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Kumi Naidoo talks US role in opposing “affluenza” Amnesty International Secretary General addresses global justice at Ford lecture SONIA LEE
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Jerome M. Adams, M.D., M.P.H. Surgeon General of the United States speaks on the topic of “Better Health Through Better Partnerships” at the IHPI Director’s Lecture in Robertson Auditorium Thursday.
US Surgeon General emphasizes parternship to boost public health
Jerome Adams sits down with University leaders to discuss health care, opioid crisis MAYA GOLDMAN Daily News Editor
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams came to the University of Michigan campus Thursday to meet with University and community leaders and deliver the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation’s Director’s Lecture. About 400 people attended the talk at the Roberston Auditorium in the Ross School
of Business, titled “Better Health Through Better Partnerships” — a nod to what Adams has called his top priority as surgeon general. Before the talk, Adams met with University students for a roundtable discussion. Medical student Raymond Strobel told The Daily in an email interview he enjoyed the opportunity to talk with Adams. The surgeon general’s thoughts resonated with him. “The roundtable was a terrific opportunity to meet
and hear from the Surgeon General,” Strobel wrote. “His points on health policy advocacy were great: in today’s society, we need to work hard to “widen our tent” – choosing to be inclusive and diplomatic when seeking common ground on health priorities with others – and remember our role as servant leaders in healthcare. His thoughts on students’ roles in advocacy were also timely; he urged not to think of ourselves (students) as the future, but the now.”
Following a morning of meetings and discussions with campus leaders, Adams began his lecture in conversation with IHPI director John Ayanian. Adams highlighted the need to create partnerships in health care, something he learned while serving as state health commissioner of Indiana under then-Governor Mike Pence. He said he could have picked a disease or condition to focus on, but instead, is hoping to look at the bigger picture of health See IMPACT, Page 2
Kumi Naidoo, newlyappointed secretary general of Amnesty International, gave a talk at the Ford School of Public Policy Thursday afternoon on economic inequality, climate change and the role the U.S. plays in global justice. Naidoo, a South African human rights activist, will succeed Salil Shetty in August 2018, who has been secretary general since 2010. Naidoo began his talk by addressing the concept of creative maladjustment, an idea that was also emphasized by civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. After showing a clip of King’s 1963 speech on the concept, Naidoo suggested humans have become too well-adjusted to economic inequality across the world, and maladjustment would be necessary to push global change. “One of the challenges for
public leadership and public policy is whether we have the courage to analyze the problems without sanitizing what the problems actually are,” Naidoo said. “And speaking true to power, whether it makes some in power lose that power.” Naidoo returned to the issue of income inequality, giving a personal example of how easy it can be to become well-adjusted to inequality. Naidoo had been heavily involved in antiapartheid activities in South Africa, and after apartheid ended, many organizations offered positions and equity to well-educated Black South Africans out of pressure to be inclusive and provide equal opportunity. Several of Naidoo’s friends accepted these positions, rocketing into higher socioeconomic class levels, while Naidoo turned down offers, trying instead to direct equity given to nonprofits. “We looked at them and said, ‘Hang on, if you give us that 10 percent equity, that’s not See NAIDOO, Page 3
La Casa demands get administration Panel talks Anti-hate methods of attention, receive gradual response org marks
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disclosing racist acts
La Casa members fear lack of urgency, potential loss of steam after summer
Bias Incident Prevention Response Team outlines incident reporting process
Nearly two months after the Latinx Alliance for Community Action, Support and Advocacy released a list of demands for the University of Michigan to take to ensure a more supportive environment for the Latinx community, students see gradual progress on certain demands but encounter an overall lack of urgency in support of institutional change. The Latinx community is the University’s fastestgrowing student minority group, growing from 4.75 percent to 6 percent between 2012 and 2016. The majority of La Casa’s demands called for more Latinx representation in University staff, faculty and administration as well as more services for Latinx students and an overall acknowledgment of the community on campus. After the list was released, E. Royster Harper, vice president for Student Life, Chief Diversity Officer Robert Sellers and Julio Cardona, interim assistant dean of students, met with La Casa in order to discuss what steps needed to be taken to move forward. Since then, the administration has continued meeting with La Casa to work toward solutions. In an interview with The Daily on Wednesday, Harper explained the University administration has been
KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter
The Bias Response Team, Center for Campus Involvement and the Expect Respect community gathered Thursday afternoon in the Michigan League to discuss the impact of bias incidents on the University of Michigan campus, and effective responses that students and administration can take after bias incidents occur. According to BRT, the term “bias incident” refers to any conduct that discriminates, excludes or harasses anyone based on an identity. Currently, students can report bias incidents anonymously online and by phone. Many students who attended the event specifically mentioned the recent incident in which University student, Lauren Fokken, an LSA sophomore, posted a Snapchat in a black face mask, and captioned it “#blacklivesmatter.” LSA senior Jordan Jackson, Fokken’s co-worker at Victors cafe in Mosher-Jordan Residence Hall, reported Fokken to See BIAS, Page 3
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helping La Casa make contact with various department members to assist with the University’s efforts to respond to the demands. “We have been meeting with La Casa members and faculty members of the community, I would say for maybe at least a month, and sometimes twice a day,” Harper said. “Going through what the concerns are and, in some cases bringing people in to help us understand what we’re currently doing.” LSA junior Yezeñia Sandoval, external director
for La Casa, highlighted the administration’s timely response to the list of demands and lauded the administration’s plan to get La Casa representatives communicating with directors from different departments. “After we released the demands, the University was quick to set up meetings, especially Royster and Sellers,” Sandoval said. “The meeting was just kind of to get a better understanding of what the demands actually meant, what details were in them, and set up
a series of demands that would follow them up. We also would get people from those actual offices and departments to sit in a room with us.” Harper explained another aspect of these meetings was to look at the Campus Climate survey by Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in order to better understand what challenges Latinx students face on campus. Sandoval touched on some of the positive outcomes from conversations with See DEMANDS, Page 3
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 97 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
its second anniversary
Islamophobic Working Group hosts discussion on progress. struggles REFAEL KUBERSKY Daily Staff Reporter
In November 2016, during the 2016 presidential election campaign, Muslim Americans and the mosques in which they worshipped were victims to dozens of attacks, followed by Islamophobic rhetoric from then-Republican presidential candidates Ben Carson and Donald Trump. These events helped ignite a firestorm of Islamophobic rhetoric nationwide, leading to the formation of the Islamophobia Working Group on the University of Michigan campus. On Thursday, the Islamophobia Working Group celebrated their second anniversary with the event, “Restructuring Academia and Student Life” at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library Gallery. Prof. Evelyn Alsultany, director of the Arab and Muslim American Studies Program, mediated the event. The same harmful rhetoric affected the University’s campus, Alsultany noted. She recounted the experience of LSA senior Jad Elharake, a panelist at the event, See WORKING GROUP, Page 3
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are more prosperous.” Adams, who previously served as chair of the Professional Diversity Committee for the American Society of Anesthesiologists, also discussed the need to promote diversity in health care professions. To Adams, diversity and equality need to be framed in a way that shows how both are beneficial. “When you have those conversations, you automatically group yourself into one of two groups,” Adams said. “Are you oppressed, or are you the oppressor? We need to be able to have a conversation with individuals that shows them how they all fit under the tent. I believe there’s a case to be made in almost every situation that diversity helps everybody, that lowering disparities helps everybody. But we need to be better about making that case.” Three panelists also joined
Adams and Ayanian to further discuss partnerships in public health and how they can help address the nation’s growing opioid epidemic. Panelist care. Chad Brummett, director “I could have picked a of clinical research in the disease … And we could have University’s Department of moved the needle on that issue Anesthesiology, mentioned his in a meaningful way,” he said. unit’s preventative approach “But we really want to move to the issue. upstream, and that’s why my “We’re really focused motto is better health through initially on keeping people better partnerships, and why healthy and instead of talking I’m focused on forging those about what to do with the partnerships.” chronic opioid user before The economic side of health surgery, which is an inherently care is also a primary focus of challenging problem, want to Adams’s; he sees health care take people that are not using issues as deeply connected to opioids and make sure they’re economic issues, which most not going down that path,” voters focus on. Brummett said. “It’s more a discussion about Adams emphasized his jobs and the economy,” Adams support for this plan, saying it said. “People can’t pay their needs to be accompanied with bills if they’re going bankrupt open dialogues and changes in trying to pay their medical perspective. Sudoku Syndication bills … And we know that “There’s a role on the communities that are healthier provider side of meeting a demand for a pill to fix everything, meeting a demand for opioids as opposed to alternatives,” he said. “And we need HARD to have a change in perspective. We need you all to have discussions in your communities, at your boardroom tables, at your break room tables, at your dinner tables, about how dangerous these medications can be.” The conversation made its way back to the central idea of partnerships when Rebecca Cunningham, professor and director of the University Injury Center, discussed how the center partnered with law enforcement officials to come up with collaborative solutions to drug trafficking. She’s hopeful this partnership could help in future crises. “I think the lessons we learn now about opioids © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. SHAMROCK ME. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com will help us down the road,” Cunningham said.
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“There’s lessons that were ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY and ASHLEY ZHANG learned during the cocaine Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com epidemic and the HIV Senior Opinion Editors: Elena Hubbell, Emily Huhman, Jeremy Kaplan, Tara epidemic and I think that Jayaram, Ellery Rosenzweig the things we’re learning MIKE PERSAK and ORION SANG now with the opioid Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com epidemic that may help us Senior Sports Editors: Laney Byler, Mark Calcagno, Robert Hefter, Max with the firearm epidemic.” Marcovitch, Paige Voeffray, Ethan Wolfe The panelists then Assistant Sports Editors: Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Tien Le, Anna Marcus, Ethan Sears, Jacob Shames segued into their views on gun control, in light DANIELLE YACOBSON and MADELEINE GAUDIN of last month’s Parkland, Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com Fla., shooting at Marjory Senior Arts Editors: Becky Portman, Sam Rosenberg, Arya Naidu, Dominic Polsinelli Stoneman Douglas High Arts Beat Editors: Danielle Yacobson, Danny Hensel, Erika Shevchek, Matt School. All agreed that, as Gallatin, Naresh Iyengar the second-highest cause of death for children in the ROSEANNE CHAO and CASEY TIN Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com U.S. and the leading cause of death for Black children, ALEXIS RANKIN and KATELYN MULCAHY gun violence is a major Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com public health issue. Senior Photo Editors: Amelia Cacchione, Emma Richter, Evan Aaron Assistant Photo Editors: Claire Meingast, Sam Mousigian, Aaron Baker, Ryan According to McLoughlin, Alec Cohen Cunningham, collecting information is a crucial BRIAN KUANG step to coming up with Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com solutions — second only to Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford, Jennifer Meer, Rebecca Tarnopol finding common ground in http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ FINN STORER and ELISE LAARMAN the increasingly polarized Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com gun control debate. Senior Copy Editors: Emily Stillman and Allie Bopp “We have to find some BOB LESSER and JORDAN WOLFF common ground around Managing Online Editors lesserrc@michigandaily.com Senior Web Developers: Patricia Huang, Abna Panda, Hassaan Ali Wattoo, it,” Cunningham said. “I Rebecca Tung think the kids in Parkland have helped some with the IAN HARRIS Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com debate around that … If we Senior Video Editors: Abe Lofy, Robby Weinbaum, Jillian Drzinski, Danielle Kim can start with that groundlevel piece, and then JASON ROWLAND and ASHLEY TJHUNG the science and injuryMichigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com prevention person in me Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Zainab Bhindarwala, says what do we know? And Christian Paneda, Nisa Khan, Na’kia Channey Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Angelo McKoy, Kareem Shunnar, Maya we realize pretty quickly Mokh, Priya Judge, Efe Osagie that we don’t have a lot of data about what we know ANNA HARITOS and KAYLA WATERMAN Managing Social Media Editors and what we don’t know.” Adams chimed in, explaining he doesn’t like to use the phrase “gun control,” opting instead for CLAIRE BUTZ EMILY RICHNER “gun safety.” Business Development Manager Sales Manager “Our country was JULIA SELSKY DEANA ZHU and JEFFREY ZHANG Local Accounts Manager Marketing Managers founded by people who did not want to be controlled,” SANJANA PANDIT CAROLINE GOLD Production Manager Media Consulting Manager he said. Before the talk, audience member Lukonde Mulenga, a Public Health graduate The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is available student, pointed out the free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for fine line Adams has to walk $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275. as a public health servant University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. See IMPACT, Page 3
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POPULISM , PLUR ALISM & PEOPLE
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ALEXANDRIA POMPEI /Daily Benjamin McKean, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Ohio State University, speaks on the topic of “Populism, Pluralism, and Ordinary People at Haven Hall Thursday.”
BIAS From Page 1 supervisors at Victors cafe, University Housing and the Dean of Students Office’s BRT. The University’s Twitter account posted an informational flyer outlining the process of reporting bias incidents in response to these reports. Twitter Ads info and privacy The event began with two representatives from Counseling and Psychological Services, who provided information about CAPS availability to all students, and the importance of utilizing these mental health resources in any situation in which a student feels necessary. Brooke Harris, a BRT coordinator, first distinguished bias incidents from hate crimes. Harris outlined how the Division of Public Safety and Security and the Ann Arbor Police Department act as proper authorities in handling hate crimes, which pose a direct physical threat. In contrast, bias incidents more loosely include any conduct that discriminates against anyone based on identity without immediate danger. These occurrences are handled by BRT. Harris used the incident in which racial slurs were written on the West Quad Residence Hall rooms of LSA sophomore Travon Stearns and other students last fall as an example of an occurrence handled by the BRT. Evelyn Galvan, a BRT coordinator, explained the logistical case management of bias incidents and the handson role of the team to help students feel that they are part of a supportive community on campus. Galvan highlighted the team’s goal to talk to the offender in order to facilitate an educational conversation, while also striving to restore harm holistically in the campus community, rather than solely with the individuals involved in that incident. Response plans to bias incidents are implemented based on a meeting between a
IMPACT From Page 2 and government official. “I know he has a special relationship where he is — he’s the public health officer for the entire nation, but he also has to work with the government,” she said. Following this discussion, the panel took questions from attendees. In response to a question about universal access to health care and addiction treatment, panelist Joneigh Khaldun, director and health officer of Detroit Health Services, said doctors and communities need to focus on meeting people where they are. “I think, wherever the system, and I say system very broadly, is reaching hands and reaching people … How can
team member, the reporter of the incident and the impacted persons. Additionally, to ensure transparency, the bias response team updates a weekly log of incidents and response actions. “We want U-M to be a place for students to grow and thrive where they are,” Galvan said. Later, Thomas Dickens, manager for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plan program, highlighted CAPS and bias incident data, citing the fact that 39.5 percent of the 4,446 student CAPS requests were submitted by students of color in relation to bias incidents. He explained how students have an expressed need to have a safe space to learn without being targeted for having visible characteristics. Dickens and the other facilitators emphasized the importance of detailing explicit information regarding these incidents, when students are comfortable, in order to effectively handle specific incidents and campus-wide overarching problems. “Any and all reports are very important, if we start to notice that there is a trend, a significant amount of reports from a certain class, dorm or student organization, that gives us indication that we need to reach out there,” Dickens said. LSA junior Kayla McKinney, secretary of the Black Student Union, said she came to the event to spread the information about reporting bias incidents to students in her community. McKinney cited the recent incident as an opportunity to encourage more reporting of bias incidents. “We felt like it was important to send representatives here, so that way we can take this information, and provide it back to the community, especially after the Snapchat incident,” she said. “People want to know how bias reporting works, what happens after. I’m the secretary, so it’s my job to form things like newsletters, so I can send an email about all the information I learned here today.”
we support people wherever they are so they can get access to the treatment that they need?” she said. The lecture ended with a performance of two original songs from School of Music, Theatre & Dance students, which were written after talking to families that had been directly affected by the opioid crisis. After the performance, Adams closed the event with a message of optimism. “I’m convinced there is hope,” Adams said. “In Massachusetts, they turned around their overdose rates, and in Rhode Island, they turned around their overdose rates … How’d they do it? They did it through collaboration and partnerships.”
NAIDOO From Page 1 Black economic empowerment,’” Naidoo said. “‘That’s actually Black South enrichment that only I am going to benefit from.’” Naidoo also suggested global security needed creative maladjustment, in reference to nuclear weapons and ongoing commentary from President Donald Trump on the state of nuclear security. Naidoo pointed out several countries view Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un similarly, and believe the U.S. does not necessarily have the right to dictate which countries can handle nuclear weapons. “Why is it that the one country in the world that has nuclear weapons, that has dropped nuclear weapons, that has not tried to say anything about reducing nuclear weapons, what moral basis do they have to say to any other country in the world, ‘Thou shall not have nuclear weapons?’” Naidoo said. He continued to discuss the convergence of climate change, inequality and “affluenza.”
DEMANDS From Page 1 administrators. For instance, La Casa had a chance to speak with the director of dining at the University establishing a more inclusive dining experience for Latinx students through a new bus tour program. “From the meetings I have attended — one was about dining — and we had the director of dining sit with us and talk about how we can make dining more inclusive and authentic and one thing proposed was bus tours to local restaurants in Detroit and to local areas so students can try the food and give feedback on dining,” Sandoval said. Additionally, the administration and La Casa have started discussing outreach programs directed at the needs of the Latinx community. Harper praised the efforts of the students from La Casa, and appreciated their work to establish a more inclusive campus. She also pointed out the administration’s willingness to create new solutions for the issues raised by La Casa’s list of demands. “It would be premature for me to say this is where we are because we are in the process of figuring out together where we are,” Harper said. “I think that the Latinx Community has raised some important issues. That is one of the things really I admire about our students here that they will see a concern and raise the issue, and what I love about the administration is that we are responsive. So we are engaged in that discussion dialogue process right now to better understand and then to figure out given what the needs are what it is that we are able to do.” While progress is beginning in areas of dining and outreach, LSA sophomore Alexander Mullen, internal director
Friday, March 23, 2018 — 3
Naidoo defined “affluenza” as a condition of believing happiness can only be achieved through material goods and Naidoo believes it is the biggest disease plaguing people today. Naidoo stressed the need for the U.S. to address how it uses its power to push for global justice, especially as other countries’ perceptions of the U.S. have dropped since the election of Trump. “I have to say that it’s quite shocking, especially to people who come from struggles against racism and bigotry and so on, to see a political leadership that tolerates white supremacists and Nazism,” Naidoo said. “And simply sees it as differing opinions from others. Today, many people in the world are saying, ‘We can’t wait for the U.S. anymore.’” Naidoo then discussed climate change and the disastrous effects it is already having in Africa through damaged resources and the ability to make food. He acknowledged the reluctance of many people, including environmental activists, to address the catastrophic effects on humans. “It’s very important to
of La Casa, expressed his concern about meetings with administration being rooted more in conversation than in creating actionable change. “They definitely want to do something, but when we’re actually meeting with these offices and people who we are meeting with, we don’t see a lot of actual action items on the table,” Mullen said. “It seems like they want to just talk about the way we feel and why this came about, so it doesn’t seem like it’s a really productive meeting entirely, but it seems more like framing future conversations.” Mullen also touched on the lack of urgency he felt coming from the administration’s alleged efforts to meet La Casa’s demands. “From the meetings and the tone of the meetings we don’t really get that there’s a big sense of urgency to meet these demands and have them worked on at all, especially with the end of the year coming to a close,” Mullen said. “I think one strategy a lot of people seem to be using is just kind of waiting it out until the year is over and then moving on to the next thing for the next year.” Another challenge La Casa faced while dealing with the administration is updating new staff from different departments on reasons behind creating a list of demands. In this past year alone, members of the Latinx community have faced racial bias through the defacement of the Rock with anti-Latinx statements and led a boycott against Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs for a lack of Latinx representation. Mullen said the frustrations of having to explain the events of the past year slows the process of establishing measurable change. “One thing we’ve had happen is that new staff have been hired in a few offices so they’re meeting with us coming in with
who in 2015 sent an email to the University’s administration bringing attention to attacks against Arab students on campus. “Jad Elharake … mentioned in the email that someone had posted comments on the Yemeni Students’ Association account that associated them with ISIS,” she said. The Islamophobia Working Group was soon founded in response to Islamophobic attacks like these, and was constructed by students, faculty and staff hoping to improve the climate on campus. The IWG advocates for all students affected by Islamophobia — most of the panelists focused on issues faced by Arab students. Alsultany then shifted the event to a panel of four current and former members of the Islamophobia Working Group. Elharake began by discussing
recognize that the climate crisis is much deeper than many of us are willing to acknowledge,” Naidoo said. “Including, surprisingly, people in the environmental movement.” Stressing the importance of recognizing the climate change crisis, and the necessity for policy change before effects would become too disastrous for humans, Naidoo said the human race must recognize the grave consequences of damaging the planet beyond repair. “We don’t have a plan B because we don’t have a planet B,” Naidoo said. “We have one planet and we have to learn to live on it as a human family.” Naidoo ended his talk by asking the audience to assess their role in global justice and change. He stressed the need for students to use their education to push for change. “It’s an amazing thing to have the power to understand and analyze the world that education has given you the opportunity for,” Naidoo said. “And I think you all have a moral obligation to use that education for a general public purpose.” The talk was followed by a
only a few months of experience working with that department or office,” Mullen said. “So it’s just kind of like framing the whole story, trying to get them to understand the events that have happened earlier in the year that set the tone for the demands and set the need for them.” Representation is one of the main areas Sandoval and Mullen cite as not being acknowledged by the administration. La Casa feels that the staff, faculty and administrators do not adequately reflect the student body. Mullen explained some of the pushbacks against adequate representation comes from Proposal 2, a ballot initiative aimed at stopping discrimination based on race, color, sex or religion in admission to colleges, jobs and other publicly-funded institutions — outlawing affirmative action at public institutions. He said meetings with Sellers and other diversity-focused faculty have been more effective in starting a push for more representation but still drag compared to other initiatives like the bus tours program. “A lot of obstacles come up with Proposal 2, but we’ve been meeting with people like Robert Sellers who can help to affect change in those kinds of hiring practices through strategic hiring practices,” Mullen said. “We’ve been meeting with him and other people who are in charge of those kinds of issues.” Sandoval shared Mullen’s sentiment about the trickiness of gaining more Latinx representation in administrative positions. She also discussed how the advisory board, which was proposed in the list of demands as a method to connect Latinx students to University President Mark Schlissel, could help the University with this issue. “That’s always been a touchy, tricky topic, but we have
recent efforts by the #WeExist campaign to implement a box for Middle Eastern and North African students on University demographic surveys. University census surveys currently lack a box to indicate that a student, faculty or staff member is of Middle Eastern or North African descent, and current U.S. census surveys lack the same box. Without the box, Elharake pointed out, appropriate data pertaining to the Arab community is impossible to obtain. “The idea of #WeExist is that we did not exist before,” he said. On Feb. 21, Elharake noted, CSG passed a resolution in support of the creation of an ME/NA checkbox on University surveys for students. Now efforts have turned to implementation, as the state of Michigan still lacks a checkbox for people of Middle Eastern and North African descent, and extending the same recognition to faculty and staff.
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question and answer session, where Public Policy graduate student and sophomore Larry Sanders and Nadine Jawad respectively read anonymous questions from the audience. After the event, Rackham student Eitan Paul emphasized Naidoo’s discussion on coalitions and how to push for change today. “I thought it was a very inspiring address highlighting a lot of really important global issues,” Paul said. “And offering ways to think about how we can work together and form coalitions to address the huge challenges of today.” Business senior Chelsea Racelis spoke on how Naidoo’s discussion may influence the way she changes her own methods of activism. “Naidoo definitely changed the way I frame climate change and human rights,” Racelis said. “The fact that he has been appointed as the secretary general of Amnesty International as a climate activist, largely, is super compelling. I think it’s going to change how I do my human rights advocacy, for sure.”
been talking about that and one specific proposal was the advisory board and I feel like that’s just one mechanism for how students, staff, graduate students who are Latinx can give feedback directly to the president in order to create concrete change,” Sandoval said. “Right now, that’s the one that has been the trickiest, and the one that has been lacking the most.” Moving forward, Mullen hopes to see more urgency from the University in implementing La Casa’s demands. He also expressed the importance of not allowing the desire for change to disappear moving into the upcoming school year. “I’d definitely like to see more of a sense of urgency,” Mullen said. “I feel like especially, as I mentioned before, with the end of the year coming up, I think everyone is kind of winding down … That burnout is kind of dangerous to a movement like this because it lets you think it’s not important right now and we can just leave it for next year. If we just leave it for next year that same energy and that same momentum isn’t going to be there.” Sandoval echoed Mullen’s call for establishing concrete change and emphasized the need to build a campus environment that allows future Latinx students to feel more included. “Our point is to really make sure that there is sustainable change,” Sandoval said. “It’s great that we are having these meetings, but once I graduate and once the other directors graduate, how do we make sure incoming freshman are able to benefit from these discussions? How can we ensure these offices cater to their needs? That they have a good dining hall experience, that they have a good housing experience, that they really feel they belong. These are the goals we are striving towards.”
Opinion
4 — Friday, March 23, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
DANIELLE COLBURN | COLUMN
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BEN CHARLSON | COLUMN
O
Hit the breaks
n Sunday night, a woman 15 minutes late to a meeting and riding a bicycle in Tempe, frantically apologized upon arrival, Ariz., was killed by a Friedman responded by thanking self-driving Uber SUV in what has him for being late. The extra 15 been reported as the minutes had allowed first death caused Friedman to collect his by autonomous thoughts on a topic that technology in the was escaping him. United States. His book boiled down It is fair to say to the idea that technology that we are entering an is increasing at a rate era of unprecedented humans cannot keep up technological progress with, and in the process and productivity — of trying to keep up, over the past 40 years, we often forget to slow BEN we have witnessed down — even when it exponential growth CHARLSON might be beneficial. in areas like computing efficiency, The events that transpired Sunday computer memory and non- in Tempe present an additional piece commercial flight distance. of evidence that both supports and But this technological boom complicates Friedman’s narrative. has not come without its fair share Insofar as Friedman talks of problems, and the recent Uber- about the dangers of technology related death may just represent the — the exponential increase in tip of the iceberg as it relates to the global warming and the straining dangers of autonomous technologies of geopolitical tensions due to becoming increasingly public. If globalization — the death of the anything, this should serve as a Tempe woman fits in this narrative. warning to our computer-crazed And while this was the first death society that we should take a step caused by autonomous technology, it back and see if the upward trend of is not the first time a similar incident technological progress is really the has occurred. In 2016, the National safest direction to be traveling in. Transportation Safety Board Earlier this month, I attended partially faulted Tesla for a deadly a talk in Chicago by Thomas crash involving its autopilot system Friedman, a columnist for The New in Florida, and earlier this year a selfYork Times. Friedman, who writes driving Uber car ran a red light in as the newspaper’s foreign affairs California, prompting the removal columnist, was speaking about of all such cars by the California his newest book, “Thank You For Department of Motor Vehicles. Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Similarly, in the wake of this Thriving in the Age of Acceleration.” recent tragedy, Uber announced Friedman’s book describes the that they would halt the testing of all ways in which the current era of autonomous vehicles in the United technological revolution is reshaping States and Canada. various elements of our society, In his book, Friedman attests ranging from the climate to politics to the exponential development to the workplace. The name of the of technologies over time, book came from a personal anecdote: demonstrated by Moore’s Law, a 1965 One time, when a colleague ran theory created by Intel Co-Founder
George Moore that argues for the doubling of computer power every two years at the same cost. However, the shutdown of Uber’s self-driving car program represents a technology giant slowing down their own trajectory for fear of negative consequences — a clear departure from Friedman’s narrative. This is all to say that while Friedman gives us guidance on how to keep up with technology, we may be better off staying in place. Friedman’s end goal is to prove that there are ways for humans to catch up to the rate of technological progress, such as inventing new algorithms that make educating and governing more widely applicable and efficient. He claims that when humans do catch up, it will make technology all the more powerful and helpful for countries across the world. While the benefits of this type of growth are high, the risks are even higher. As firms continue to compete for the fastest computing power, replacing humans day by day, it comes at a cost that may even equate to a human life. So what does this mean for the average college student? It means confronting the technology obsessions that resonate through each of our daily lives, from food delivery applications to cash transfer services. It means taking a moment, or two, to slow down and realize that the dangers of technology may not be present immediately, but have wide-ranging, tangible consequences. It might even mean taking your foot off the gas when you’re running late to a meeting or lecture — trust me, your classmates won’t go anywhere. Ben Charlson can be reached at bencharl@umich.edu.
PEGGY RANDON | OP-ED
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Demystifying peer review
he idea of peer tutoring has always seemed to be a misnomer. In order for someone to tutor, certainly his or her abilities in the subject surpass the abilities of the person being taught. For writing — even in the humanities and social sciences — I generally understood knowledge to be black or white. Therefore, the cultivation of these skills could only come from a very controlled source. Looking back, it makes sense that my transition to college was more difficult with this mindset. The standards of writing that I had grown up with were now completely turned around. In high school, though the abstract tool of peer review was highly marketed to students, the idea only might have extended to a quick checkin of page length and grammar and perhaps the remodeling of a sentence or two. In college, help is primarily given by tutoring programs staffed with undergraduate and graduate students. The expectation is that knowledge is generated between knowledgeable students and that truth is as actively created as it is shared. Nevertheless, whenever I extended my learning beyond the classroom, it was always away from student critique and toward office hours and professors. Admittedly, I rarely learned much more than I did in the classroom. As much as the professors would try to relate to and inspire me, nothing clicked. Of course, this is not the same for everyone. Many students are enriched by individual time with teachers. Still, a vast majority can sympathize with a student that experiences a devastatingly
unhelpful session of office hours. Personally, the belief was always that people are only as good off paper as they are on paper. Maybe, instead, I should have switched the order. Collaborative work — specifically, verbalizing ideas with like-minded individuals in a form of peer review — can be very beneficial to improve one’s writing. Recently, more research has been conducted assessing trends in open dialogue between peers with an increase in students’ overall problem-solving skills at the post-secondary level. In fact, 2017 research by Chad Loes and Ernest Pascarella asserts that the act of engaging with others on academic work improves “openness to diversity … a greater ability to transfer information from one setting to another … and the ability to generate new ideas and solutions,” all of which can be applied to and used to benefit writing. Essentially, where traditional learning practices (relying on office hours and professors) may be unsuccessful, students should consider complimenting those efforts with peer review. In both roles, tutor and student, the learning is as plentiful as the conversation is constant. Instead of thinking of it as encouraging confusion, “peer tutoring” can be more accurately understood as the pooling of information, ideas and experiences to enable deeper, reorganized thought and increased understanding. Not to mention, the environment of peer review often breeds friendly, non-hostile conversation, which could be helpful to those who might feel anxious talking with their professors. In fact, the process of
sharing ideas is most successful when it is between students, because the insecurities and drawbacks of divulging your thoughts to an adult, much less the one allocating grades for your writing, are eliminated. In short, many will form their own habits to study and get support, but few will turn to peer review as a sustainable option, not recognizing its core benefits to college learning. The wonderful thing about writing is that it is not necessarily about assigning a right and wrong; it is the provocation of thought that might critique what is right or wrong, and the continuous improvement of one’s abilities. Evidently, great writing forms by a never-ending conversation with oneself, and foremost, with others in social settings. In fact, I might go as far as to agree with K.A. Bruffee that writing is “a social artifact,” if by that he means it demands to be reshaped and impacted by continued conversation and human interaction. It might also relate to the idea that fully grasping a concept requires the ability to concisely explain it to others. As understood by Peter Smagorinsky, “the process of speaking itself often serves as a vehicle through which new thoughts emerge,” it allows people to organize ideas and build off of them. With that said, while I will continue to go to my teachers for guidance and use other resources for reference in writing, I will no longer devalue the insight potential share of knowledge achieved by simply talking with my peers.
Peggy Randon is an LSA freshman.
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In defense of “basic”
he slang use of the word include (but are not limited to) “basic” emerged during my buying scented candles, wearing high school Timberland shoes and years and was marked ordering white wine. by the appreciation of My most distinct basic Starbucks, UGG boots characteristics are as and yoga pants. These follows: I like brunch, three preferences Warby Parker glasses were enough to make and the musical, someone “basic.” “Hamilton.” I can’t According to an even track what’s basic article by Buzzfeed, anymore. As far as I basic came into usage DANIELLE can tell, you’re basic around 2011. However, COLBURN for liking anything that according to the piece people like. “that original usage had nothing to I do think that basic has lost do with middle-class white girls. some of the power it once had. I Instead, ‘basic bitch,’ like so many think we’ve collectively leaned things that become commonplace into it. While it may still tend to be within mainstream (white) culture, negative at times, women use basic was appropriated from black familiarly now, with affection. And culture.” while it was never a particularly By 2014, the term basic as it impressive or barbed insult, it has is now understood was widely found an even more casual place in recognizable. CollegeHumor the vernacular and serves just to call shared a video titled, “How To white girls out for doing anything Tell If You’re a Basic Bitch.” This that at least one other white girl is where the slang version of basic might like doing. It has even turned derived from: the designation to a term that can be used for of a woman as a basic bitch. men, though basic dudes are more However, as the Buzzfeed article commonly known as “bros,” as can points out, “basic bitch” was the be seen in a CollegeHumor video slang primarily used by the Black published the year after the basic community. “Basic bitch” also had bitch video came out. different connotations before it was Even though basic isn’t the co-opted by white culture when it insult it used to be, I think it’s was also shortened to basic. interesting that it existed at all. Basic, in its mainstream slang If we deconstruct the motivation form, is used to indicate a woman behind calling someone basic, it (almost always white in this might shed interesting light on the iteration of the word) who likes expectations we have for women. things that are popular. The sin of When women call other women a basic is consuming what other basic in a judgmental way, we play white women consume. The basic into a patriarchal assumption that woman’s habits are boring. Of women have to prove their power course, she likes the popular thing. by belittling other women. In She likes it because it’s popular. media, we frequently see women The wrongdoing of someone in competition. Female characters who is basic goes beyond that. The are “frenemies” or straight up basic woman is wrong because her challengers after the same man. personality is hinged on her taste. The purpose of female friendships Her taste is unoriginal. Therefore as they are often represented her whole being is unoriginal. is to exhibit rivalry — to Therefore she is basic. Because demonstrate that women are too the regular thing to do is decide dramatic/petty/emotional (take that someone’s whole essence is your pick of adjectives) to simply encapsulated by their pumpkin be friends with another woman spice latte order and thusly or a group of women. condemn them. Basic is, or was at Think about how it’s one point, strictly negative. supposedly a compliment to tell a Since then, basic has grown girl that she’s “not like other girls.” and changed. Now, partaking in That she’s better because she has any number of activities can make differentiated herself from other a person basic. Basic activities women; other women typically
possess some shared, negative trait but this one woman does not have it. Using the designation of basic convinced women to do this for themselves, to boost their position in the hierarchy by demeaning the tastes of a different group. Noreen Malone, in an article for The Cut, writes that basic, as an insult “derives its power from the knowledge that if you can recognize someone or something as basic, you probably, yourself, aren’t it.” Basic also depends on the oft-internalized idea that women exist to be seen. It relies on the assumption that women’s tastes are performative. Basic only works because we expect that the whole motivation behind women’s preferences is to tell others (like men) something about her, that everything she does has the express purpose of making people think she fits into some specific group. But when she picks the wrong things, or wants people to feel a specific, arbitrarily-determined wrong way about her, we deem her basic. Women are not allowed to just like things. Every single thing they choose to consume is picked with the purpose of crafting a persona. Essentially, calling someone basic assumes that what a woman prefers — from clothing to coffee order — was chosen for the purpose of telling you who she is, and that your judgment is something that matters to her. It probably doesn’t. As writer Dana Schwartz once tweeted, “Let’s stop calling girls basic for liking things that are objectively likable...” Insults, especially gendered ones, lose their power when women refuse to bow to the pressure of undermining other women to secure their own status. With all of that being said, basic has already started its descent into so-last-year insults. It was weak at best, and as the sheer inanity of it becomes apparent, it just grows weaker. It loses its power if you lean into it, if you reclaim it, if you decide that being basic just means that you like things that are likable. Good for you. Danielle Colburn can be reached at decol@umich.edu.
ANNA HORTON | OP-ED
What does it mean to support free speech?
A
recently-published Vox article claims a radical counter-narrative to one of the most contentious subjects on college campuses across the U.S. According to the news outlet’s co-founder, Matthew Yglesias, “support for free speech” is actually on the rise among liberal college students. In his article, Yglesias calls out reporters at The New York Times and Reason for “bombastically” exaggerating university “politically correct” culture. The recent protest of Christina Hoff Sommers’s lecture at Lewis & Clark College, along with the controversy over NYT’s Bari Weiss’s op-ed “We’re All Fascists Now,” aren’t only unrepresentative of free speech decline — they’re distracting from larger trends. In fact, according to nearly five decades of questionnaires by the U.S. General Social Survey, the US is increasingly supportive of communist, militarist, anti-theist and homosexual speakers. This acceptance of “controversial” viewpoints, Yglesias argues, suggests free speech is less of a contentious issue than conservatives would have us believe. Yet several problems prevail with Yglesias’s argument, the most obvious being the categories themselves. After all, when was the last time you went to hear a “communist” or “militarist” speak, whether on campus or otherwise? What about an “anti-theist?” Not only are these labels outdated, but equating the social environment of 1972 (when the study began) with today ignores the dramatic historical changes that have normalized such views (the fall of the Soviet Union, for one). What’s more, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has logged 371 speakers as “disinvited” from public, private, and
religious universities between 2000 and 2018, the majority of whom were identified as “conservative.” Yet another inconsistency in Yglesias’s argument lies in the assumption that supporting the expression of certain ideological paradigms is the same as supporting free speech. Imagine you were asked whether you’d be willing to listen to a well-known feminist speaker. Then imagine that someone asked you whether you’d be willing to listen to someone dispute the gender pay gap. Do you see the problem? The reason self-dubbed “factual feminist” Christina Hoff Sommers is controversial isn’t her label, but her unwillingness to toe an ideological line. As she argues in a video for Prager University, “(feminist) activists make claims … to support their views” that don’t stand up to scrutiny. Yet rather than subjecting her and other “controversial” speakers to similar treatment, students reject their ideas as acceptable or unacceptable, good or bad. Rather than objective information, facts have become political territories waiting to be staked by whichever party they are interpreted to support. It’s easy to let the partisan brain take over at this point. After all, aren’t certain groups just twisting facts to support their political agendas? Christina Hoff Sommers, as one Salon article puts it, is nothing but a “bigot who makes a living propping up misogynist myths.” What’s the point of having such a speaker on campus anyway? In yet another Vox article, ironically titled “Science is already political. So scientists might as well march.” David Roberts argues that science is made up of two aspects: scientific theory (“science-t”) and scientific practice (“science-p”). Science-t is pre-
interpretive fact — the raw data produced by replicable research. Roberts notes that since science informs rather than proves, it must rely on consistency before it can be considered a fact. Science-p, however, is science taken to its logical end in supporting, not supporting or complicating a hypothesis. Thus, while we need science-t to determine trends, we need science-p to decide what that those trends mean — a process Roberts labels as inherently political. Humans need interpretation — it’s how we make sense of being bombarded daily with data. But we also need to constantly check our interpretations for bias. As Peter Boghossian, a philosophy professor at Portland State University, notes, “obfuscation is a litmus test of an ideologue.” If we, as college students, truly want to support free speech, our allegiance must lie with facts, not ideologies, and reasoned belief rather than acceptable dog ma. Likewise, if we truly hold to certain political opinions, welcoming alternative views should be part of maintaining our credibilit y. Regardless of whether you find someone like Christina Hoff Sommers convincing, at least consider this: Her message begs a counter-narrative, not a walkout. Judging people on a categorical basis ignores the nuance of individual belief, and listening to speakers who’ve refused to align with neat politically-correct paradigms may be about challenging our views, not bashing theirs. If we can agree that the only message poisoned by facts is a poisonous message, we should also agree on this: Current trends in campus free speech are hardly antidotal.
Anna Horton is an LSA senior.
Arts
5 — Friday, March 23, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
COMMUNITY CULTURE
TV NOTEBOOK
‘The Marriage of Figaro’ to keep with modern times TRINA PAL
Daily Arts Writer
AMC
Revisiting TV: ‘Mad Men’ SAYAN GHOSH Daily Arts Writer
TV has come a long way. Long gone are the days of the sickeningly uniform ubiquity of “fast-food TV,” those easily digestible 20 or 30-minute serials and soaps whose laugh tracks and cheap drama relegated TV into being the immature little brother of film. Fast forward 20 odd years and, as hundreds of think pieces espouse, on a regular basis, we are in the “golden age” of TV. While film sometimes gives the impression of falling into an endless cycle of reboots and sequels, TV is filled with innovative, clever, dramatic, Shakespearean works of art. Even Meryl fucking Streep is on HBO. Helping kickstart this revolution was a show, on a floundering network with unknown actors, called “Mad Men.” Or so I’d been told. Despite being familiar with all the “modern classics” of “The Wire,” “The Sopranos,” “Breaking Bad,” etc., I’d hastily dismissed “Mad Men” as being style over substance. I was unable to look beyond the glamorous hair, suits and fancy cocktail orders to see what “Mad Men” truly is: one of the greatest set of character studies in modern TV. “Mad Men” spans roughly a decade in the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on the offices of Sterling Cooper, a Madison Avenue firm at the height of the advertising craze. It centers on the life of Don Draper (Jon Hamm, “Baby Driver”), a talented creative director at Sterling Cooper with a ridiculous amount of selfassured swagger and an equally mysterious past. The show uses the interactions of Sterling Cooper employees to explore and reflect upon the changing social norms of the turbulent ’60s, drawing on topics from the counterculture movement to the Civil Rights Movement. Period dramas had been done before and since, but few have the ability of “Mad Men” to fully engross in the world they portray. The attention to detail in every aspect of the show is stunning, but more importantly, the environments the character live in do not feel explicitly like sets. Rather, they are as dynamic and alive as the characters themselves. While Don Draper’s story is the centerpiece of the show, it
is the interactions of the large cast of characters that make the show a masterpiece. The arcs of Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser, “The Most Hated Woman in America”) and Sterling Cooper senior partner Roger Sterling (John Slattery, “Captain America: Civil War”) are some of the show’s most impactful, and, if anything, carry more tenable lessons to draw from. Sal Romano’s (Bryan Batt, “Mississippi Murder”) arc is a poignant exploration of society’s view on homosexuality. Even the minor characters, of which there are hundreds, feel fleshed out and realistic. In another sense, the true heroes of the show are the women. Peggy Olsen (Elizabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”) and Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks, “Zoolander 2”), the show’s two prominent female characters manage to rise above the traditional social structures imposed in a workplace such as the Sterling Cooper agency to gain greater standing. Peggy’s arc in particular is stunning to witness, especially after her introduction as a seemingly naïve, typical secretary school graduate in the pilot. Another remarkable aspect of the show is that looking back, it never relied on traditional crowd-pleasers such as shoehorned romantic plots or violence. The relationships are (frustratingly) real and complex. All the drama and intrigue is due to social interactions between relatively uninteresting subjects: Corporate executives. In retrospect, my initial assumption of the show prioritizing style over substance was not just incorrect, it was the exact opposite of the true situation. While the flamboyant hair and glamorous, three-martini lunches were irresistible to watch, they weren’t for show, but rather for realism. The skilled writing and production elevate the show from simply being another “Pan Am.” Each arc of each character in “Mad Men” is dynamic and compelling. The show does not fall prey to flanderization and creates a cast of threedimensional characters, each with his or her own set of strengths and insecurities. Ultimately, these attributes, in addition to the authenticity of the time period it portrays, make “Mad Men” one of the greatest TV shows of all time.
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” season 1, episode 1 The one that started it all. Pilots are hard, and rightfully so. More often than not, I’ve usually had to give a show the benefit of the doubt and keep on watching despite a lackluster pilot. “Mad Men,” on the other hand, offers a perfect distillation and introduction to its rich, complex world. The first time we are introduced to Don Draper, he’s trying to figure out how to market cigarettes despite growing awareness of their health risks. Peggy is only the bumbling, shy secretary who hasn’t quite learned how to navigate the workplace. Pete Campbell is the most dislikable, nakedly ambitious prick one could be. Looking back after finishing the series, it’s a testament to the quality of the writing that while some of the characters feel like completely different people at the conclusion, their transformations are entirely believable if you look closer at the pilot. “The Other Woman,” season 5, episode 11 The Sterling Cooper team is working around the clock to secure the Jaguar account. At the same time, Joan wrestles with an extremely humiliating proposal. Hendricks is stunning in this episode, portraying a subtle, complex reaction that isn’t something we’d quite expect from her. The episode conjures a variety of ethical questions regarding business in general, and the juxtaposition of Joan’s decision and the handling of the Jaguar deal as a whole is one of the series’ most compelling. “Lost Horizon,” season 7, episode 12 This episode features one of my favorite television scenes ever, as Peggy struts down the halls of McCann Erickson with sunglasses, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth and a copy of “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife,” all with the most satisfying smirk ever seen on television. Prior to this triumphant arrival, her interactions with Roger are heartwarming. Joan’s mixture of hope and disappointment are especially poignant. While Don’s journey is not quite as interesting, it offers a decent amount of character development. It also tiptoes the line of absurd humor and serious social commentary extremely well, as “Mad Men” often does so successfully.
TV REVIEW
Repetitiveness of Rhimes MORGAN RUBINO Daily Arts Writer
What’s my relationship with Shonda Rhimes’s shows? Let’s just say it’s complicated. My love affair started many years ago when my mom and I became hooked on the soapopera antics of “Grey’s Anatomy” — that is, before it digressed into a monotonous, millennial obsession. From there, I stopped visiting Shondaland for a while, because “Scandal” was deemed a little too, well, scandalous for my 12-year-old self. Yet, when I eventually got around to watching the suspense-filled series, I was left in awe of the bravado of Kerry Washington. Now even more recently, I have started binging “How to Get Away with Murder” and have become instantly
infatuated with the mystery of it all, streaming it every chance I get. Throughout the many good and not-so-good phases of Rhimes’s creations, her sign of involvement is undeniably recognizable. In a seemingly tired and repetitive fashion — or perhaps as a mark of sheer genius — her shows share
“For the People” Series Premiere Tuesdays @ 10 PM ABC the same tropes and themes across the board: a bold female lead, a group of attractive young professionals trying to prove their worth, dizzying love triangles, a lot of dead bodies and an epic soundtrack.
Let me be clear, though — Shonda Rhimes’s brand as one of the most powerful Black female producers is iconic, full stop. She’s gone on to build an empire by herself, with five shows airing or in development on ABC, a production deal with Netflix and fame emerging from four years of #TGIT watch parties. After all this time, it’s no secret that Rhimes has generated a television phenomenon, making nuanced characters and absurd subplots her showrunner staple. But how much longer will the same old storyline be able to pack a punch? With “For the People,” Rhimes’s newest addition to the Shondaland family, it appears that her winning formula is beginning to lose its magic touch. This time around, the latest ABC legal drama follows a crew of budding lawyers — three for
Few operas have the name recognition that Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” holds. This weekend, the School of Music, Theatre & Dance will present a modern interpretation of the great classic at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. Directed by Grant Preisser, the opera will be sung in Italian with projected English supertitles. The University Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Martin Katz, will be performing alongside the singers. “The Marriage of Figaro” is a romantic comedy — a rarity in a genre that is normally overflowing with tragedy. The story, based on the play by Pierre Beaumarchais, is set in Seville, Spain and follows the story of Figaro, a servant to the Count and Countess, and his fiancé Susanna. The Count, unhappy with his marriage to the Countess, is infatuated with Susanna. The Countess hears wind of this love affair and furiously vows to take revenge. Thus springs a complex plotline of trickery, cross-dressing and tests of loyalty. Think Shakespeare’s “Othello,” but with less ominous undertones. Under Preisser’s direction, this centuries-old opera is much more adapted to modern times. “He decided to put a big clash between women as sex objects
and women as empowered figures,” said Zachary Crowle, a SMTD graduate student, of Preisser. Crowle plays the Count, a character that regularly sexually and verbally abuses women throughout the opera. Mozart creates a foil to this sexism in the character of Susanna, who is a refreshingly strong female
“The Marriage of Figaro” Mar. 22 @ 7:30 PM, Mar. 23 & 24 @ 8 PM, Mar. 25 @ 2 PM Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre $30 or $24 reserved seating, $12 student ID character. “She’s very smart, very funny and not afraid to speak her mind,” said Mahari Conston, another SMTD graduate student, of Susanna. “The women are not only constantly standing up to those with power, but are working together to improve upon it,” said Kristine Overman, SMTD undergraduate. The beauty of “The Marriage of Figaro” is in these timeless parallels to modern times; the behaviour of Susanna and the Countess are reminiscent of the ongoing global #MeToo
movement. Preisser has also taken care to enhance Mozart’s emphasis on class struggle in the opera. Written just before the time of the French Revolution, “The Marriage of Figaro” was considered very controversial when it first came to theaters, so much so that a majority of theaters refused to air the opera. The socioeconomic clash between Figaro, a servant, and the Count, a member of the extravagant aristocrat class, is apparent to any viewer. “It was really one of the first times in history that any kind of literature stood up to people in power,” Crowle said. We see this kind of opposition to power every day in the news, through marches and protests both in the University and around the world. SMTD undergraduate Justin Burgess, who plays Figaro, commented that the visuals have been updated as well to fit with modern times; they aren’t the typical archaic style that is expected of operas. “There’s a juxtaposition of old imagery mixed with bright, modern day technicolor,” Burgess said. “It really makes a cool visual for the audience.” From relatable characters and relevant social issues, to modern sets and color schemes, SMTD’s rendition of “The Marriage of Figaro” aims to think outside the box and adapt to the changing interests of our current society.
Courtesy of SMTD
the defense and three for the prosecution. As their personal and professional lives clash, they take on some of the most highprofile cases in the U.S., while also probably sleeping around and forming a list of enemies. Judging its merit by a mere 60 minutes, “For the People” has nothing on the pilots of “Scandal” and “How to Get Away with Murder.” For starters, its core group of actors are largely unconvincing, save for Regé-Jean Page (“Roots”) as the resident trouble maker and prosecutor Leonard Knox. Even then, most of the leads are undiscovered talents with a bright-eyed, freshfaced quality to them that feels out of place on what should be a more gritty series. As defender Sandra Bell, the assumed female lead, Britt Robertson (“Girlboss”) does a satisfactory job of carrying the plot along, but lacks the gravitas necessary to even
attempt to match Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington, “Scandal”) or Annalise Keating (Viola Davis, “How to Get Away with Murder”). That’s not saying, though, that “For the People” should even be compared to prior Shondaland royalty. In fact, an area that the show differs from its predecessors is in its portrayal of the judicial system as a whole. The presentation of what court is like — the behind-the-scenes look at being a lawyer and the overall stresses of the job — are not only authenticized, but emphasized. Instead of some mysterious murder or dramatic affair stealing the spotlight of the show, experiences that could conceivably happen in the real world float to the forefront. In the first episode, Sandra is tasked with defending a teenage MuslimAmerican accused of planning to bomb the Statue of Liberty. OK, so maybe this example is a little far-
fetched, but Sandra’s emotionallybacked defense of the innocent boy snaps us back to reality. On the flipside, an insider trading case pits lawyer couple Seth (Ben Rappaport, “Outsourced”) and Allison (Jasmin Savoy Brown, “The Leftovers”) against one another, literally. As Allison defends and Seth prosecutes, the pair constantly have to remind each other that their relationship can survive this — which is, of course, a tell-tale sign that it can’t. It’s almost as if I can predict exactly what path “For the People” is likely to follow because its plot so far is extremely average. Maybe I was missing some of the Shonda Rhimes’s signature chaos and tragedy, or maybe the tropes are just getting out of touch. Either way, “For the People” and its fight for justice sparks an unimpressive sense of déjà vu and doesn’t add much to the Shondaland dynasty.
ABC
Arts
6 — Friday, March 23, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
BOOKS THAT BUILT US
FILM REVIEW
Reading ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ by Betty Smith TRINA PAL
Daily Arts Writer
20TH CENTURY FOX
‘Love, Simon’ joins the few feel-good queer movies JACK BRANDON Daily Film Editor
When “Love, Simon” starts, it’s a little jarring. Visually, the film uses a vocabulary of stickysweet teen romcom, a beautiful, heterosexual nuclear family, a young protagonist who just isn’t understood and a curated, tookeenly teenager wardrobe and bedroom out of “The O.C” or “Teen Wolf.” But with director Greg Berlanti at the helm, perhaps that should come as no surprise. However, when the film decides to reveal the gag (which doesn’t take long) that high schooler and protagonist Simon Spier (Nick Robinson, “Melissa & Joey”) is in the closet, it takes a second to adjust. So often, queer cinema finds its leads on the fringes, or at least out of the spotlight of the mainstream. Elio and Oliver of “Call Me By Your Name” are sequestered in a small Italian village; Jack and Ennis of “Brokeback Mountain” hide in the eponymous range; Carol and Therese of “Carol” can only consummate their love on the road, in motels. One of the best elements of “Love, Simon” is Simon’s presence in a world that is accessible. The film firmly roots him in his locale — a pretty, spacious Georgia suburb. In some ways, it feels like tacet acceptance
before the plot even gets in motion. In other ways, however, the clean world of the teen romcom and depictions of Simon’s queerness come in tension. Robinson checks all the boxes of what one could expect of a straight male lead, the only “clear” signal of his queerness being his participation in theatre: Does that mean the film falls prey to heteronormativity or
“Love, Simon” 20th Century Fox Quality 16, Rave Cinemas Ann Arbor does that mean that gay people are able to be represented in new ways on screen? Certainly, the world Berlanti crafts has space for characters that embody “traditional” ideas of homosexuality on screen, like one of Simon’s classmates, Ethan (Clark Moore, “TURN: Washington’s Spies”). Robinson’s less than macho but still assuredly masculine performance, then, is puzzling. While there is room for criticism about the power structures that underpin “Love, Simon,” they actually allow Robinson to express his indignation to those that oppress him. Queer leads usually have to operate in the shadows, or placate,
or acquiesce to those that discover their sexuality. They are forced to resign themselves to their lot — but not Simon. His first emotion, both when he is outed (online, no less) and viciously mocked in the cafeteria afterward, is rage. He writhes in his sheets in the first case and confronts the jocks in the second, with no trace of worldcrushing shame or anguish in his face in either scene. Rarely is gay anger shown as confidently and justifiably as it is in “Love, Simon.” The film is at its best as it tracks Simon’s coming-out, despite its billing as a teen romcom. Since the romance in “Love, Simon” develops over email, it takes a backseat to the real-life drama of the second and third acts. Berlanti gives Simon three possible love interests over the course of the film, which keeps some interest, but when Simon and his crush, Blue, finally meet in real life, there’s something missing. The excitement, and quite honestly, the erotic passion of what is a long-anticipated first kiss elude them. The boys kiss with no intensity or handsiness that the moment warrants. Despite these flaws, “Love, Simon” enters the much-needed, near non-existent category of feel-good queer films. I can imagine thousands of queer kids getting so much from this film, from seeing a new possibility of being gay in our time.
BACKSTAGE PASS
Daily Arts Writer
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I called my friend from home on my way to The Ark for encouragement and to pass the time. I told him of the current situation: I was walking to meet up with a stranger to attend a benefit indie-folk concert. He laughed at the fact that I was nervous in the first place, and he told me all would be fine as long as I was myself. I neared Main Street and had to say goodbye to my friend’s supportive words in order to begin my unexpected evening. The headliner for the night was Ben Balmer, a indie folk-rock singer who’s traveled the world, and his band, who returned to Balmer’s Ann Arbor roots for the benefit concert “A Time to Plant.” Proceeds were donated to the scholarship fund for Dawn Farm, a unique local farm that offers different services of “long-term treatment to men and women who suffer from addictions,” as stated in the show’s program. Along with Balmer and his band, the show featured a plethora of other artists from across the country, like Peter Madcat Ruth, Jaimee Harris and Heidi Burson. Highlights from the night included Chris Buhalis, a singer/songwriter from Detroit, and Abigail Stauffer, a folk singer and a “special Dawn Farm pal.” Although I was given little information about the stranger for the night, I was at least given his name. I decided not to look Robby up prior to the visit, adding to the mystery and leaving out the
Looking back, I think this vulnerability was the reason why “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” became my drug seem to fit in, but she seemed happy being by herself with a book in her hands. A bookworm myself, I was curious enough to open the novel. What struck me first, and angered me later, was the spontaneity of the characters. Francie, daughter of Irish immigrants living in the slums of Brooklyn in the early 1900s, possessed the broken nature of a child who’s been taught everything the wrong way. Francie learned patience from her father Johnny, an alcoholic who wouldn’t return home most nights, but would shower his children with love and gifts whenever he did. She learned responsibility from years of taking care of her younger brother Neely when her mother Katie was trying to scrape together a living, and years later when taking care of an unexpected addition to the
Classifieds
expectations. I was worried what he would think of coming all the way downtown to see a concert with a random person who would be writing an article about it. What if we didn’t like the music? What if he didn’t like me? Or worse, what if we just didn’t like each other? But Robby, a sophomore in the School of Engineering, a person with a welcoming, warm smile that wiped away my unnecessary worries, arrived at The Ark with an open mind and a positive attitude. Phew. The awkward part was over. Robby and I took our seats in the back while the rest of the audience filled up the tight space of the venue. I looked at him and then observed the scene: Among the grey-haired crowd, we were most likely the youngest people there. Arriving 10 minutes before the show began, we were lucky to have a friendly conversation about our (surprisingly many) common interests of music, hiking and similar travel destinations. Ben Balmer and his band took to the stage and opened with “a song that everybody knows” — a lovely rendition of “Happy Birthday” for the development director, Olivia Vigiletti. The band consisted of eccentric and individualistic characters: Ben Balmer on guitar and vocals, Josh Flowers on bass, Eddie Dickerson on violin and Aaron Parks on drums. Their differing talents but collective vibe absorbed the audience’s attention. The Texas band’s hair-raising harmonies matched their intimate lyrics about life on the road, lovely
details of a lady and the emotional challenges of addiction. The other artists throughout the night made their way on and off the stage, performing solo songs and accompaniments with Balmer’s band. While music filled my ears, thoughts continued to travel through my mind. Thoughts of worry and curiosity lingered from the initial nervousness, distracting me at times from the performance. I was hoping I didn’t smell bad and that he was having fun and that our connection wasn’t artificial. But, as if I was at any other performance, I tried to let the evening take me by the hand, unannounced and leaving me on the edge of my seat. Plucking, playing, bouncing and smiling, Dickerson’s intense liveliness enthused Robby and me. Giggling back and forth throughout the night, joking about the violinist’s wild and unfathomable energy and commenting on the impressive talent of all the artists, Robby became less of a stranger as the night progressed. I went home that night and played Ben Balmer from my back pocket as I brushed my teeth. I questioned what the night would have been like if I had gone to The Ark alone or if my guest was someone other than Robby. I wondered if I’d ever see a concert with Robby again, or if I’d ever see him again, period. Regardless, it’s nights like this one where I was thankful to have a sweet guest with me — one who saw the importance of two people being entertained for the sake of art, for the sake of a human connection.
family. Selling metal collected on the streets as a young girl made her cautious and wary. It’s hard to relate to this cast of unlikely characters as a girl from a middle class suburb of Detroit. In my mind, Johnny was a terrible father, putting up a façade of loving his family while stealing their hard-earned pennies for drinks at the pub. When he said things like, “I am not a happy man ... I never wanted a family,” to Francie, my heart hurt. Francie was a heroine, but she was so advanced for her age that I couldn’t see myself in her shoes. Rereading the book years later, I realized that this anger at the characters is exactly what makes the book so appealing. Betty Smith makes you uncomfortable and gets you riled up until eventually you start feeling for the most unlikely people. “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” is about the harsh realities of immigrant struggle in the 20th century, but Smith writes about these obstacles in a way that everyone can relate to. The characters are raw and vulnerable, but so is the text itself. Looking back, I think this vulnerability was the reason why “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” became my drug. There’s something about the story of the Nolan family that seems farfetched, yet entirely possible to sympathize with. It’s as necessary a read for a middle school girl as it is a middle-aged adult. You’ll laugh, cry and be humbled all at the same time. “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” has earned its spot on my kitchen island for two reasons: So much of my life revolved around it when I was young and so much still does.
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FOR RENT
RELEASE DATE– Friday, March 23, 2018
Folk, farms and a friend ERIKA SHEVCHECK
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve frantically searched my house for my paperback copy of “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” I had emphatically recommended it to a friend. My mother said she would loan it to her colleague. I needed it for a high school book report. Every time I found it in the same place: under a stack of books on my kitchen island, right in the center of the house. Somewhere between the time when I first read the book five years ago and now, that spot on the kitchen island became the permanent spot for the novel. It’s as if I can’t bear to let it out of my sight every time I reread it, or as if the book can’t tear itself away from the countertop. It’s always in the center of everything, out of sight and out of mind, co-existing until someone from the periphery has the sudden urge to pick it back up again. I first read “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” when I was in middle school, a time that I still identify as one of the nastiest stages in adolescence. I, like most other middle-schoolers, was struggling to keep up with the norms of the rest of my class and spent most of the day gossiping with my friends. Being cool was the only important thing, and if you weren’t cool, what were you, really? It was a time of transition, vulnerability and confusion. A worn copy of “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” ended up in my hands one muggy summer day. The cover shows a young girl wearing a blue dress and blue headband, sitting precariously on a window ledge and reading
a book balanced on her lap. Her short brown hair is pushed away from her face and the bold paint strokes of a tree trunk are visible behind her. Looking at the cover, I could identify with her. She didn’t
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Flintstones Vitamins option 5 Chicago Eight defendant 10 B.C. law enforcers 14 Big name in denim 15 Dental restoration 16 Cause of some bad apples? 17 Has to pay 18 Part of a script 19 Cyber phenomenon 20 Turned tail 22 Like some underbellies 23 Memphis-toAtlanta dir. 24 Big fuss 25 With “the,” what a boxer doesn’t want to hit? 26 Pulse 28 High points 31 Latin I word 32 Prepared, as eggs for eggs Benedict 34 Votin’ nay 35 Emulate Moses ... and what four black squares do in this puzzle 38 Like a breeze? 39 August birthstone 40 “How you doin’?” 41 Lost patience 42 “The Beauty Myth” author Wolf 46 Chip off the old block? 48 Annoyed exclamation 50 Greek god of the wild 51 Needed an eraser 52 Herbs and spices 55 Bill __ Climate Lab: former exhibit at Oakland’s Chabot Space & Science Center 56 Awaits decision 57 Brief refusal to “Are you hungry?” 58 Nineteenth Amendment campaigner
59 Rolex rival 60 Gillette offering 61 Book of Mormon prophet 62 Ready to drop 63 Burn a little
33 How some bonds 43 Morphine, e.g. are purchased 44 It’s repeated a lot 34 Movie role for 45 Ready to go Skippy 47 Kevlar products 35 Speaker after 49 Mideast ruling John Boehner family name 36 Shoot for 52 Rest area DOWN 37 Air Force pilot heavyweight 1 Daisy component who became a 53 Cabinet dept. 2 Clean some more pop star 54 Long and 3 Plane, for one 38 True nature Vardalos 4 Ph.D. hurdle 41 “__ give you the 56 Winner’s 5 “I feel your pain” shirt off his back” gathering 6 Went too far 7 Protected, in a ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: way 8 Succeed in getting 9 Word with private or public 10 Collegian’s diet staple 11 Rift 12 “Money, Money, Money” musical 13 Exploits 21 Henry __ Lodge: WWI senator 22 Swedish carrier 25 Surrendered 27 Nashville highlight 29 “SNL” alumna Oteri 30 Scout’s honor? 03/23/18
By Samuel A. Donaldson ©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
03/23/18
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Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, March 23, 2018 — 7
SHEESH Michigan’s offense explodes in 99-72 win over Texas A&M; Wolverines heading to Elite Eight MARK CALCAGNO Daily Sports Editor
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — All of John Beilein’s Sweet Sixteen appearances had been more drama-filled than a Hollywood soap opera. In 2013, Trey Burke’s game-tying three against Kansas — possibly the most glorified shot in program history — gave the Michigan men’s basketball coach his first second-weekend win in unbelievable, come-frombehind fashion. Last year, the Wolverines came within inches of the Elite Eight, as Derrick Walton’s buzzer-beating triple attempt fell just short in Kansas City. But on Thursday, such nailbiting, angst-filled moments weren’t necessary. The thirdseeded Wolverines (31-7 overall) dominated from start to finish, cruising to a 99-72 drubbing of No. 7 seed Texas A&M (22-12) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Michigan has now earned its 14th Elite Eight appearance in program history — or 12th, if you’re on board with the NCAA pretending that 1992 and 1993 never happened. Oddly, the game was perhaps best summarized by its first basket. Aggie point guard T.J. Starks found forward Tyler Davis, a member of Texas A&M’s mammoth front court that figured to carry a sizable advantage. But the pass was errant, forcing Davis to wildly save it into the arms of sophomore point guard Zavier Simpson. From there, senior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Moritz Wagner played a two-man in transition, eventually leading to one of many easy bucks for the German center.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Senior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman paced Michigan with 24 points in his team’s 99-72 win over Texas A&M in the Sweet Sixteen.
It was the first of 14 turnovers for Texas A&M, one of seven team-leading assists for Abdur-Rahkman and two of 21 points for Wagner. AbdurRahkman also led the Wolverines with 24 points — one of four Michigan players to reach double-figures. That Wolverine offense that dripped with frustration, missed shots and disharmony? It stayed in Wichita. Michigan shot
62 percent from the f loor, drained 14 three-pointers from eight different players — a Tournament record — to score its secondhighest total of the season. “When we got back Monday watching the film, we knew we were so much better than what we played,” said fifth-year senior Duncan Robinson. “And that’s encouraging when you go 2-0 and beat two really good teams in a weekend and don’t
“... We knew we were so much better than what we played.”
play your best. Today might have been close to our best, quite honestly.” The Wolverines came out of the gates raining shots on Thursday, making four of their first five to grab an early lead. After the first media timeout, the Aggies shifted to a 2-3 zone defense — a look that Michigan has struggled against all season. It didn’t make a difference. At the 12:14 mark, sophomore guard Ibi Watson — who had hit just nine 3-pointers all year — f licked his wrist from the left corner. It hit pure nylon. A minute later, Robinson launched a triple that hit
the rim twice before finding a home through the hoop. Then Simpson nailed one. So did Wagner. As did redshirt sophomore Charles Matthews. It seemed so easy that the Wolverines felt like they were being slighted. “We’re so used to being heavily contested and not being able to get into our offense,” said freshman guard Jordan Poole. “Being able to get the open
looks that we had today was kind of like a shocker to us. “We felt a little disrespected.” All told, the Wolverines drained seven 3-pointers — from seven different players — to gain a lopsided, 21-point lead before the eight-minute mark. They looked like a juggernaut. Texas A&M looked like anything but. Failing to find any semblance of rhythm, the Aggies turned it over 10 times in the first half. A bad pass here, a missed shot there. Offensive ineptitude everywhere. The team that exploded for 86 points against North Carolina last weekend — the defending national champion Tar Heels that torched the Wolverines in November — was a shell of itself. There was a regression toward the mean in the second frame. The Aggies pounded the ball inside to re-establish a functioning offense. Michigan, naturally, didn’t spit fire like it did in the first. But it didn’t matter. Like a f lawed movie script, there was little conf lict involved; the game was over long before the final buzzer sounded. And for the Wolverines, the victory is further proof that they belong, now sitting only one win away from the Final Four. “It shows for us and for the people watching that we didn’t get lucky,” said freshman forward Isaiah Livers. “We didn’t just hit a lucky shot. I believe in destiny, so we’re destined to be here.”
“I believe in destiny, so we’re destined to be here.”
Welcome to Michigan’s circus The price of admission for Michigan’s performance at the Staples Center was more than worth it, writes Ethan Wolfe
L
OS ANGELES, Calif. — Welcome one, welcome all. I’d like to introduce you to the circus show ETHAN put on by the WOLFE Michigan men’s basketball team during Thursday’s Sweet Sixteen matchup against Texas A&M. It’s possible that you saw the traveling ensemble in Wichita, Kan. for the first two games of the NCAA Tournament, but I want to assure you that this 99-72 victory is a much, much more scintillating experience. Jordan Poole’s buzzer-beater to top Houston was surely an exciting ending though, right? “We can’t do that again,” said freshman forward Isaiah Livers. “You don’t get miracles like that everyday. We gotta hit them first in the mouth and keep going from there.” If you buy a ticket, you will find that this show actually hits the ground running this time. It has the unusual and the unexpected with a f lare of the familiar, say, as if John Beilein and elite offense are friends again. The price of admission for Michigan’s performance at Staples Center is $6 for Section 311, according to StubHub. If you want 100level seats, I’m not your guy. But when none of your hometown teams are playing I understand why you would want to watch at home with some popcorn anyway. They have that here too, you know, if you have another $6.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
The Michigan basketball team put on a much more scintillating performance against Texas A&M on Thursday night than it did in Wichita last week.
This show isn’t what everyone was reading about in the papers all week. The Wolverines were well aware that the Aggies’ Robert Williams and Tyler Davis were gigantic showmen themselves, but they are only given minor roles in this performance (Yes, spoiler, Williams f lies to swat an Ibi Watson layup. And a Charles Matthew layup. Maybe a few dunks, here and there. It’s not kid-friendly stuff ). As you walk in prior to the show, you’ll hear fans wearing
The circus begins. It starts with a classic circus staple — fire.
maroon and white chant the Aggie War Hymn. After that, you will never hear it again. The circus begins. It starts with a classic circus staple — fire. You’ll see it throughout the performance — Michigan shoots 61.9 percent from the field — but not as much as at the commencement. In fact, the performers might have more fun than you. Seven of the Wolverines’ will be riding the 3-pointer carousel, hitting from beyond the arc one-byone before repeating — a truly remarkable feat. “This is definitely who we are,” said senior guard Muhammad-Ali AbdurRahkman. “We knew that we didn’t play that well in Wichita, that left a bad taste in our
mouth. We just got a second chance and we came to LA to prove the team that we actually are.” While the carousel spins, the fans will see some sleight of hand tricks from Zavier Simpson. The sophomore point guard can give pause to any ball-handler, and Thursday’s victim, T.J. Starks, displays Simpson swiping it from his hands in each of his five turnovers. You can try wiping your glasses, but he’s just that quick. Treys and turnovers are specialties for Michigan, but in
this show, even the previously unseen happens. AbdurRahkman will drain a three as part of his 24 points, and he cracks a smile and pirouettes back into defense. Fifth-year senior Duncan Robinson will prove that he can, indeed, jump as he slams it home after a Simpson steal to get the Wolverines’ biggest lead of 29. After intermission, the show does not stop. Redshirt sophomore guard Charles Matthews will dance around
“I didn’t think they’d actually let me do it.”
the paint freely, hitting elbow jumpers and driving to the hoop from both sides. A few pump fakes sends the Aggies’ Davis soaring high in the air. When Texas A&M puts on a full-court press at the end of the lopsided tilt, it’s hard to blame the Wolverines for some sloppy turnovers. After putting on a near-perfect exhibit, who wouldn’t get nervous about ending with a bang? And a wacky bang they will find. “From a mental side of things, it’s hard to be in the moment when you’re up 24,” said assistant coach Luke Yaklich. “… It is a little bit of disbelief. But you’re so happy for those kids.” A gliding Jaaron Simmons lobs a rainbow to a reaching Austin Davis for the alley-oop. Moritz Wagner, tongue out, nearly runs into the tunnel. And for the final possession, even walk-on freshman C.J. Baird gets his opportunity in the limelight for the first time since Dec. 21. With the shot clock dwindling and space in front of him, Baird will sink his first career 3-pointer. Everyone gets in on the fun. “It’s the best feeling of my life,” Baird said. “I told Ibi Watson when I got in there I’m gonna shoot it and he said ‘Okay, do it then.’ I was kinda nervous when (Simmons) called me because I’m like ‘Oh, they actually want me to do this.’ I didn’t think they’d actually let me do it. ” It’s a picture-perfect ending to an already picture-perfect game, even if the tricks weren’t expected. And if by chance you don’t get to see the circus live, please don’t worry. It’ll be back on Saturday for the Elite Eight. The tricks are to be determined. Wolfe can be reached at eewolfe@umich.edu or on Twitter @ethanewolfe.
Sports
8 — Friday, March 23, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Twenty years later, Pearson and Michigan find themselves in similar position BENJAMIN KATZ Daily Sports Writer
It was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Entering the 1997-98 season, the Michigan hockey team was left without arguably the greatest class in program history. The offseason saw nine seniors — known as the “Michigan Nine” — graduate. The Wolverines were without six of their top eight scorers from the previous year. Gone was three-time AllAmerican, two-time CCHA Player of the Year and 1997 Hobey Baker winner Brendan Morrison. Gone were future NHL players John Madden, Jason Botterill, Warren Luhning and Blake Sloan, who combined for 187 points in their final seasons in Ann Arbor. Gone was the core of the 1996 national championship team that ended a 32-year title drought and gone was the heart of the 1997 group that infamously fell to Boston University in the national semifinals. Sure, star goaltender Marty Turco, forward Bill Muckalt and captain Matt Herr returned for their senior campaigns. But 11 incoming freshmen, including highly-touted forwards Josh Langfeld and Mark Kosick, needing to replace nine upperclassmen with offensive prowess was a thankless task. “I think there was a lot of pressure,” said Michigan head coach Mel Pearson, who was then an assistant coach. “Everybody said, ‘Ah, we lost the best class ever in the history of Michigan hockey.’ The freshmen were good, though. They contributed, but it wasn’t the same.” And to start the season, it wasn’t. For the first time in 36 games, the Wolverines lost at Yost Ice Arena, 2-1, against Colgate. Then, they lost the Great Lakes Invitational for the first time in a decade. In their last six regular season games, they went a meager 3-3, including a sweep by Michigan State, winner of all four games between the two that year. But through the toils came a veteran presence from the likes of Muckalt and Turco that helped the
newcomers adjust to college hockey. “It was the senior class, the class of Billy Muckalt, Matt Herr, Marty Turco and Chris Fox,” said thenMichigan coach Red Berenson. “Those four in particular were bigtime college players and brought those freshmen along as the year went on to make them feel like they had a chance. And they did, they got better as the year went on.” Added then-sophomore forward Andrew Merrick: “I think a big part was that there was not a lot of panic in that senior leadership. If you look at a guy like Marty Turco, not only was he an outstanding goaltender, he was calm all the time, even when we struggled as a team.” In the first game of the season against Minnesota, Herr was injured and hope for a victory all but lost. But Muckalt and Turco took over, leading by example and showing the young players how to work hard and win. “I think the older guys, my class included, who played with the guys before like Morrison, just taught us that losing was unacceptable,” Merrick said. “You were expected to win every time you went into the rink playing for Michigan.” Michigan finished the regular season 27-9-1 with a 22-7-1 record in the CCHA, good for second in the conference, only one point behind the Spartans. The Wolverines were then upset by an up-and-coming Ohio State team in the CCHA semifinals. “We didn’t win the regular season, we didn’t win the postseason, we didn’t win the GLI,” Pearson said. “We had an okay year and a pretty good team, but we didn’t win anything until we put it together.” Added Merrick: “We were struggling heading into the NCAA Tournament, struggling to find an identity. I think the national people didn’t expect much. But I think as a group, we felt like we had a pretty good team and though we stumbled at times, we had a lot of talent. We had good players there, so it was a matter of coming together at the right time.” After late regular season losses
to Michigan State and a postseason blunder against the Buckeyes, Michigan settled for a No. 3 seed in the NCAA West Regional. The NCAA West Regional that happened to be at Yost. *** It was supposed to be a rebuilding year. After 33 years with Berenson at the helm, Pearson was named head coach to begin the 2017-18 season. Under an unfamiliar coaching staff came new systems and the daunting undertaking to merge a strong — yet inexperienced — six-player freshmen class with 21 returning skaters. Highly uncharacteristic for the storied program, Michigan was coming off its first losing season since 2012-13, a dismal 13-19-3 campaign. On top of that, captains Alex Kile and Nolan De Jong’s four years elapsed, leaving the Wolverines without their previous leading goal-scorer and defensive mainstay. Michigan was projected to finish second-to-last in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches’ Poll. No one gave the Wolverines a chance to survive the gauntlet of conference heavyweights, especially with the new addition of Notre Dame. At first, it looked like the prediction would be true. More than halfway through the year, Michigan was unranked at 8-10-2, with a GLI loss and an NCAA Tournament berth far from the realm of possibility. A season-ending injury to sophomore forward Will Lockwood in January left the Wolverines without one of their offensive focal points. The third-youngest team in the country looked its age and was on a downward spiral into college hockey oblivion. Maybe secondto-last in the Big Ten was a fair assessment for a program enduring major transitions. There were obvious growing pains for a team lacking an identity. There were countless metaphors from Pearson about all players having to take a shovel and help dig, not being the weak link in the chain. Not to mention the repetitive
mantra about skaters needing to buy into the system. At first, it was senior forward Tony Calderone and junior forward Cooper Marody leading the way. Along with senior forward Dexter Dancs, their line accounted for almost 40 percent of the Wolverines’ total points on the season. And when “DMC” went silent, Michigan didn’t have anyone else to lead. “We’ve had some adversity this year,” Muckalt, now one of Pearson’s assistant coaches, said. “And sometimes where — I don’t want to say we failed — we realized that it’s not working.” Then something clicked. First came the sweep against then-No. 9 Minnesota — the Wolverines’ first in Minneapolis in 41 years. Then another against thenNo. 12 Penn State. Then came help from secondary scorers. With Calderone and Marody contributing only one point between the two of them over a three-week span, it was rookie forwards Dakota Raabe, Michael Pastujov and Jack Becker and defenseman Quinn Hughes who rose to the occasion with timely goals and assists throughout. As Pearson put it, “We need everybody, they aren’t freshmen anymore.” Goaltender Hayden Lavigne solidified the starting job with continued consistency in net. The sophomore won 10 of the last 16 regular season games with a 2.31 goals against average and .915 save percentage over the span. Michigan went 10-3-1 in its last 14 regular season games, including another sweep against then-No. 1 Notre Dame and a nation’s-best eight-game unbeaten streak. After sweeping Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals’ best-ofthree series, the Wolverines then fell in overtime to Ohio State in the semifinals. From being out of contention early in the season to one of the hottest teams in the country, Michigan is now primed to make a run in the Tournament, perhaps even destined for its 10th national championship and first since 1998. A No. 2 seed in the Northeastern
Region, the road to postseason glory starts in Worcester, Mass., only one hour from where the Wolverines last won the title. *** As Michigan prepares for Saturday’s NCAA Tournament regional matchup against Northeastern, the eerie similarities between this year and 1998 are aplenty. The teams were both underestimated entering this season yet strived to dismiss skeptics. And coming down the stretch, both iterations of Michigan hockey started to fire on all cylinders when it mattered most. It’s also noted by those who have been around the team the past 20 years that current players inexplicably mimic the play of those who led the Tournament run in 1998. Calderone has been compared to Herr and Muckalt by Merrick and Berenson, the fearless leader posting career numbers and a teamleading 23 goals. Marody shows shades of Hayes and his wicked right-handed shot. He mirrors the Michigan great who was “very good with the puck, smart, stealthy,” according to Merrick. Now a color commentator for Michigan Hockey Radio, Merrick added, “(Hayes was) not the quickest guy, but deliberate and makes smart decisions with the puck, so there are similarities there.” Senior defenseman Sam Piazza is like Fox in Pearson’s eyes, both prize students of hockey and in the classroom. Fox is now a neurosurgeon, Pizza a finalist for the Senior CLASS award, recognizing student athletes who thrive on and beyond the ice. Junior defensemen Joseph Cecconi and Nicholas Boka reflect blueliners Mike Van Ryn and David Huntzicker, skaters who Merrick called “a little unheralded, but could play.” Then there’s Lavigne. Pearson, Berenson and Merrick agree he’s no Marty Turco — arguably the greatest goaltender in Michigan history and a player who entered
1998 with a national championship under his belt. But albeit status or previous postseason experience, all mentioned Lavigne’s resurgence in the back-half of the season and how he quickly turned into the backbone of the Wolverines. “You’ve got Hayden Lavigne coming into his own since Christmas,” Berenson said. “You don’t have a Marty Turco who’s coming off an unbelievable career. But you definitely have a chance … and I think this team has got a chance.” Pearson and his coaching staff — all “Michigan Men” with postseason success — have continuously drawn on the comparisons of the 1998 team and 2018 version to remind their team they can win it all, too. Maybe this team won’t have the same success as the 1998 national champions. But the parallels can’t be ignored. And it’s the 1998 team’s mindset that Pearson hopes his current players will emulate heading into the Tournament. In many 1998 interviews with The Michigan Daily, Herr was quick to point out that Michigan may not have been the nation’s most talented team, but it would always be the hardest-working. Pearson concurs with the confidence exhibited that season and says the same holds true this year. “Yeah, maybe we weren’t the best team, just like this year,” he said. “We didn’t finish first in our conference, but can we beat Notre Dame in one game? Yeah. Can we beat Northeastern in one game? Yeah. Can we beat — yeah, absolutely we can. And I think that’s the beauty of the NCAA, whether it’s basketball or hockey. It’s one game. You don’t have to beat someone in a series, you don’t have to play a 24-game league schedule. It’s just one game. “I don’t think personnel-wise we have the best team. … (But) you have some special teams and I think this is one of them.”
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
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