk is part of a larger series led by the Science, Technology, Medicine and Society Colloquium Series at the University of Michigan. Rackham student Vicky Koski-Karell, an event facilitator, introduced James as well as the series and its mission for students. “This is basically an opportunity to bring faculty from across the country and also from within the University that are doing work related to the study of science, technology and
society and just highlight their research, have a space to try out new ideas, and really provide an interdisciplinary space where we can engage in the advancement of knowledge,” Koski-Karell said. James began her talk with a brief summary of the theory surrounding historical monuments and sites, discussing interconnectedness of race, land and infrastructure development. She described the concept of necropolitics and hauntology, ideas that, according to James, explain the power of death and its
impact on society. James specifically cited the example of the Confederate General Robert E. Lee monument in New Orleans, which was removed last year. She said infrastructure in cities convey values of a society, both symbolically and materially. “Infrastructure projects, whether public or private, often reveal the social and political values of a society, and are addressed to the public in ways that can manifest the power of the See MONUMENTS, Page 3
Through their Community Grant Program initiated on Jan. 24, rideshare company Lyft is supplying $1000 in ride credit to nonprofits and student organizations in the Ann Arbor and Detroit area. Beginning in February, the ride-share company will choose one organization to bestow this grant upon each month. With this grant, Lyft aims to support the work of these organizations by helping with transportation difficulties. In a press statement shared with The Daily, Lyft stated its goal of building relationships with groups with important missions in the Ann Arbor community. “As an active member of the greater Ann Arbor business community, Lyft is excited to continue strengthening partnerships with local organizations that are
doing important work in the community,” it states. Any nonprofit or student group from the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Concordia University-Ann Arbor or Washtenaw Community College is eligible to apply for the grant. The application process is competitive, and will prompt organizations to discuss their qualifications, including their mission, how they would utilize the grant and how they use transportation. This is not the first time Lyft has supported student groups at the University. During November of 2017, Lyft teamed up with the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center to promote Better Bystander Month. Lyft supplied coupons for $10 off any ride between midnight and 6 a.m. and SAPAC hosted voluntary bystander intervention workshops for Lyft drivers. See LYFT, Page 3
VP of Student Life focusing on Greek Med dean ‘U’ assists meets with Life, #MeToo and issues of free speech with injury
ACADEMICS
SACUA to strategize
Medical School Vice Dean of Academics sits down to discuss new wellness plans MAYA GOLDMAN & MOLLY NORRIS Daily News Editor & Daily Staff Reporter
Monday, the University of Michigan’s Senate Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Affairs took their weekly meeting to the Medical School to talk about academics at the Medical School with Carol Bradford, the Medical School’s executive vice dean for Academic Affairs and Michigan Medicine’s Chief Academic Officer. Bradford, who got her undergraduate, master’s and medical degrees at the University, began by talking to the body about what she is doing in her role as Vice Dean of Academic Affairs, which she began in July 2016. The previous chair of the Otolaryngology Department, Bradford is one of three executive vice deans at the Medical School — she is in charge of the school’s academic mission, while her colleagues control the clinical and research sectors of the school. “I view my role as oversight of faculty and all learners, which See SACUA, Page 2
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E. Royster Harper discusses reforms, future of misconduct reporting process JORDYN BAKER & AMARA SHAIKH Daily Staff Reporters
On Monday, The Michigan Daily sat down for an interview with E. Royster Harper, the University of Michigan’s vice president of Student Life. During a time of national conversations surrounding many important and polarizing issues, we asked Harper for her take on current Greek life reforms, sexual assault and misconduct, and free speech in the context of white supremacist Richard Spencer’s possible visit to campus next semester. Greek Life In November, Greek life at the University of Michigan experienced a social ban under “claims of sexual misconduct cases involving fraternity brothers, six incidents of reported hazing … multiple allegations of drugging members in undisclosed fraternity chapters and three specific hazing allegations … where fraternity members were put in alleged near-death situations,” according to fraternity leaders at a closed meeting attended by The Daily. After the social ban was lifted, an action-oriented model for Greek life was established, hoping to turn Greek life into a less dangerous environment for participants. According to E. Royster Harper, vice president for Student Life, the Dean of Students Check out the Daily’s News podcast, The Daily Weekly
Office, in partnership with the Director of Greek life, has been taking measures to improve community standards such as providing sexual misconduct training and implementing a position between Greek life and the Ginsberg Center. “We’ve been trying through education, through training, a little bit of persuasion and then some concrete structural changes like adding positions, really trying
to get the community to really rethink its culture and recommit to a culture that reflects its value,” Harper said. More recently, members of Greek life attended a weekend retreat, Harper said, where topics of social responsibility and community values were discussed. She explained the most important part of the Greek life reform process has been to establish a partnership with
students, rather than to regulate or direct students. “The challenge I face is that none of us, including the Greek community, want the things that are unhealthy in the community to continue … On the other hand, we don’t want to talk about the community as though there’s nothing good in the community,” Harper said. “I am both encouraged by their See HARPER, Page 3
DARBY STIPE/Daily
E. Royster Harper, Vice President for Student Life, addresses Greek Life and the tensions surrounding the social ban, hazing, and the treatment of students of color at the Fleming Administration Building Monday.
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Vol. CXXVII, No. 65 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
healthcare software
Return-to-work times stand to increase in collab with health research center ALON SAMUEL
Daily Staff Reporter
In collaboration with Chicago and Denver-based Peers Health, an organization aiming to reform workforce case management and help workers get back to their jobs after illness or injury, the University of Michigan is currently working on a two-year research project with the goal of optimizing health care plans and return-towork times for employees on injury or sick leave. Currently, organizations like Peers Health are finding strong relationships between a worker’s ability to perform their job’s duties and their overall well-being and health. By improving this healthcare infrastructure, the University and Peers Health are hoping to increase productivity in hospitals, insurance companies, offices and more. According to Brian Denton, an Industrial and Operations Engineering professor, who is one of the principal investigators of the project along with Jenna Wiens, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, the research will See INJURY, Page 3
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SACUA From Page 1 we sometimes call residents or trainees,” Bradford said. “We’re also extremely committed to faculty development, so I think we’re all learners because we’re all striving to improve.” Strategic planning for the department has been a priority of Bradford’s since she took the position. She and her team created five “pillars”— education, people, discovery, care and service— that now guide the academic mission of the Medical School. “We came up with this mission and strategic framework, which is that the University of Michigan Medical School will transform health through bold and innovative education, discovery and service, and we’ll do that in a vibrant and inclusive learning community, with enabling resources and infrastructure,”
CUPCAKKE
Bradford told the body. Bradford then opened the conversation up to SACUA, asking for their suggestions on how to best engage with the community and improve their overall strategic plan. SACUA vice chair Ruth Carlos, professor of radiology, mentioned different strategies may work better in different situations. More sensitive topics like conversations on diversity, race and equity require different outreach methods, as people are often more reluctant to talk about them. “I believe it’s contextual,” Carlos said. “What we want to share, and the information we’d like to get back really depends on the topic and the sensitivity of the topic … It’s challenging to come up with a single recommendation and in many instances, the stakeholders we’d like to engage don’t know they’re stakeholders. They don’t know they can be engaged.”
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Bradford agreed, sharing that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts have been very robust at the Medical School. Each department within the school has a diversity unit, and implicit bias has been a major target of these units recently. According to Bradford, over 6,000 members of Michigan Medicine have done unconscious bias training. This segued into a conversation about wellness and civility among the Medical School community. Wellness is a growing concern among academic medical centers, and something Bradford and her team have been paying close attention to in the past year and a half. “Our goal is to prevent and protect against burn out in the workplace environment, and it’s really for the entire workforce, we really wanted to make sure that there was nobody that was not included,” Bradford said. When Bradford opened the conversation to suggestions from the Committee again, SACUA member Joy Beatty, associate professor of management studies at U-M Dearborn, asked how the Medical School was addressing issues of civility in their community. “Civility is how we treat each other, and wellness is ‘are we well,’” Bradford clarified. “So when we began to put them together, we thought, perhaps correctly or incorrectly, that lack of civility could be related to lack of wellness. And I think where we’re thinking right now is that there is overlap, but they’re two separate issues, so we need wellness tactics and we need separate civility tactics.” SACUA member Stefan Szymanski, professor of kinesiology, steered the conversation back to wellness, saying the pressure to always be one of “the leaders and best” might contribute to a faculty burnout at the University.
“We talk about being victors, leaders, the best and I think for many people that can create discontinuity,” Szymanski said. “People don’t get up every morning feeling like a victor, a leader or the best, necessarily, and our expectations are constantly saying ‘this is what we are.’ I think that places a lot of stress on individuals.” But on the other hand, Bradford said she found through her research that meaning and purpose could be an antidote to lack of wellness in a community. “If you come to work and make a positive difference in the lives of patients, families, the organization, whatever it is, that actually can be a really good prevention and help you maintain and keep wellness,” Bradford said. “But I think what you’re referencing is we can’t all be superstars, so it’s about making room in the organization for everyone to make a positive impact and a difference, and when things are not going well, what resources are available.” The Committee rounded out the discussion with a question from SACUA member Neil Marsh, professor of biological chemistry. Marsh wanted to know how Bradford viewed the relationship between the basic science departments and the clinical science departments, and how she plans to improve it. He said he has felt a large divide between the two disciplines at the University. Bradford, the previous chair of the Department of Otolaryngology, which housed the Kresge Hearing Institute, a basic sciences department, has spent many years trying to foster the relationship between the two groups. She said she hasn’t yet found a perfect answer to Marsh’s question. “Our teams are working very hard to hold (the two) together,” Bradford said. “It’s an opportunity and a challenge … I think we need to find forums and avenues for meaningful collaboration and win-win situations.”
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Pervasive sexual assault is “black cloud” over gymnastics, says ‘U’ women’s coach Plocki supports survivors, but stays away from calling out structural issues in interview RIYAH BASHA
Managing News Editor
The fallout from scandals of sex abuse by disgraced doctor Larry Nassar at Michigan State University and as a member of the USA Gymnastics medical team have had innumerable ripple effects at the University of Michigan. The Daily spoke to women’s gymnastics coach Bev Plocki, in her 29th season on campus as one of the winningest coaches in the country, about this “moment of reckoning” for her team and the gymnastics community. The Michigan Daily: How is your team feeling, after the trial and sentencing and survivors coming forward? Plocki: The reality of this situation is that it’s so incredibly widespread. Everyone on our team, in our entire gymnastics community has been affected by it. Everybody knows at least someone who has been a victim. We’re all deeply saddened by what’s gone on and what these victims have had to say. We really hope, now, that since
INJURY From Page 1 be applying several research methods, such as algorithmic investigations and statistical tests, to a comprehensive data set of anonymous workers’ compensation cases. “What we want to do from that data is try to learn what works well and what doesn’t work well using data science approaches, so algorithmic approaches, for learning what decisions are likely to lead to somebody being able to get back to work in a safe and timely manner,” Denton said. The research will use deep reinforcement machine learning, along with statistical and industrial operations methods, to create a model for how a patient can be treated for injury or illness and when they can return to work. Rackham student Haozhu Wang, who is leading the student research group collaborating on the project, said the wealth of data the project has to work from will benefit the project immensely. “This data set that we are going to work with is really kind of novel,” Wang said. “It’s a huge data set which contains the information of one million patients … To my knowledge, this is the largest data set by far (to be analyzed by machine learning).” Wang also noted this is some of the first research using machine reinforcement learning, which investigates data sets through trial-and-error as a human often would, that looks at occupational healthcare. Peers Health CEO Jon Seymour said the focus on return-to-work data is relatively new in occupational health data analysis as well. “The focus of the data set is return-to-work, which is specifically how to get patients back to work from injuries and illnesses,” Seymour said. “It’s an important facet of medicine that is often underappreciated … Getting someone back to work from an injury or illness is equivalent to returning them to
LYFT From Page 1 LSA senior Julia Berg, a volunteer co-coordinator for SAPAC’s Bystander Intervention and Community Engagement program, said the Lyft partnership was a success in terms of helping students and other members of the community becoming more aware of how to be better bystanders. “It was a cool partnership we had with them, and we’re hoping to keep using those Lyft passes to demonstrate that Lyft is still partnering with us
it’s over and since — I don’t even know what to call him, I certainly won’t call him Dr. Nassar—he’ll be gone for good, I hope everyone will be able to move on and heal. It’s the amount of support that is out there that’s the light at the end of a really dark tunnel. It has strengthened the community and bond between these athletes that are behind everyone affected. TMD: How do I know that what happened at MSU won’t happen here? Plocki: I think that we’re doing everything in our power … I mean the reality of the answer is that we can’t issue any guarantees. But for myself personally, I have tried very hard—and my athletes know this—to create a culture of open communication. They know my cell phone is on 24 hours a day, it’s by my bed, if they need me at two o’clock in the morning, I’ll be there. We’ve created that culture of encouraging them to come forward no matter what it is. My place is to be there for them, to make them feel safe, and to care. But I won’t overstep my boundaries. TMD: This is year 29 now for you at the University, and many
their productive endeavors.” Seymour said the decision to work with University researchers was based on the advanced technological power, such as Mcity and the highest amount of research and development spending out of all public U.S. universities, and knowledge available. “Here, these technologies, like artificial intelligence, are so cutting edge that the more we looked at it, the more we felt, to get the most out of it, we needed an academic component,” Seymour said. “These technologies are the ones that will eventually parallel a self-driving car, (they will) be able to actually interpret data and develop a policy around what to do in a given situation, and make proactive recommendations to doctors and other stakeholders.” Denton reiterated Seymour’s self-driving vehicles example, saying the technology and research in artificial intelligence can apply to the research and data procedure the University and Peers will be working on with worker injuries through creating the deep learning research networks that rely on artificial intelligence to synthesize the data. “Self-driving vehicles are trying to learn over time to become more and more effective using data they collect from multiple sources, and in a way that’s exactly what we’re trying to do here with the data that Peers is providing — many different sources of data that we bring together to build learning algorithms to improve upon decision making,” Denton said. Seymour acknowledged there is considerable commercial interest going into this research — Peers Health develops and sells guidelines in the returnto-work industry — and he said he believes the research has the potential to go even farther into the health care field. “The implications of what we’ll learn here go beyond the niche of occupational health care and really extend broadly to general health care, and potentially every medical episode that goes on all day, every day,” Seymour said.
and that we can still be better bystanders,” Berg said. Berg was unsure of how often SAPAC uses transportation on an organizational level, but thought they could perhaps use the grant to collaborate with other student organizations. “Within BICE, we’ve done a lot with the bystander intervention part of our name, and we’re working more on the community engagement part,” Berg said. “So hopefully we can find ways to work with other groups on campus that could potentially use this as a resource. Or maybe there’s some sort of collaborative event that could use this type of funding.”
Tuesday, January 30, 2018 — 3
MONUMENTS From Page 1 state, and shape the subjectivity of those that design, fabricate, test, and ultimately use such systems,” James said. James continued by describing her personal mission in discovering her ancestry to Jesse Scott Sammons, a public figure in Charlottesville, Va. towards the end of the 19th century. His previous familial homestead and cemetery were in danger of being paved over by a highway plan initiated by the Virginia Department of Transportation under the principle of eminent domain. After being traced to Sammons, she was asked by local historians to participate in the battle to preserve the land and its historical sites. She described her initial reluctance in becoming involved with the project, not knowing exactly what obligations she owed the Sammons homestead, or how culturally significant this battle truly was. “Taking on the fight meant embracing kinship with, and connections to, persons and troubling histories that have haunted my family, Virginia, and the United States, for more than two centuries,” James said. James revealed after a lengthy struggle with legality
and questionable legitimacy of the historical site, the battle ended in her favor, the team of historians and other ancestors of the Sammons family. The debate was reviewed by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, which deemed not only the Sammons cemetery and homestead were historically relevant, but also the remaining 27 acres were eligible to receive federal protections. Despite this success, James questioned the overall accomplishment of the preservation and respect of the history of people of color and the losing battles in many other Southern states. “Whose history is deemed important and what are the criteria?” James said. Rackham student Kathryn Berringer expressed her excitement for future talks within the STeMS series and said the opportunity to be a part of this STS collaboration can widen the scope of the concentration and bring the dialogue to other parts of campus. “The series and the program itself provides a chance to bring together faculty, graduate students and undergrad from around the University campus, to then engage with the speakers who are coming in and speaking to questions relevant to STS from many different fields,” Berringer said.
of the survivors we heard at the trial spoke about three decades of abuse. What kinds of things have you seen in your time here? Plocki: I would never speak publicly about anyone’s issue, but I can tell you in 29 years, we’ve dealt with a lot of things, from personal tragedy to homesickness to something that’s happened in childhood or after. We can’t prevent people from having personal traumatic events, especially if they don’t have anything to do with their time at the University. But we have plans in place to help anybody that comes forward, with anything they might be dealing with. TMD: Did you know him? How well? Plocki: Who didn’t know him? I know he did his undergraduate work here at Michigan, but beyond that, I didn’t know him here. I would not classify him as a friend, but he was acquaintances with everybody in our world. He was all over the place, so you’d run into him here, there, and he was always a very friendly person. That was part of his grooming, he was very kind, giving, accommodating. Other than seeing him in other
venues … It makes me very happy to say we’ve never utilized his services or referred studentathletes to him. We utilize our own training staff. TMD: Another wrinkle in this story is Michigan State’s involvement in the case, that officials created a culture that enabled this abuse and assault. What kinds of conversations have you been in among coaches, or in the Big Ten? Plocki: We’re in the middle of our season, and so it’s not a pleasant thing for anyone to pick up the phone and speak about. I can only speak to our policies and procedures here, and it’s not appropriate for me to speak for anyone else. All I can really say is that Mr. Nassar was a master manipulator, and the number of children and young women that he fooled, the number of adults—be it parents or colleagues—it amazes me. I don’t know the specifics of any of that, so I’m not comfortable pointing fingers or placing blame.
HARPER From Page 1 own self-monitoring in saying that we need to stop the social activities because of all this going on, and that also frightens me because my experience has been when we selfcorrect, things are sometimes more dangerous than we know.” In addition, Harper spoke on multicultural fraternities and sororities, specifically surrounding issues of police presence. In October, The Daily reported a disparity between the large amount of Black and Latino fraternity police citations and the low amount of police activity at predominantly white fraternities on MSU gameday weekend. Harper said the disparity is one that mirrors national conversations on overpolicing and concerns the differences between Greek life organizations and private homes. “The same behavior in front of a white Greek letter organization gets an entirely different response than if it’s a private home and there are lots of students of color,” Harper said. “That is an ongoing challenge for us as a university and as a community as we work with our students because they notice the difference, we notice the difference.” Many students also feel a lost connection between the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion planand Greek life. While Harper explained the difficulties in finding solutions to the issue, specifically for those often “overpoliced and underprotected,” she spoke of the importance in continuing to engage in conversations surrounding the issue and in strengthening relationships between different communities. “I think what public safety officers are trying to do is to ensure public safety,” Harper said. “I think what students experience is, ‘But your response to ensuring that is different depending on how people look,’ and that’s true — that’s the national conversation. We just have to continue to do this work.” Student Life Support In terms of initiatives undertaken by Student Life, Harper first spoke on sexual assault, a topic that has become especially relevant
as allegations are made against men in power around the nation and in Hollywood, as well as at the University of Michigan. Most recently, the trial of Larry Nassar, a former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor who received 40 to 175 years for sex abuse, has sparked a larger sexual assault conversation among higher education institutions. At the University, Harper explained through strengthening and improving staff at the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center and Counseling and Psychological Services, the Student Life administration has been working to change the dialogue surrounding sexual assault, so that rather than focusing all efforts on the punishment of perpetrators, more efforts are directed toward increasing and advocating for the reporting process through educational efforts. “What we’re really talking about is a culture change,” Harper said. “The narrative has been around punishment. ‘Why wasn’t the guy punished, why wasn’t the guy stopped, who knew when?’ What we want to focus on is, certainly, when it occurs [to] have a strong adjudication process … But we really want our efforts to be around education and training.” She explained the administration has looked over assessment data and surveys around sexual assault at the University, researching the reasons students may not report incidents of sexual misconduct and determining ways to strengthen training programs so as to encourage and improve reporting. “We want to be effective in repairing harm and adjudicating, but the real goal for us is to not have it happen, and when it does, to have the kind of community where our students will come forward, know that they will be believed, and know then that we will work to resolve in a fair and equitable way what has happened,” Harper said. While the encouragement of students to come forward with allegations is important, Harper highlighted the duties of those within her own office to act on allegations and to ensure investigations are handled properly. “The President has been very
explicit with all of us that the buck stops with us,” Harper said. “His expectation is that staff in Student Life are trained, that they are reporting and that I am acting when I hear something. That has always been the expectation, but he sort of turned up the volume.” In explaining the efforts of the Office of Student Life in improving training and education, Harper also emphasized giving voices to survivors — something that becomes especially important in times when countless individuals come forward. She expanded on her commitment to ensuring all students, staff and faculty recognize their right to be present at the University free of the possibility of sexual assault and misconduct. “Part of the reason why we have to be so vigilant now is because imagine you come out of high school, you come to college, you sort of learn in college (to) put up with it — why wouldn’t you go into a career and put up with it?” Harper said. “So in some ways, we’re hoping that if we are just focused and really get this culture right, it will then ricochet (as you go) into a career and you say no.” Spencer delays On the topic of a potential visit from white supremacist Richard Spencer next semester and the current issues surrounding free speech on campus, Harper addressed the removal request of biology professor John Vandermeer’s “Black Lives Matter” sign from his office window two weeks ago. Harper acknowledged the University’s request to remove the sign was a mistake. However, she emphasized if it was purposeful, the University would be contradicting its own position on free speech — especially since it is the basis for allowing someone like Spencer on campus. “If the taking down of the sign was based on content then we’re talking out of both sides of our mouth because we have a commitment to free speech, and it’s everybody’s free speech,” Harper said. “It’s Richard Spencer’s free speech, and Black Lives Matters’s free speech.” Harper furthered this sentiment and said the power of free speech
lies in the fact that it belongs to everyone. “There is a strong commitment, there is an unwavering commitment to free speech, and that’s everybody’s,” Harper said. “That means that (Spencer) can come, and I can protest his coming. He can say swear words, and so can I. That’s the power of the right to speak. It applies to everyone. Though sometimes we would rather not hear what the person is saying because it’s so offensive or racist or homophobic, they still have the right to say it. (However, Vandermeer) has the right the put up the sign.” She also warned of the danger that not standing true to the idea that everyone has the right to voice their opinions can lead to the University coming across as insincere. “There can’t be two standards for free speech without us being hypocritical as an institution,” Harper said. Harper also addressed the topic of student housing and the added financial burden it continues to place on students each year. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Ann Arbor’s median rate for rent increased 14 percent from 2010 to 2015 — lying at $1,075 as of the last survey. As the Vice President of Student Life, Harper is in charge of the Beyond the Diag initiative, which helps students find off-campus housing. Harper explained while the University cannot control the prices of off-campus entities, there are discussions taking place about refurbishing existing on-campus housing options and even building new ones altogether. “One of the ways we’ve been thinking about it is, is there something we can do in terms of additional housing for students, and how do we repair and replace what is here so students want to live on campus and should we be thinking about additional housing?” Harper said. “We can control that cost in a way that we can’t control the market.”
Berg also said she’d be interested in using the grant to continue providing students with late-night Lyft passes. “We didn’t actually give out all of the passes we got from Lyft, but we’re hoping to give more out at workshops,” Berg said. “If the funding could be used in that capacity, I think that would be a cool opportunity.” For organizations like The Detroit Partnership, a University student group that aims to get students involved in the Detroit area, Lyft’s grant could be especially helpful. Business senior Arjun Kaushal, finance director
of The Detroit Partnership, discussed the group’s reliance on transportation to achieve their mission. He said the group mainly uses Zipcar to transport students for their weekly programs and buses for their major events. Kaushal said Lyft’s program is something the organization would probably look into, but noted how quickly they would run through the $1,000 due to how often they need transportation. “It’s obviously of interest to us; it’s in our target space as it’s targeting communities in Ann Arbor and Detroit,” Kaushal said. “In terms of the
$1,000, if I was going to use Lyft to go to Detroit, one way is around 50 bucks. For us, as an organization, we’d use it up pretty quickly.” Kaushal also said he recognized the benefits of this grant and a continuing partnership with Lyft. “From what I hear, Lyft is generally good about factoring in social change and positive change in their mission and their company’s fabric,” Kaushal said. “Functionally, there’s definitely value to be had there for us in getting our members down to the city.” In an email interview, Elliot Darvick, the general Lyft
manager of Detroit, said the positive drive demonstrated by students at the University motivated Lyft to extend the Community Grant Program to Ann Arbor. He also expressed his excitement in seeing what these organizations will achieve with the help of the grant. “Knowing that U-M students and the community surrounding them are equally driven to create a better world inspired us to bring the grant program to Ann Arbor,” Darvick wrote. “I’m eager to see the great work that organizations in our community are able to do with access to Lyft’s safe, reliable, and convenient rides.”
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Opinion
4 — Tuesday, January 30, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
HOLLY HONIG | OP-ED
State discrimination threatens democracy
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IAN LEACH | COLUMN
Print journalism in Trump’s presidency
O
ver the past year, I’ve seen a dramatic shift in reputable journalistic outlets’ — like The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post — coverage of the presidency to what individuals might perceive as being more partisan than in the past. In many ways, this shift can be seen as a response to the pages of lies that PolitiFact has noted over the course of President Donald Trump’s presidency and his campaign. Put yourself in the shoes of a journalist: How do you cover a lie while making sure that A) your article isn’t seen as inherently partisan and B) your information establishes that the lie is, well, a lie. The New York Times has been grappling with this problem ever since Trump announced his candidacy for president. Despite the lies that Trump has told over the course of his presidency, newspapers still have difficulty explaining these kinds of falsehoods from a political official. In NYT Public Editor Liz Spayd’s article addressing The New York Times trying to grapple with these falsehoods, Spayd actually suggests using the term “lie” sparingly, something that should seem incredibly concerning. Because of Trump’s tendency to lie throughout his presidency, mainstream print journalism has yet to adapt to the era of Trump and has failed in many ways at effectively communicating how the normative values in American democracy are being broken. I see Trump’s successful campaign as coming from this journalistic hesitancy. In attempts to ensure an article has a lack of partisan slant, the news will proceed to use language that seems distanced from the facts. This is normal, and many communications and journalism scholars would say this is critical for the news to do its job. With
that said, this logic doesn’t quite acknowledge how this can be perceived by an average person reading the news. In attempting to make something feel “objective” — and many individuals, including myself, take serious issue with the idea of objectivity as a realistic goal — mainstream outlets can also make the news feel normal and ordinary. These stories can feel as if something that might be seen as “breaking the norm” as being an event that should happen in how we understand American democracy. Trump has broken so many norms that it’s hard for mainstream outlets to ratchet up the rhetoric when there are already so many values that are different from past presidencies. To think of an example, recall the Access Hollywood tape. The New York Times decided that the article about the tape would be titled “Donald Trump Apology Caps Day of Outrage Over Lewd Tape.” The Times’s attempt to be impartial can appear as if this were ordinary. The word “outrage” can have some serious implications and connotations, but it doesn’t mention the comments Trump made on its own — quite literally why the story exists. Stories like these exemplify how the actual event has deviated from the norm within the article itself, but this sort of language in the title doesn’t do the article justice, and a casual reader may leave without fully understanding its importance. What it doesn’t tell the reader is that a man running for president said that he could sexually assault women. These horrific moments need to be said and written in ways that allow the reader to understand the gravity of what is happening in the political sphere, something that I don’t see happening in mainstream news outlets. However, there is still hope in the journalism industry. Journalists are changing the way they present news, and there
SARAH NEFF | CONTACT SARAH AT SANE@UMICH.EDU
have even grown unlikely news sources that can help individuals interpret what is actually going on. When we think about the news, we think of the CNNs or The New York Times of the world as the only spaces where individuals get their news. Comedy shows rarely addressed politics even 10 or 20 years ago, excluding The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Now, however, more and more night shows and comedy shows are addressing serious topics in funny ways. Vox writer Carlos Maza, has had his finger on the pulse of TV political information for a while now, but his argument about how comedians have improved political awareness has become particularly salient: Comedians have the ability to call out ridiculous arguments and do so in comical ways, and it has started permeating into TV journalism as well. CNN’s Jake Tapper has increasingly become tougher in his questioning and statements, and it has garnered him millions of followers. Print journalism needs to find outlets that can allow for the same sorts of interpretation — and, frankly, it needs to be done in ways outside of the opinion column. As we see print news employing more multimedia in their articles, these companies need to continue to evolve and change if they want to be able to inform Americans and call out events as normatively “breaking the rules” in our democracy. Read time for articles are dramatically lower, and this means that news stories need to be aggressive in getting important information in ways that a reader can interpret and take with them. Print journalism isn’t going to die, yet, but it could if the era of Trump permeates too far into the journalism industry.
Ian Leach can be reached at ileach@umich.edu.
I
f you’re white, you may not see it happening, but I want you to know our democracy is in a real crisis. By definition, a democracy is a government in which people participate. People of color are living with unimaginable oppression, and while you may say, “I’ve heard this before,” I contend you may be mistaken. I consider myself somewhat aware, compassionate and even active in trying to make the world a better place for all of us. I’m currently taking a course on international human rights, and our textbook is “Human Rights in World History” by Peter Stearns. In the textbook’s introduction, Stearns writes “the United States government regularly produces reports on other countries’ human rights record…” However, rather than analyzing other countries, we need to pause and, instead, take a serious look inward. On Jan. 19, I attended an event hosted by the University of Michigan focusing on the “lived experiences of Black Americans.” Rackham students Steven Moore and Hakeem J. Jefferson were the organizers and shared information with me regarding the panel on mass incarceration, writing in an email on Jan. 23, “We hope (to) drive home the massive impact this has on the everyday lives of so many black and brown people in the U.S.” The news wasn’t hopeful. Racism continues to grow deeply while almost all of us well-intended white people continue to look away — liberals, moderates, conservatives, even many
activists who take on different causes. Just ask Charnesia Corley. Andrea Ritchie, a nationally-recognized expert on policing issues, told us what happened just two years ago to Corley when she was a 20-year old African-American student. She was pulled out of her car for failure to stop at a stop sign and forced down to the ground while a female police officer pulled off her pants, forced her legs open and probed her vagina for 11 minutes in the parking lot. This happened on what started out as a regular day in June to an innocent young woman just going about living her life. The unjust, cloaked term for this is a cavity search. Putting your fingers in someone without their consent is, by definition, rape. It was done by the police, making it state-sanctioned rape. I am hard-pressed to believe this would have happened if she were a white woman in Ann Arbor — if she were me. This should concern all of us for the obvious humanitarian reasons, but also because of the impact on our democracy. I also learned just how egregious Driving While Black, or DWB, is. Again, you’ve heard this before, right? But Frank Baumgartner, professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has analyzed 55 million traffic stops in every way possible. He and his team of researchers demonstrated not only the incredibly high number of times people of color are pulled over, but they also correlated voting behaviors and outcomes of this kind of treatment by the state. In the
study, the researchers found that “a mere interaction with a police officer (not resulting in arrest) is associated with a reduction in the probability of voting of almost 10 percent.” You may be thinking to yourself (because you certainly wouldn’t say it out loud), “Yeah, this is all really horrible, but what does it really have to do with democracy?” We allow skin color to continue to be counterfactual markers of social differences and resulting life experiences. White people need to acknowledge the word that makes so many of us cringe: privilege. I’m speaking here of the specific privilege to simply possess the desire to engage in our government. A very real outcome of state-sanctioned discrimination is a group of people who lack a desire to engage in anything having to do with that state. When our state disempowers and discourages civic engagement of the Black community, we cannot claim to have a functioning democracy. Why would Charnesia Corley want to participate in a government that not only allows something like this to happen to her, but was the perpetrator? Stearns has this to say about revolution: “People in various societies at various times, had attacked reigning governments because of economic deprivation, injustice, corruption, unfair property distribution.” I say, make no mistake; we may just require a revolution.
Holly Honig is an LSA Junior
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. CHRISTOPHER OLSON | OP-ED
Reform the Ann Arbor Tenants’ Union
T
he recently published Campus Affordability Guide by the University of Michigan’s Central Student Government has produced understandable and justifiable backlash. Affordability in Ann Arbor is a structural issue and will hardly be solved by suggesting students spend less money. One of the biggest costs to students is rent, which continues to increase every year. As the University continues to admit more students and refuses to build more housing for those students, more are pushed into the private market. Due to the high cost of land and developers seeking to maximize profits, the market will continue to supply unaffordable luxury student high-rises. Students, however, need not be powerless as consumers in the housing market. One recommendation of the affordability guide that CSG should pursue is the reformation of the Ann Arbor Tenants’ Union. The AATU was formed in 1968 as the coordinating committee of a city-wide rent strike initially protesting the poor housing at a time when 90 percent of rental properties failed to meet city code requirements. After its formation, the AATU undertook several more strike and advocacy actions to combat failure to meet code requirements, privacy violations and sexual harassment in cooperation with women’s groups and antiracism efforts. In addition to serving the whole of the Ann Arbor area, the AATU received most of its funding from Central Student Government, then known as the Michigan Student Assembly. In 2004, CSG stopped funding the union, despite 58 percent of the student body voting to continue funding the union through a one-dollar increase
in tuition. CSG’s decision to stop funding the AATU led to its dissolution in 2004. CSG provided funds to the AATU as well as office space in the Michigan Union because of the benefits the AATU provided to students. The vast majority of students are renters in Ann Arbor and renting for the first time, ma king us pa r ticula rly v ulnerable to predator y actions by la ndlords. Due to CSG f unding, t he A ATU prov ided f ree ser v ices to st udents such a s lega l adv ice when dea ling w it h la ndlord issues a s well a s lobby ing efforts on behalf of the city’s renters. At the time, CSG incorrectly claimed the AATU was ineffective. While students can get legal advice from Student Legal Services when dealing with landlord issues, it hardly fulfills the same advocacy on behalf of students that the AATU once did. A great deal of the need for the reformation of the AATU is the disempowered status of students. Looking at the wards of Ann Arbor, from which City Council members are elected, one notices that they look like slices of pie. They are shaped this way for an explicit and by no means accidental purpose. At the height of student activism in the late ‘60s, students wielded substantial inf luence over city council. When this activism subsided in the ‘80s, the wards were redrawn to weaken and disempower students. Additionally, because Ann Arbor is a Democratic stronghold, City Council members often run unopposed in the general election, thus making the only election of meaning the August party primary. Students are often not on campus at the beginning of August, and thus the average age of the primary voters is mid- to late60s. Because students don’t
vote for the members of City Council, the city government has little electoral incentive to represent our interests. While Zach Ackerman, D-Ward 3, was able to win a seat on the council as a student, he is the exception and not the rule. He is also the only member of the 11-member city council who rents and is not a homeowner, a significant underrepresentation considering that 40 percent of Ann Arbor residents are renters. The reformation of the AATU would give students political power as renters. It would have the ability to inf luence City Council yearround when the students are not here and be an institution that represents our interests. When the AATU existed, it demonstrated its power and inf luence by initiating rent strikes and even suing the city of Ann Arbor. In 2004, students felt that the AATU should continue its existence, and it is unfortunate that CSG did not honor the will of the students at that time. While restoring the AATU would not be a silver bullet solution to fixing affordability in Ann Arbor, its return would be something CSG could do to improve affordability in Ann Arbor and an effective use of student tuition dollars; providing an important service to students that the affordability guide does not. The tenants’ union at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was used by nearly 8,000 students in 2015 and assisted in writing a comprehensive landlordtenant ordinance in Urbana. If there is one thing that comes out of the backlash to the Campus Affordability Guide, it should be for CSG to take action on its call for the reformation of the Ann Arbor Tenants’ Union.
Christopher Olson is an LSA Junior
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, January 30, 2018 — 5
COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK
ALBUM REVIEW
Backstage Pass: Meeting a stranger for Twisted Pine ALEX SUPPAN Daily Arts Writer
QUALITY CONTROL
On ‘Culture II’ Migos falls victim to the sequel curse JONAH MENDELSON Daily Arts Writer
Last year was the year of Migos. They began 2017 by releasing their tour de force, Culture, a project that catapulted them to international stardom. They maintained their public presence throughout the year: A series of well-placed features (e.g. “Slide” by Calvin Harris and “Congratulations” by Post Malone), the release of collaborative albums (Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho and Without Warning) as well as a leading role on Quality Control’s compilation album Control the Streets Volume 1 kept them in the limelight. There was no way that Culture II would have that same X-factor that Culture possessed; sequels almost never do. My first listen through, I really disliked this album. I went in worried that the excessive length and repetitious flows of the members (a crime of which Quavo is particularly guilty) would make this project a chore to get through. The opening tracks seemed to confirm my fears — this would be a project bogged down by sameness and lack of innovation, the death knell of Migos’s time in the spotlight. Sure, “Walk It Talk It,” “BBO (Bad Bitches Only)” and
maybe “Narcos” would be hits, but they felt stale nonetheless and were surrounded by below average cuts. It was only on track nine (“Stir Fry”) that the album began to feel like something new. Previously released as a single, this Pharrell-produced song is an
Culture II Migos Quality Contorl auspicious sign for the rest of the album. “Too Much Jewelry” is OK but bland until the 2:45 mark, where some captivating autotune comes in (it sounds almost like a talkbox at times). “White Sand” is probably the most disappointing track on the album — with Travis Scott production and a starstudded ensemble of features one would expect a strong outing, but the end product is weak in every way. Perhaps the most interesting track is “Gang Gang.” The beat grabs immediately — it’s kind of melancholy, not a vibe ever really explored by Migos before. It’s quite poppy as well (produced by The Arcade, known mostly for his work with Iggy Azalea). It perhaps suffers from a overly-repetitive
hook, but it’s new territory for Migos regardless. The decision to make a 24-track album bottom-heavy is bold, the stretch from tracks 20-23 (“Notice Me” to “Top Down On Da NAWF”) being the most consistent section of the album by far. Culture felt polished and restrained, only 13 tracks long. Culture II is almost double that, and in serious need of some cuts. An ideal version of Culture II would have a tracklist something like: “Supastars” “Narcos” “BBO (Bad Bitches Only)” “Walk It Talk It” “Stir Fry” “Too Much Jewelry” “Gang Gang” “Crown the Kings” “Open It Up” “Motorsport” “Notice Me” “Too Playa” “Made Men” “Top Down On Da NAWF” This tracklist would rival Culture in terms of quality and variety, but not in terms of cultural influence. Culture II feels like a transitionary album; Migos have reached a point in their career at which they have to choose what path to follow next.
I met a stranger this Tuesday at The Ark. Now at my keyboard, I want to make another introduction to you: Here is Backstage Pass, The Daily’s new series where writers share their experiences meeting new people in the setting of Ann Arbor’s arts scene. At the top of the staircase in this house of folk, I kept an eye out for indicators of an undergraduate female in the line of people ascending the staircase. A girl in a red coat came up to me asking if I was Alex. Easy. Mariah Scissom, LSA sophomore, joined me for Twisted Pine’s performance at The Ark on “Take A Chance Tuesday,” where non perishable food donations were welcomed in place of ticket fare. In the prelude to the performance, we talked about Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, an album thematically and sequentially linked to the breakups of the band members. I also learned that Mic Fleetwood is a member of Fleetwood Mac, and we agreed Fleetwood Mic would have probably been a less suitable band name. So it felt eerily coincidental that, after this conversation, Twisted Pine’s performance seemed to be love-themed and spoke to bad relationships. The night’s set featured “Bad Boyfriend” — for all of those in the audience who have had a bad boyfriend “or are a bad boyfriend,” said guitarist Rachel Sumner. While I watched the quartet strum on stage, I thought about how I would confront the
unfamiliar task of how to write about music. I’m not well-versed in the language of music — I don’t know how to speak about it — but I believe I know how to engage my ears. I let myself absorb the beats and vibrations from the instruments and vocals, physically feeling the emotion in the music. I really try to listen to the lyrics so they register as words rather than sounds, listening and connecting to the stories that singers vocalize. I realized that music is another medium, like visual art, to share universal themes, feelings and passions that everyone will experience in some way. In the dim lighting of this music hall, an audience of strangers engaged in communal listening, captivated by the unifying vibrations and vocals of Twisted Pine. This felt like the right type of place to meet a new person. Art is a good fostering ground for connection. Music and art filled our conversations, and together we shared the experience of enjoying the music. We commented on what we had expected and were surprised by during the breaks between songs, and we laughed at funny commentary from the performers. Mariah told me she doesn’t really know how to talk about music either. But she helped me out in trying to explain the sounds we experienced. “It was a little folky, wasn’t it?” she said. “But it also kinda had some flair.” I would say so. Twisted Pine’s website describes the band as a quartet that has progressed from its bluegrass origins, moving “beyond the standard verse-chorus-solo structure of traditional string bands ...
(bringing) the enveloping sound and pop hooks of indie music to an acoustic instrumental setting.” The band brought a good energy that was visible in their group dynamic on stage. “You could tell they all supported each other ‘cause they would just smile at each other or nod along when someone was doing a solo,” Mariah said. “The whole vibe of the band and the way they interact with each other made it more interesting and more fun.” The members of Twisted Pine connected with each other and connected in creating music. And being the visual arts lover I am, the visual elements of the performance piqued my curiosity: the color blocking on fiddler Kathleen Parks’s shift dress, Rachel Sumner’s striking resemblance to my cousin, the sway of the bass in Chris Sartori’s grip and Mandolinist Dan Bui’s expression of concentration and passion as he played his instrument. The performance ended on a familiar note: some Bill Monroe, The Beatles and a warm farewell from Sumner: “Thank you Michigan, we love you!” Afterward, we walked up Main Street until we broke off at State Theatre. We are both Art History majors, and along the way, we shared our aspirations to forge professional careers in the art world. So, my night ended on an exciting note — high from talking about my passions and dreams. In saying farewell to this stranger that I may not meet again, to this band I may not see again, I took away with me invigorated optimism for the power of art to connect people — strangers and friends alike.
TV REVIEW
FILM REVIEW
‘Death Cure’ gives ‘Maze Runner’ a bloated ending JEREMIAH VANDERHELM Daily Arts Writer
The “Maze Runner” films have always been some of the most resoundingly average entries to come out of the young adult boom of the late 2000s, neither as good as the first two “Hunger Games” movies or as bad as the last two “Hunger Games” movies. The characters are nothing special and there’s not really anything to the performances despite the obvious talent of the cast in other projects, but the action is generally thrilling and there’s a sense of a scale that’s missing from other films of this sort. The movies overall just fall into the middle ground of the genre as a result: mostly forgettable but semi-enjoyable in the moment. On the surface, “The Death Cure” — which finds Thomas (Dylan O’Brien, “American Assassin”) and co. traveling to the last city on Earth to rescue their captured friends from evil organization WCKD — is no different in those regards. It’s underneath that veneer that something different begins to show. It struck me as I was walking out of the theater: “The Death Cure” represents the end of an era. The “Maze Runner” series, despite its middling quality, is the last major young adult franchise from the boom that gave us “The Hunger Games,” “The Divergent Series,” “The Twilight Saga” and even the “Harry Potter” films. It’s almost an ill-advised eulogy in that it represents many of the tropes
and storytelling techniques that those familiar with the genre have come to know like the back of their hand. The script manages to skip the outright lying to the audience that bogged down the second chapter in the trilogy, “The Scorch Trials” — a film that tried
“The Death Cure” Rave + Quality 16 20th Century Fox so hard to escape its genre that it wound up epitomizing many of its worst aspects — but there’s still a depressing dearth of character development. Thomas, like most YA protagonists, is the most bland part of the movies he’s ostensibly the star of, with no traits besides “the good guy” and “handsome” to make him in any way memorable. Without good writing to form the basis, “The Death Cure” spends most of its runtime manufacturing plot contrivances to shuffle its characters around between set pieces, as they’re not threedimensional enough to make decisions that would affect the story in interesting ways. However, actively fighting to help his movie rise above its script is director Wes Ball, who made his feature film debut with the original film and has almost singlehandedly made the series watchable. If there’s one thing to take away from “The Death Cure,” it’s that someone needs
to give Ball a script worthy of his talents. The story he works with here may be total nonsense, but the action scenes he weaves in are some of the best the genre has ever seen. From the opening sequence, a thrilling train heist straight out of a “Mad Max”/“Fast and Furious” crossover, Ball handles the scope of the action with seeming ease, and by the nighapocalyptic climax that recalls a far more interesting version of “Mockingjay – Part 2,” viewers may find it easy to simply let go and appreciate the insane scope of what he’s crafted. He isn’t always successful, as “The Death Cure” still eventually succumbs to the bloated exposition and poor pacing that have defined much of his series. This final installment clocks in at almost two and a half hours long, which would be hard to sit through even if it was seemingly intentionally extended. Again, this has more to do with the script and the demands of the genre than anything else. By the time we’ve fallen back into the well-worn plot of another resistance group (of course) helping our heroes take the down the big bad corporation (of course) who has secretly been monitoring their entire lives (of course) for the greater good (of course) because they’re special (of course), there’s not much anyone could have done to save it. Whether it’s looked at as the finale of its series or the de facto endgame of its genre, “The Death Cure” can’t outrun its own formulaic writing.
STARZ
‘Counterpart’ bolstered by masterclass Simmons SAYAN GHOSH Daily Arts Writer
Dual universes, same actor playing multiple characters, espionage thriller with sci-fi elements — yawn. We’ve all seen that before. On the surface, Starz’s “Counterpart” seems to be a new addition into the canon of works we’ve seen a million times, but with a tight, smart plot and some virtuoso performances, it manages to stand out from the pack. Set in Berlin, “Counterpart” centers upon Howard Silk (J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”), an aging, lowly bureaucrat who is trying to finally move up the corporate ladder while also trying to remain hopeful after his wife enters a coma as a result of an accident. He is thrust into the center of an incredible conflict when he meets his “other,” a physically identical version of himself who lives in another dimension. He also discovers that the very building he works with is the “crossing” into the other dimension. Purely based on the premise, this show could have fallen horribly flat with an ineffective portrayal of Silk and his other. Luckily, J.K. Simmons goes
above and beyond “serviceable” and provides the single most compelling reason to watch this show. Silk in “our” world is a tame, bumbling, bureaucratic slave — exactly the type of guy who can work at a place for 30 years and never manage to get a promotion. The “other” Silk puts Simmons in more familiar territory. He is more reminiscent of the stern jazz instructor Terence Fletcher in “Whiplash,” exuding confidence and machismo as he enters
“Counterpart” Season 1 Premiere Sundays @ 8 p.m. Starz “our” world to chase down an interdimensional killer. When presented with the task of playing multiple characters, many actors fall into the habit of letting themselves creep into both roles rather than letting each character breathe on their own. Simmons avoids this completely and plays both Silks with a stunning level of nuance. Everything down to small facial movements and speaking tone is distinct for both characters, making it more
impactful when both Silks discuss the commonalities they actually share. While Simmons steals the show, the characters of Peter Quayle (Harry Lloyd, “Game of Thrones”) and Aldrich (Ulrich Thomsen, “Mortdecai”) are valuable, if understated, additions. The world of “Counterpart” has a simultaneously retro and futuristic aesthetic, juxtaposing large, ancient computers with modern EDM nightclubs. The writing is tight, featuring few lines of wasted dialogue and moving the plot forward at a brisk pace. While it seems that there is an immense number of plot points to dig into and eventually tie together, these attributes inspire confidence that the show will be able to pull such a feat off successfully. Perhaps the most intriguing part of the show is the set of questions it already raises. The Howard Silks we meet are physically identical and even share the same wives, families, etc. Their incredibly obvious divergence in personality asks the question of whether they were each born with different personalities or whether it can be attributed to a series of different life choices. The well-crafted first episode is a solid encouragement to come back for the answers.
Arts
6 — Tuesday, January 30, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
into something closer to a French club hit. “Meaning” sees the band toy with the noise and overdriven guitar that characterized their lo-fi beginnings. There’s an explosion of punk and free jazz on “Talkin 3.” Like each album before it, Freedom’s Goblin sees Segall continuing to push his experimental tendencies. However, rather than surveying a single genre, his most recent blends a variety of styles into a single rambunctious medley. Thematically, Segall revolves around the same few ideas that have continued to animate him through his discography: freedom, love
ALBUM REVIEW
and individual expression. The songwriting is lean and the lyrics concise. Across the album, he shifts between childlike curiosity with lines like “When mommy tries to kill you / What are you to do / Climb under the sheets and dream of future days” to melancholic asides in jubilant anthems like “Before you had a name / Before the sailors came / I would fight to save you / I would give my life.” The album closes with the 12-minute opus “And, Goodnight.” Borrowing lyrically from the track “Sleeper” of his self-titled 2013 album, this incarnation is far from the acoustic textures
of the older track. The track is fully electric: Guitars f lail and spew for minutes on end, Segall and company slamming into grooves that come off more like a jam session than a recorded track. It’s likely the closest thing we’re going to see to Electric Ladyland this year. Every Ty Segall fan is different: Some gravitate to his fuzzy garage rock roots while others find solace in his downtempo ballads, not to mention those who crave his deep dives into psychedelic, indie, punk, noise and glam rock among the other disparate genres. Even still, on Freedom’s Goblin, every fan will find something to love.
DAILY FOOD COLUMN DRAG CITY
On ‘Freedom’s Goblin’ Ty Segall fuses past & present be back for more. AARURAN CHANDRASEKAR On Freedom’s Goblin, Segall’s Daily Arts Writer style continues to evolve. Although his fundamentals It’s Jan., and Ty Segall root in garage rock, we have has already dropped another seen him delve into genres as album. It’s only been 364 days distinctive as folk and glam since his last solo rock on records project, and it’d such as Sleeper be best to assume and Manipulator. However, what that Freedom’s Goblin isn’t going ultimately Ty Segall makes Segall’s to be Segall’s Drag City only release this most recent LP year. Not that this distinctive is the album wouldn’t be enough to grandiose fusion between all satisfy fans — in fact, quite the the styles he has navigated opposite. Even though his most over the past few years. recent LP runs 74 minutes, This fusion doesn’t come this prodigious So-Cal rocker without contrast. In fact, has already shown us time and Freedom’s Goblin continually back and forth time again that he’ll inevitably swings
Freedom’s Goblin
Classifieds
between texture, pace and instrumentation. Gentle folk melodies will pop up between furious garage rock fuzz. While large shifts in pace and texture will fall short for most artists, Ty Segall further demonstrates his dynamic range in both composition and sheer guitarplaying ability. Ultimately, his 10th solo project sees him neatly stringing together all the grooves that have shaped his work over the past decade. If one thing’s for sure, Freedom’s Goblin is not boring. The guitar oozes like a ’70s synthesizer on “Despoiler of Cadaver,” which against the robotic, 808-drumkitesque beat transforms the would-be psychedelic track
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RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
FOR RENT
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Vulgar 5 Cancel, as a mission 10 Leave in a hurry 14 Gobi Desert continent 15 Calf-roping event 16 “The __ Duckling” 17 Writer Ayn 18 Harmless garden slitherer 20 Played the Samaritan 22 Italian automaker 23 “The Big Bang Theory,” for one 27 Big bang 29 Rock band staple 32 Gush 33 Ones who once shared quarters 36 Juicy Fruit, e.g. 37 Cause of shrinking beaches 38 Delivers the news 40 Cup o’ mud 43 Love sugary snacks, say 48 Up in the air 49 Ukr., until 1991 50 Many Middle Easterners 51 More alluring 53 App symbol 54 Ten or more points, rebounds and assists in one game, in hoops lingo ... and a literal feature of 20-, 33and 43-Across 60 Minor infraction 63 Special forces mission 64 Ointment additive 65 Fertile desert spot 66 Thomas __, 9/11 Commission chairman 67 Snowy day toy 68 Hilton rival 69 Poet Pound
5 Specialized jargon 6 NYC division 7 Took too much, briefly 8 Clarinet insert 9 Shades of color 10 Baker’s ringshaped mold 11 Turkish honorific 12 Type 13 Caustic chemical 19 Earthquake prefix 21 Garden entrance 24 Piece of the action, or a shout that stops the action 25 Valuable underground find 26 Peaks: Abbr. 27 2016 film based on a Roald Dahl novel, with “The” 28 Baseball’s Gehrig 29 Archery ammo 30 Poet Marianne and actress Julianne 31 Dorm decoration 34 Workout count 35 Waterfall spray 38 Updated, as factory equipment
39 Diner, drive-in or dive 40 1969 Woodstock folk singer 41 Gambling venue letters 42 “I didn’t hear you” sounds 43 Gives birth to 44 Pub brew 45 __ populi: popular opinion 46 Food truck fare
47 Political satirist P.J. 52 Copier maker 53 That is, in Latin 55 Ask for divine guidance 56 Pop singer Loeb 57 Discharge 58 Perjurer 59 Writer Ferber 60 __ de deux 61 Pipe bend 62 Digit on a foot
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Ann Arbor’s not so hidden gems ELI RALLO
Daily Food Columnist
“You’ll have to excuse me,” said Phillis Engelbert, standing and retrieving a glass of water from the quirky bar situated in the main dining area of Detroit Filling Station, one of her three restaurants. “We hosted ‘Lesbo Bingo’ last night, and I’m exhausted.” This pretty much describes the carefree, quirky, lively personality of the Filling Station — a restaurant with personality pouring from its warm, vintage brick walls. Engelbert sits back down and begins to share her world with me over a bowl of vegan, gluten-free tater tots with a side of “Yum Yum sauce.” “Well, it started out with us just cooking on Sundays and really grew from there,” said Engelbert, co owner of Detroit Filling Station and The Lunch Room bakery and cafe. This is something I can relate to. The best things grow out of Sunday dinners. Together with neighbor and friend Joel Panozzo, Engelbert began to host vegan dinner parties when the pair realized they had a mutual affection for vegan food and culinary art. From there, they operated a vegan food cart starting in 2011, which was run in a parking lot and manifested from a passion for vegan food and a Kickstarter campaign. She had no experience in the business, nor did she go to school for entrepreneurship or culinary art — which shows how far a passion for the kitchen can truly take you. Panozzo and Engelbert make an unlikely pair, being an older woman and a young man. Despite their differences, they share many passions and similarities, which makes them great business partners. They are able to both collaborate and split the work between the
Since 2013, the dynamic duo have been running the vegan food scene in Ann Arbor
two of them, in order to keep all three businesses running smoothly. Since 2013, the dynamic duo have been running the vegan food scene in Ann Arbor with their three veganbased destination restaurants that are popular among locals and students alike. An ambitious feat — opening vegan restaurants — Engelbert claims that many friends and acquaintances urged her and Panozzo to “not even try at all” when they began dreaming up
plans for a vegan restaurant in Ann Arbor. Engelbert began her journey to becoming a successful restaurateur when she worked forty hours a week as a college student in order to pay her way through a college degree from the University. From there, she held an array of jobs, including writing textbooks and reference books, to freelance writing, to running nonprofits. In the past five years, she has grown into an experienced entrepreneur, navigating the challenges of restaurant life with ease and grace. “Running a restaurant is a lot like community organizing, actually,” she remarked. “There’s a deal of creativity and problem solving involved in both.” Throughout our conversation alone, she dealt with the erratic blinking sign outside, a shortage of staff for the evening, restocking the bar, communicating with The Lunch Room (which is only 500 feet from Detroit Filling Station) and receiving various shipments. The staff, filled with unique individuals, each friendly and bright, were quick to answer to her, and the lunch shift seemed to run smoothly despite a few bumps in the road. Both restaurants often reach capacity, but due to their close proximity, on a busy night they are often able to accommodate most guests. When asked to describe how she is able to operate two similar, albeit unique, restaurants just 500 feet from one another, she describes them as two completely different beings that are linked with small comparisons. The Lunch Room is an older sister to Detroit Filling Station, if you will. “The price point is nearly identical, but the menus are quite different. Both restaurants have chili, but the recipes are different. (At the Detroit Filling Station) we have pizza and ramen. At The Lunch Room, we have certain sandwiches and salads that we don’t serve here. Most people who come eat at one have been to both and it honestly just depends on the mood of the customer that day when choosing which they’d like to eat at,” she said, as she accepted a delivery for wine and worked with an employee to put a price on the beverage per glass. When The Lunch Room became too popular for its minimal seating, Engelbert and Panozzo opened up Filling Station in Aug. 2017, and have seen incredible success since. Just a few-minute drive away is the third of their businesses: a vegan cafe and bakery serving sandwiches, soups and a wide array of baked goods. In the beginning of her love affair with the world of vegan cuisine, Engelbert relied on cook books to guide her in the right direction with her menu choices. Since then, however, she has worked with groups of talented cooks to create unique dishes. Oftentimes, she’ll look at a dish that is not vegan (say mac and cheese,
for example) and ask herself the question: What could I substitute or use to make this dish vegan? That’s how one of the most popular Lunch Room dishes, the vegan mac and cheese, came to be. At the end of the day, other than serving the customer and bringing a vegan food scene to Ann Arbor, Engelbert
Other than serving the customer and bringing a vegan food scene to Ann Arbor, Engelbert looks to create a community out of her restaurants
looks to create a community out of her restaurants. Her main prerogative is to give the restaurants each a unique sense of fun and belonging. Obviously, it’s all about the food, but bigger than that is the ability for a meal out to be an experience. This is something she hopes to capture with each new group of guests that comes through the front door. “There is such a camaraderie between the staff and the customers at all three places. I can’t even explain the energy and feeling in The Lunch Room, but if you’ve been there, you just know it,” she said. And she’s certainly right — every meal I’ve had at The Lunch Room was an incredibly warm, positive and joyful experience, the space filled with a cozy sense of home. My first time at The Lunch Room, I had the “Taco ‘Bout it Salad,” which I highly recommend. Personal favorites, though having a gluten allergy and a sweet tooth are the vegan ice cream sundae and the peanut butter gluten-free baked goods. When people walk into restaurants, they’re generally looking for more than food — which is what makes eating out special. Customers are looking to have a social experience, to feel a part of something greater and to share a meal or a drink with friends. That’s what these three restaurants seek to do: bring Ann Arbor something more than just great vegan food. To that point, Engelbert pauses with a tater tot between her fingers, hanging in the air. “To me, it’s so much more than what they put in their mouth. Sure, it starts with food, but it becomes the whole vibe and feel of the place, and that’s what’s so important to me with these places.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, January 30, 2018 — 7
‘M’ finds improvement in early season performance
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Fahey finds voice in win RIAN RATNAVALE Daily Sports Writer
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Chase Barnett (center) finished with a time of 4:03.96, the fastest of any Michigan runner at the John Thomas Terrier Classic.
TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer
A group of five Michigan runners came into the Boston U. John Thomas Terrier Classic looking to break the four-minute barrier — the barrier that separates great from elite. The year prior, at the same meet, three Wolverines broke that barrier, and this year’s group anticipated a similar result. None of them could. But to Michigan distance coach Kevin Sullivan, that was okay. “The biggest thing is last year, we put a lot of focus on trying to break four minutes this weekend,” Sullivan said. “What happened was we were really successful in that as we had three guys that were under four minutes, but we didn’t run as well at the end of the season. “This year, there’s much more of a focus on making sure these guys run fast at the end of the season. The key is improvement instead of having our best race this weekend.” For the Michigan men’s track
and field team, burning out too early is a mistake they want to avoid making again. Connor Mora, one of the three runners who broke four minutes in last year’s Classic, underperformed by his standards for the race, but for the coaching staff, the senior’s performance was well within its expectations. “So really for us, (Mora) took a step forward from where he was two weeks ago,” Sullivan said. “I know he’s a little disappointed that he didn’t run faster, but we’re moving in the right direction to be at our best when it really matters.” Finishing the mile with a time of 4:06.81, he tied for 23rd in the non-scoring meet. His co-finisher was fifth-year senior Aaron Baumgarten. Traditionally a 3k and 5k distance runner, Baumgarten lowered his competition distance for an opportunity to run faster in the mile. Making the best of his chance, he sprinted to a fast start and was on pace to break four minutes. However, with a quarter of the distance left to go, Baumgarten failed to break away with the leading pack and fell behind as he
was passed by teammate Chase Barnett. Placing 15th overall, Barnett finished with a time of 4:03.96 — the fastest time out of the Michigan runners. “I think for (Barnett), it was a really positive step forward,” Sullivan said. “He’s a guy who showed a lot of promise as a sophomore and basically injured his entire junior year. For him to step back in and be at the level that he’s at is really a positive step for us and I think that he’s only going to get better from there.” Barnett’s promise bloomed as he positioned himself to make the finish that he did. With a final push in the latter half of the race, Barnett finished runner-up within his section and only a tenth of a second shy of his career best. Freshman Jack Aho shined as well, setting a personal record. With a time of 4:07.03, Aho showed potential that could prove useful down the road for the Big Ten Championships. “Jack as a true freshman,” Sullivan said, “he was the one guy who came away with the personal best today. He beat his previous
Flaherty, Barnes Arico playing numbers game
best by almost two seconds, so for him to be doing that in January is a pretty (good) sign at least for now.” As the Classic participants showed improvement, the remainder of the team — which attended the Saginaw Valley State Jet’s Pizza Invitational — followed suit. Many runners posted career-bests. One such runner was freshman Josiah Carpenter, who ran a 22.34 and 49.44 for the 200-meter and 400meter, respectively. In a similar fashion, freshman Vail Hartman set personal records in the same distances, posting a 22.64 and 48.66. The Jet’s Pizza Invitational, an event for less experienced runners, proved to be a success for the team’s confidence. The Wolverines used the race as a display of what they can bring to the fold come time when it matters. “We’re looking to improve every week,” Sullivan said. “And I think we’re better than we were two weeks ago, and we have a month until Big Ten Championships, so we’ll continue to improve until that point.”
‘M’ punches ticket to National Indoors For the Daily
AARON BAKER/Daily
ROHAN KUMAR Daily Sports Writer
For the No. 13 Michigan women’s basketball team (8-2 Big Ten, 19-4 overall), this season has been all about numbers. Coach Kim Barnes Arico and senior guard Katelynn Flaherty have set the tone, trading statistical milestones. It all started in midNovember, when the Wolverines faced then-No. 5 Louisville on the road. Though her team lost in a lopsided contest, Flaherty finished with 23 points to reach a career total of 2,091, breaking Diane Dietz’s program scoring record of 2,076 points. With an upcoming trip to Madison, Barnes Arico decided to join in the fun. To start the new year, Michigan conquered Wisconsin, 80-57. The victory marked Barnes Arico’s 124th triumph, and she became the program’s winningest coach in history, passing Sue Guevara. Nine days later, Flaherty continued her own dominance as the Wolverines played Nebraska in Lincoln — where Michigan fought back from a late-game deficit to prevail in overtime. During the second quarter of that same contest, Flaherty —
in her usual element — drained a shot from well beyond the arc. But that 3-pointer was different. It propelled Flaherty beyond Glen Rice’s record of 2,442 points, making her the program’s all-time leading scorer, man or woman. Then last Sunday in Evanston, it was Barnes Arico’s turn yet again as the Wolverines dismantled Northwestern, 80-59. The signature win was the 400th of her head coaching career — a career that began back in 1996 at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J. Barnes Arico then coached for two years at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and then another three at Adelphi University in New York. Prior to joining Michigan in 2012, she held the reins at St. John’s for 10 years. Although Sunday was a notable moment in her career, before the game she was more focused on the matchup against the Wildcats. In fact, she wasn’t aware of the milestone. “Yeah, I didn’t know,” Barnes Arico professed to MGoBlueTV. “Today I was watching the Big Ten game at noon and they said it on the broadcast. So, I was a little nervous that I might get swarmed with some water. I need to start being like coach Beilein and get a Super Soaker
so I can fight back. “It’s just a great honor to be at this university and have an opportunity to coach the players that I do. So, it’s me being old and me having great players. So, just thank you for everyone that’s decided to come here and play for this great university. It’s made a difference in my life.” But it’s not just Flaherty and Barnes Arico who have been posting record numbers. The Wolverines, as a team, are doing so too. They boast a six-game winning streak and sit at their highest national ranking since hitting No. 12 in 2001. Michigan is also second in the Big Ten, just one game behind No. 14 Maryland. “The strength of our team is everybody else is getting better and better and better,” Barnes Arico told WTKA, “which makes us tough to defend.” If the Wolverines can maintain their momentum, they could move into that top conference spot. But unsurprisingly, Barnes Arico isn’t fixated on this number either. “We’re gonna take it one game at a time,” Barnes Arico said. “I like where we are. I like the confidence in our kids. I like how they’re staying focused and they’re staying locked in.”
“When she can control it, she’s such a great competitor.”
WOMEN’S TENNIS
TEDDY GUTKIN
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico (center) reached 400 career wins after her team’s 80-59 win over Northwestern.
If you were anywhere near the Varsity Tennis Center on Sunday, you probably heard Kate Fahey shouting or hyping herself up, point after point. If you weren’t? Well, the Michigan women’s tennis team took a thunderous win 4-1 against Tulsa on Sunday. The junior has undoubtedly been the voice of the Wolverines, both figuratively and literally. Fahey’s play and actions have a trickle-down effect on the team. As the No. 1 singles player for the Wolverines, whenever she is energized, the rest of the team is energized. “She’s done such a great job at the top of the lineup,” said Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein. “I feel like no matter who she plays, we have a good shot for the next point. When you have that at the top it gives everyone below you a lot of confidence. “She’s getting off quickly against a good opponent, I think she’s a good competitor. Kate’s tough, it definitely helps us having her.” Throughout both the singles match and doubles match, Fahey’s exuberant screams of “Let’s go!” overshadowed the play of her opponents. Perhaps that was the point. Fahey’s chants, along with her blindingly fast volleys and lateral agility, are just some of the weapons in her arsenal. “I mean, in the doubles and singles I use it to get me fired up and the whole team,” Fahey said. “If I hear someone else screaming ‘Come on!’ I know
that it really fires me up so I think it really helps us all when we’re loud together as a team.” During the second set of her match against Tulsa’s No. 1 player Ksenia Laskutova, Fahey raced out to a 4-0 lead, but something wasn’t right. Laskutova took a game. Then another. The chants that filled the arena for so long turned to deafening silence and frustration. Regardless, Fahey found a way to persevere, taking the next two games in dominant fashion to win the match. “I think looking at the scoreboard, I really wanted to get the point on the board for my team,” Fahey said. “So I knew I really had to dig deep here and win these few games and I pulled through mentally.” Like any tool or weapon, Fahey and Bernstein know Fahey has to use her voice at the right time. While hyping her teammates and herself up is certainly beneficial, Fahey has to be careful to make sure she doesn’t give her opponent an advantage by letting her hear her discontent during a tough stretch in a match. “Sometimes we try and bring it down a little bit, but she’s definitely got it under control,” Bernstein said. “It can be a problem and she can get a little too hyped up. When she can control it, she’s such a great competitor. She wants it so much not only for herself, but for the team.” If Fahey can continue to control her voice, then the results will speak for themselves: There will be many more, much louder cheers coming from the top court and from Wolverines fans come postseason time.
In true recovery fashion, the Michigan women’s tennis team came back from a shaky doubles performance to earn four points in its singles matches and defeat Tulsa to tough out a victory in the ITA Championship round on Sunday afternoon. Despite losing two out of their three doubles, the team rallied to win all six of their matches in the singles stage, which helped the team clinch a spot in the ITA National Indoor Round. “It’s a huge opportunity for us, and these guys did a great job to get us there,” said Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein. A plethora of players stepped up in Sunday’s competition, the most notable was no. 33 Kate Fahey. “Going into indoors, I think I’m playing really well,” Fahey said. Fahey—who was nursing an injury—also praised her teammate
Alyvia Jones, who just joined the Wolverines for the start of indoor season. Despite struggling with doubles partner Chiara Lommer, Jones rebounded nicely in the singles portion of the afternoon, winning both of her matches and coming through in high-pressure situations, including a string of five consecutive matches that went to deuce. “I was just trying to be aggressive and not focus on it being a big point, instead try and focus on just trying to win the point,” Jones said. Jones was also involved in the closest match of the afternoon, defeating Tamara Kupkova 7-6 (2) in her first match before winning an abridged second match, 3-0. Seeing her teammates’ success helped Jones find her own. “My court was tight and I looked around and everyone was winning easy,” Jones said. “They were carrying the team as I was
trying to play my match as well.” After this win, it is clear that Michigan’s top six singles competitors — Fahey, Lommer, Jones, Mira Ruder-Hook, Alex Najarian and Bella Lorenzini — are the team’s greatest assets. However, they will need to improve their performances in doubles if they want to make a run at a title this season. Despite its early struggles, the team is excited for its opportunity to play in the National Indoor Round. Bernstein noted to reporters that she sees the tournament as a chance to test her young team. “Going to the Indoors is always special,” she said. “We’re gonna have opportunities to play the best in the country and see where we stack up. The girls are excited, and they earned it.” Of course, the Wolverines have much to improve on to find success in both the Indoor Round and the rest of the season.
Sports
8 — Tuesday, January 30, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
WINNING UGLY No. 24 Michigan trudges to victory over Northwestern
Defense leads Wagner, Wolverines to low-scoring win
ourselves in the foot sometimes. Some ill-advised turnovers. But it was also Michigan. They were very physical, organized and made it tough on us.” Besides 3-point shooting woes, the Wolverines were even struggling to stick to the basics in the first half. On two separate occasions after collective defensive rebounds, Michigan threw the ball away before having the chance to normally bring it up the court. Duncan Robinson was involved in one of those instances, and it served as a microcosm of the Wolverines’ woeful half. The fifth-year senior forward shot 0-for-5 from beyond the arc, but also converted three open looks in the paint for a team-high of just six points in Michigan’s 21-19 halftime lead. “We were up two at half. Are you kidding me?” Beilein said. “We didn’t make shots, we didn’t make foul shots but we held them and that was the key to win.” In the following half, the game’s theme switched from just playing bulwark defense to adding some offense. The Wolverines scored in their first four possessions, but even the Wildcats were finding luck after nine consecutive scoreless minutes, starting 5-for-9 to keep the game close. “One, we had to get more stops on the defensive end and then get out in transition and two, we couldn’t just settle for threes,” said redshirt sophomore wing Charles Matthews. “When they threw a zone at us at the beginning, we just gotta rocketline it, we still have to go to the paint and get two feet in.” As a result, it took about 11 minutes for the teams to surpass their total first half outputs. In that span, junior
leading scorer, fifth-year senior forward Duncan Robinson, had just six points on three-of-eight shooting. If the Wolverines’ defense hadn’t shown up, they might have been run out of the gym by that point. Luckily for them, it did. Junior forward Moritz Wagner has been much maligned for his defensive ineptitude. Against Purdue, he was bullied by its center, Isaac Haas. But Monday, Wagner held Northwestern center Dererk Pardon to just nine points and added two steals in the process. “It was great,” Beilein said. “Guarding Haas is just like a whole different, it’s just very difficult. All these years, I’ve never seen anything like it. And so, that is not who (Wagner) is. At the same time, he was really good on Pardon, and Pardon is a really good player.” It wasn’t just Wagner who stepped up for the Michigan defense. Sophomore guard Zavier Simpson was a pest, as usual, and junior forward Charles Matthews led the team with three steals. Even Robinson and freshman guard Jordan Poole — who have struggled defensively in the past — earned compliments from Beilein after the game. The Purdue loss aside, stout defense is slowly becoming paramount to the Wolverines’ identity. They have the 25th-best defensive efficiency rating, according to KenPom, and have held opponents in the 50s and low60s more consistently.
ETHAN WOLFE Daily Sports Editor
If you spill a drink at a party, it’s a party foul. If the party’s theme was “spill your drink,” then, well, you did what you had to do and nothing more. For the beginning of Monday night’s contest against Northwestern, the Michigan men’s basketball team was exactly in this position. Facing the Wildcats’ zone defense, the Wolverines started 1-for12 from three and coughed up the ball four times in the first 15 minutes, while also missing a number of defensive assignments. Michigan was metaphorically spilling all over itself after an offensive onslaught in its loss to Purdue on Thursday. Luckily for the Wolverines, a wholly lackluster performance was still just enough. Northwestern (4-6 Big Ten, 13-10 overall) were almost equally abysmal from the field — they shot 18-for47 for the game with Scottie Lindsey as the lone double-digit scorer — and simply ran out of counter-punches, giving No. 24 Michigan (7-4, 18-6) room to leave with an uninspiring 58-47 victory. “I didn’t think after the first 10 minutes of that game that I’d be walking in here with a W,” said Michigan coach John Beilein as he entered the press room. “… They punched us in the mouth in the beginning and it took us a while to get used to it. I’m really pleased we came back and made some shots, but our defense … it was exceptional.” Added Northwestern coach Chris Collins: “I thought our guys competed, we just couldn’t put it in the basket. Some of that was us, I thought we shot
EVAN AARON/Daily
Redshirt sophomore wing Charles Matthews led Michigan with 14 points.
forward Moritz Wagner made his presence known with a spotup trey and a mid-range leaner after registering a scoreless first half. He also surprised with his defense as his matchup, Wildcat forward Dererk Pardon, couldn’t get anything going on the other end and was held to just nine points. It was Matthews, though, who was able to inject life and let the Wolverines get comfortable. He came through with two emphatic dunks and a 3-pointer to widen Michigan’s lead to the point of no return. Mathews and senior guard MuhammadAli Abdur-Rahkman were the Wolverines’ only double-digit scorers, with 14 and 11 points, respectively. “We knew their zone was gonna give us space in the beginning and we hadn’t seen anything like that in a while,” Abdur-Rahkman said. “We just had to adjust to it and once we did we were fine.” It surely wasn’t pretty — few games have been that way for Michigan recently. But in the case of Monday’s game, the Wolverines did exactly what they needed to do.
MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor
Just last week, the Michigan men’s basketball team gave up 92 points. No. 3 Purdue torched the Wolverines, doing whatever it wanted offensively. That performance stuck in the minds of No. 24 Michigan, and it showed Monday, when the Wolverines played Northwestern. The Wildcats were mystified offensively, shooting 38 percent from the floor, turning the ball over 16 times and losing, 58-47 — tied for the second fewest points the Wolverines have given up this season. “This whole game, this whole press conference, should be about our defense. It was exceptional,” Beilein said. “I don’t want to get into rating it against others, but I told our guys, it’s as good as we’ve played right now, and it had to be.” The defense had no choice but to step up with how much Michigan struggled on the offensive end, namely in the first half. It scored a paltry 21 points and shot 36 percent. Its
That’s not typical of a Beileincoached team. Yet it’s something that other teams are beginning to take notice of. “Normally, for them, they don’t win a game 58-47,” said Northwestern coach Chris Collins. “So it just shows that they’ve made a lot of strides on that end of the floor, and I was impressed with their defense tonight.” It seems like that statement would make sense for any team. Scoring less than 58 points is not a recipe for success. Still, the sentiment that Michigan now has the ability to win the grind-it-out games is an important one. The Wolverines have shown this season that they are prone to bad games on offense. There have been countless times when they’ve come out slow in the first half, hung around with tough defense and roared back in the second 20 minutes. Tuesday, that was once again the case. “It just shows how resilient we are,” Abdur-Rahkman said. “We come to work every day, we fight hard, we practice hard and it shows in the end.” Resilience may be the key for Michigan offensively. Eventually, it will have to make more shots and consistently flash the offensive prominence that was present in its games against Michigan State and the Boilermakers. Until that time comes, though, the Wolverines’ defense is keeping them rolling along.
“... It’s as good as we’ve played right now, and it had to be.”
Three takeaways: ‘M’ reversing trends after being swept by Ohio State ROBERT HEFTER Daily Sports Editor
On a weekend when everything could go wrong against fifthranked Ohio State (10-5-1 Big Ten, 17-5-4 overall), it did. The No. 20 Michigan hockey team (7-9-2, 12-12-2) lost all momentum it had built up over the past two weeks in dramatic fashion. The Daily breaks down three takeaways from a dismal weekend in Columbus. Not so special teams On the weekend, the Wolverines went on the power play seven times, with no goals to show for it. “We didn’t have one (power
play) for the longest time,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson after the game Saturday. “I think they had three to our zero there for the longest time and … we had some good looks. Even on the five-on-three Jack Becker was all alone on the side of the net, and we’ve got to put those in.” In Michigan’s 4-0 loss Friday night, the Buckeyes went on the power play three times and managed to capitalize on two of them. While the inability to score on the power play isn’t necessarily a demarcation of an ailing team, the Wolverines’ defense on the man-disadvantage was certainly problematic.
Ohio State forward Mason Jobst even scored a short-handed goal in the third period Saturday that made fans reminisce about the Michigan defense at the beginning of the season that gave up countless breakouts form from numerous turnovers. “We’ve got to be better on the power play,” Pearson said after Friday’s loss. “I think that’s an area that I talked a little bit before the weekend that that was going to be critical here. They scored on the power play, and obviously we didn’t.” First line woes In the Wolverines’ win over now-No. 12 Minnesota on Jan. 12 – which was the genesis of the
recent successes that the team has seen – both senior forwards Dexter Dancs and junior Cooper Marody scored, with senior Tony Calderone recording two assists. However, the line that has notched 76 points thus far this season was silent this weekend. “We have to get back to our game and manage the puck better,” Pearson said. “ … You can see the goals that they got this weekend, we got caught out of position, we’re thinking too much on the offense, we turned the puck over in some bad spots that led to some of their goals.” But historically the other lines would be able to pick up the slack for the top line from the likes of sophomore Jake Slaker and even from freshman defender Quinn Hughes. The pair produced a late goal in the third period Saturday, but it wasn’t enough. Despite a respectable 63 shots on the weekend, they were either unworthy of finding the back of the net or stopped by Buckeye goaltender Sean Romero. “We created a couple things, but we just made the wrong play,” Pearson said Friday. “We have
two or three options that we try and give the guys and then you have to play off of that and tonight it just seemed like the option was available to us, we just picked the wrong one.” Added Calderone: “Yeah, we started off pretty well, I think we were getting pucks to the net, but they did a very good job of collapsing in the middle, and we didn’t get to the greasy areas enough.” Romero, along with the rest of Ohio State’s defensive front, certainly had something to do with the Wolverines squandering some of their best options, as nothing seemed to work no matter how creative Pearson and the offense got. Michigan will be facing more elite goaltenders such as No. 2 Notre Dame’s Cale Morris and will have to figure out how to work out its offensive struggles. Lackluster Lavigne At the start of the calendar year, sophomore goaltender Hayden Lavigne all but solidified his spot as the go-to keeper. And, his performances in the past two weeks have been nothing short of miraculous, as his leaps
across the crease have secured victories and strengthened a faulty defense. If his recent efforts mean anything, it’s that he was the undeniable leader of the back line. So, it may be reasonable to place some of the blame on him for the nine goals allowed against Ohio State. Everyone knows the level that Lavigne can play at, and an all-around poor performance on both ends of the ice is ultimately the reason for why the Wolverines lost. But nine pucks did find their way past him, and everyone on the ice is accountable for that. “I think we were a little bit offsync tonight,” Calderone said, “so I think once we can get in-sync and everyone’s cooperating together I think we’ll be fine.” Ultimately, there were high expectations going into the bout against the Buckeyes and this weekend was certainly a misstep, but if Michigan can fix the power play and get back to the hockey they were playing two weeks ago, Calderone’s “we’ll be fine” will ring true.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Freshman defenseman Quinn Hughes and Michigan gave up nine combined goals against Ohio State this weekend.