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Tuesday, October 2, 2018
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New sexual misconduct training will be web class Students, faculty expect training will reduce cases of harassment and abuse throughout University
A Council votes down citizen-led police review board 2
RILEY LANGEFELD Daily Staff Reporter
University of Michigan students and faculty are hopeful new mandated online sexual misconduct training for faculty will combat misconduct on campus, but are still skeptical of its overall efficacy. University President Mark Schlissel announced the new requirements Sept. 20 as a part of the administration’s ongoing initiative to combat sexual misconduct. According to University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald, the training will likely be rolled out this fall and will consist solely of an online course. Fitzgerald said the training remains under development and will likely be changed and refocused in the future in a manner similar to current student training. Schlissel reiterated this intention and said the training will be informed by the changing environment of sexual misconduct at the University in a previous interview. “We’ve been working on how to continuously improve the safety and the inclusive campus climate,” Schlissel
100 residents rally in support of ordinance, but vote passes in favor of mayor’s bill
Ann Arbor City Council voted down an ordinance introduced by three councilmembers Monday night establishing a citizen-led police oversight board, instead
LEAH GRAHAM Daily Staff Reporter
voting to move forward with a counter-ordinance offered by Mayor Christopher Taylor. More than 100 Ann Arbor residents attended the meeting at City Hall, which lasted past midnight. When the task force’s ordinance failed, the remaining audience members walked out, chanting, “Who do you protect? Who do you serve?” at
Matt Vailliencourt
Daily
See TRAINING, Page 3
RESEARCH
COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
Coffee cups are no. 1 contaminant of the ‘U’ recycling bins
Researchers find lack of external funding for Humanities projects Faculty claim many grants, fellowships prioritize experiments in the natural sciences because of the typically high costs of medical research programs
Students, staff still say waste management systems at the University are improving
ALICE TRACY
Daily Staff Reporter
Jay KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter
According to Keith Soster, director of Student Engagement at Michigan Dining, Starbucks cups commonly used for coffee and tea specifically contaminate University of Michigan recycling bins most frequently. Angela Porta, outreach and zero waste coordinator at Recycle Ann Arbor, said the city of Ann Arbor is not able to recycle these cups either, citing reasons such as food contamination and the wax lining to the cup. “They are lined with an extremely thin layer of plastic that is tightly fused to the paper to prevent leaking and it is very difficult to separate that plastic from the paper,” she explained. In addition to the 46,002 students at the University of Michigan campus, there are 27,595
councilmembers. Supporters of the task force’s proposal argued Taylor’s proposal was “watered down” and “toothless.” Taylor said he proposed his ordinance to encapsulate the recommendations of the citizen task force while still complying with city and state law, as well as the police department’s collective bargaining agreement. “We need a commission that provides a place for people to come to express their concerns about policing in Ann Arbor … People have a right to be confident in policing,” Taylor said. “I proposed the ordinance because I want to form a strong, defensible policing commission that will affect public trust.” Councilmembers Anne Bannister, D-Ward 1, Jack Eaton, D-Ward 4, and Sumi Kailasapathy, D-Ward 1, introduced the ordinance written by members of a citizen task force. While Eaton and Bannister voted in favor of the mayor’s proposal “to get the ball rolling,” Kailasapathy was the only councilmember who voted against it, saying she was counting on the new incoming
faculty and staff working on campus as of Nov. 2017 and 20,091 total hospital faculty and staff — creating the potential for the use of a lot of cups at UM. This total number of people, which can be likened to an almost full Michigan Stadium, includes students, staff and faculty who produce waste of all kinds every day. University efforts to control this waste have been part of an ongoing process as growing knowledge of its environmental impact continues. The waste produced by students and faculty reflect the basic materials used daily, including paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, coffee cups and paper plates. The University has worked alongside local organizations to mitigate the negative effects of waste, partnering with the Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority, which operates between See CUPS, Page 3
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Crisostomo,
assistant
professor of assyriology, studies the languages and history of Mesopotamia with a focus on the information old texts reveal about communication and social
structure in the ancient Middle East. Though several University of Michigan grants and one external organization sufficiently fund his research, Crisostomo said See PROJECTS, Page 3
council members to support the task force’s version of the ordinance. “I’m really upset with how this whole thing has changed direction,” Kailasapathy said. Councilmember Jane Lumm, I-Ward 2, voted against the task force’s ordinance and in favor of Taylor’s proposal. “Mayor’s version of the ordinance includes much of what was in the task force’s proposed ordinance but eliminates those provisions that are potentially problematic and in conflict with the city charter, collective bargaining agreements and operational practices,” Lumm said. The task force was originally appointed to offer recommendations for the formation of a police oversight board. Taylor said while the body “did in fact do strong work,” he could not support the ordinance because he worried parts of it were not legally sound. Both proposals call for an 11-member body appointed by City Council to review See POLICE, Page 3
Panelists interrogate harassment of women in STEM 63 percent of women in academia have experienced some form of harassment, according to one panelist MOLLY NORRIS Daily Staff Reporter
-/Daily
STOCK
Panelists from different departments at the University of Michigan came together Monday afternoon to discuss sexual harassment in STEM fields. The panel discussion was the first of a three-part series discussing sexual harassment in engineering, sciences and medicine. Alec Gallimore, the dean of Engineering at the University, opened the panel with remarks about the way members of the engineering community are affected by sexual assault. While Gallimore said he knows the department has made some progress, he also acknowledged there is more work to be done.
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Research Funding for the Humanities
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Vol. CXXVIII, No.2 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
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SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7
News
2 — Tuesday, October 2, 2018
MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers
TUESDAY: By Design
WEDNESDAY: This Week in History
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Students, activists support gun control laws, voter registration at Shatter the Silence event Local high school students helped organize the event along wth NextGen America to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Las Vegas shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history people in the state and hopes LIAT WEINSTEIN to increase that number even For the Daily more before election day. Similarly, the University joined the Big About 20 students, faculty Ten Voting Challenge in and local activists convened September 2017 to try and on the University of Michigan register the most voters of Diag Monday afternoon for all 14 schools in the Big Ten an anti-gun violence rally conference in the upcoming jointly hosted by Shattering year. The results will be the Silence, an organization tallied after the midterm dedicated to increased gun elections this November. control measures, and the Student organizer Jen advocacy nonprofit NextGen Chalom, a Northville High America. The rally served to School junior, emphasized commemorate the 58 lives how imperative it is for lost in Las Vegas a year ago — younger generations to get the deadliest mass shooting involved in causes they care in American history — and about. Chalom, who began urge people to demand organizing the rally in midstricter gun control policies. August after coordinating The rally signaled the her school’s walkout the beginning of a 37-day previous year, also stressed campaign of activism how registering people and voter registration by to vote should be one of NextGen leading up to the main objectives of the the midterm elections. campaign. According to NextGen “These are people who Field Organizer Hudson wouldn’t have voted if we Villeneuve, the organization didn’t come here,” Chalom has already registered 35,000 said. “Because of something
I did, someone will be going to the polls and voting. That just seems like a huge impact, even if I get five people registered to vote. Three percent of young people who can vote, do. That just seems crazy — you see all these problems and watch the news and hear about these things but no one seems to be doing anything about them.” Chalom said she and other student activists reached out to organizations like Moms Demand Action to recruit speakers such as U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and Medical School student Solomon Rajput. Rajput highlighted how a lack of focus on statewide issues causes so few people to routinely call their representatives to demand change. “People feel like the national stuff is sometimes more important, more worthy of their attention,” Rajput said. “But the state level stuff really, really
makes a huge difference in terms of our lives in the state. Sometimes it’s hard for people to remember that. It’s definitely less sexy, and there’s less media attention, but it’s so important.” LSA freshman Josie Graham said she was especially impressed by the high school student organizers of the rally who have inspired younger generations to pursue activism, even though many of them cannot yet vote. Graham said her experience attending a gun control walkout in high school left her empowered to support that kind of activism at the University. “It gave students the ability to do something on a larger scale and gain the community’s attention and tell them how we feel because at that age we couldn’t vote yet,” Graham said. “It’s a way to express ourselves and finally have a voice that is amplified.”
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Cortina’s research reports Cortina stressed that even 63 percent of women in when sexual harassment academia had experienced contains nothing but sexist some type of sexual insults, with no unwanted “Our engineering colleagues harassment. Additionally, sexual attention, it takes a toll across the country, including she found that one in five on victims. For this reason, some colleagues of mine here sexually harassed women Cortina says, a lot of the at Michigan engineering, are meet criteria for depressive regulations in place targeting being demeaned, victimized, disorders and one in 10 meet sex do not help the issue. hurt,” Gallimore said. “They’re criteria for PTSD. Cortina said “Gender harassment is being treated wickedly. I stand dozens of studies have shown less about sex and more before you to say that that is sexual harassment derails about contempt, so rules and unequivocally unacceptable.” victims professional lives regulations policing sex are Psychology Professor Lilia disengage from their work, not a solution here,” Cortina Cortina, associate director and sometimes they leave said. “When women are Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ of the ADVANCE Program, their institutions or the field sexually harassed, women entirely. leave, their coworkers leave “There is no evidence — even the men leave. They that current policies, don’t stick around to watch procedures, and their valued colleagues be approaches — which disparaged, and they certainly often focus on symbolic don’t want to be the next HARD compliance with the law victims.” and on avoiding liability Panelists were later — have resulted in a asked what they found most significant reduction in surprising about the findings. 6 4 8 2 5 sexual harassment,” the Allison Steiner, associate report reads. professor in Department of 9 3 4 Cortina noted sexual Climate and Space Sciences coercion is the most and Engineering and one 4 5 6 9 widely publicized form of the panelists, responded of harassment, and the that her only surprise was type of misconduct the number of women who 7 2 8 addressed by the reported having been sexually most legislation. She harassed. 1 7 3 maintained, however, “I was surprised that the gender harassment was harassment numbers were as 9 8 6 by far the most common low as they are,” Steiner said. and pressing form. “I expected them to be like, 90 “More often than not, percent.” 1 8 sexual harassment is a Panelist Gilda Barabino, put down, not a come dean of the Grove School 5 on,” Cortina said. “So of Engineering at The City the bulk of the iceberg College of New York, said is gender harassment, while she was not shocked 9 1 and this is conduct that by the results of the report, © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. OVERLOAD. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com demeans, denigrates, she was pleasantly surprised humiliates people based on gender.” See STEM, Page 3
STEM From Page 1
followed Gallimore’s statement with the highlights of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine report on sexual harassment. Cortina, who worked on the report, outlined the three main types of sexual harassment: sexual coercion, unwanted sexual attention and gender harassment. The report argues Title IX legislation has done little to reduce the incidence rate of sexual harassment in academia.
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The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid.
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TRAINING From Page 1 said earlier in September. “We’re continuing to study our current procedures … The idea is to continuously improve in this really important area, so there will be more to come in the months ahead on what we can do to diminish the frequency of misconduct on our campus.” The training was born out of the Working Group on Faculty and Staff Sexual Misconduct, a committee which investigated current University policy and published findings. The committee was co-chaired by Laurita Thomas, associate vice president for Human Resources, and former U-M Dearborn Chancellor Daniel Little. The committee’s published recommendations included mandatory faculty programming, as t he University previously required only newly hired staff to undergo such
training. Proposed modules in the training include topics of institutional commitment, principles and values and behavior expectations. The University’s annual sexual misconduct report released in September reported data from only student misconduct filings. An independent crowdsourced database of sexual misconduct in academia, however, called the “whisper network” attracted attention last winter with a log of more than a dozen incidents of sexual assault, harassment and rape perpetrated by University faculty members. American Culture Professor Lisa Nakamura welcomed the trainings, predicting they would certainly raise awareness of protocols among faculty, but expressed reservations about the longterm efficacy of the online course.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
STEM From Page 1 with the response of the community. Barabino and Cortina discussed how women and members of other underrepresented groups have to brush off instances of gender harassment. “You may brush it off, say that was just today,” Barabino said. “Well, it was today, it was yesterday, it’s coming tomorrow, and it doesn’t get seen.” University administrators are currently working to reduce harassment and misconduct among faculty. As of last month, faculty members will be required to undergo sexual misconduct training following reccomendations from a staff and faculty working group. While the University’s student sexual misconuduct policy is subject to regular
reviews and revisions, similar guidelines do not exist for the Standard Practice Guide that governs faculty and staff misconduct. In response to a question asking how it is possible to survey sexual harassment, Cortina said because of this issue, they do not ask respondents point blank whether they have experienced sexual harassment or not. “When we survey people, we try to avoid all these terms entirely,” Cortina said. “We ask about specifically defined behaviors because people have such different understandings for what sexual harassment means, what it means to be sexually harassed. And oftentimes what you actually find is that people will say yes to a whole list of behaviors, and all these behaviors are examples of sexual harassment conduct.
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Tuesday, October 2, 2018 — 3
CUPS From Page 1 five municipalities and sorts through the trash generated by the University. According to Tracy Artley, waste reduction and recycling program manager for the Office of Campus Sustainability, recycling on the institutional level has had increased standards and thus requires education and consistency. “Manufacturers have a lower and lower tolerance for contamination — for nonrecyclables ending up in there,” Artley said. “That’s a cost to them, they have to sort those out, and if they missed it, it could ruin the whole batch of what they’re recycling. Unfortunately, some people do what we call wish-cycling, where they put things in the recycling bin hoping that because they put it there, it’ll get recycled.” Because of the University’s
close relationship with WWRA, consistent communication allows the Office of Campus Sustainability to be notified if a batch is contaminated, and they can subsequently trace the bin back to a certain building or department. This way, the office is able to directly address consistent recycling errors at certain buildings. Artley also explained how economic factors weigh heavily on the lack of recycling for paper products, especially coffee cups. “Recycling is this great environmental effort, but at heart, it’s an economic effort,” she said. “When we recycle things, they get sorted out and set out for recycling. They are being recycled for purchasing by a manufacturer who wants to make something new out of that. With coffee cups, there’s no company, at least around the state, that wants these paper coffee cups.”
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S H AT T E R I N G T H E S I L E N C E
SARAH KUNKEL/Daily Saline High School student Zaynab Elkolaly shows her support for political activism against gun violence at the Shattering the Silence Rally on the Diag Monday.
POLICE From Page 1 the conduct of Ann Arbor police officers and investigate complaints from city residents, but concerns arose about the legality of certain provisions in relation to the city charter and the police department’s collective bargaining agreement. Kailasapathy, who co-sponsored the task force’s ordinance, said the process surrounding the formation of citizen task force’s proposal was the most democratic she had seen in her six years on City Council. “I’m really proud to bring this up because this is yours,” Kailasapathy said to supporters in attendance Monday evening. “It’s what the residents have told us,” adding the ordinance was “not anti-police,” but rather “pro-safety.” While the mayor’s proposal and the task force’s ordinance both preserved anonymity for complainants and clarified that no city councilmember or active duty police officer will sit on the oversight board, Taylor’s differed in its appointment of independent counsel and provisions regarding concurrent investigations by the board and the Ann Arbor Police Department. The mayor’s proposal diverged from the vision of the citizen task force in giving the mayor more power over the appointment process as well. In Taylor’s version, the mayor would be responsible for appointing members to the
oversight board, while the citizen task force proposed the oversight board itself and the Human Rights Commission should create a list of possible members that would be appointed by City Council. While the citizen task force sought to award the oversight board subpoena power, a memo from City Attorney Stephen K. Postema noted “significant legal issues with subpoenaing residents of the City, City employees, or police officers” because the city charter does not grant City Council subpoena power. Postema maintained Council’s lack of subpoena power implies its power to the commission is questionable. Additionally, Postema’s memo cast doubt on the the commission’s ability to retain independent counsel, an issue that led to worries of conflicts of interest during the September work session. The memo stated a commission created by City Council “has no authority to contract with outside legal counsel on its own.” The Police Officers Association of Michigan sent a letter to Taylor opposing the citizen task force’s ordinance, calling the “blatant lack of trust” for the AAPD “unconscionable.” POAM did so in an effort to “protect Ann Arbor police officers from the venom which this proposed ordinance spews,” saying, “The proposed ordinance lacks moral justification and lacks legal authority.” The ordinance introduced by Taylor will move forward to a second reading at the City Council meeting on Oct. 15.
PROJECTS From Page 1 finding funding for humanities research is generally difficult, especially from sources not associated with the University. Noting a funding disparity between humanities and natural science research, Crisostomo said he’s found the most success receiving grants for humanities projects with computational aspects, like his contributions to an online database of translated texts. “The digital humanities almost is a way of making the humanities seem more scientific,” Crisostomo said. “Funding bodies are looking more at these projects rather than what have been the traditional humanities projects, such as translations of texts or analyses of texts or people groups, things like that.” According to the University’s 2017 Annual Report on Research, the majority of research expenditures go toward projects in the natural sciences and technology. The School of Medicine topped research expenditures last year, taking up 41 percent of all research costs, followed by the College of Engineering at 17 percent. Only 13 percent of research expenditures were attributed to LSA, the largest college by population at the University. Several key sources of income fund research at the University. Of the $1.48 billion spent on research in 2017, 56 percent was funded by the federal government, mostly in the form of grants provided by agencies such as National Institute
of Health and NASA. Funds from non-federal sources, such as industry sponsors, comprised 11 percent of research expenditures. Internal funds, generated by tuition, gifts and state support, made up 33 percent. Sara Blair, vice provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs, said though University faculty have been successful in earning humanities research awards relative to other universities, external funding for the humanities is generally limited. “One really important fact about funding for research in the humanities and humanistic social sciences, more broadly, is that the amount of funding available externally is regrettably minimal,” Blair said. “Especially compared with other disciplinary areas, there just are not robust opportunities for faculty to apply, particularly for longer-term, larger-scale research projects.” Heather Offhaus, director of Grant Review and Analysis for the Medical School Office of Research, noted there is some practical basis for the funding disparity. She said one reason medical research dominates total expenditures at the University is the school’s large faculty size, leading to a higher volume of research. “The schools and colleges are arranged by where faculty are employed and tenured, and we have a very large engine,” Offhaus said. “The three largest schools on campus are the Medical School, Engineering and LSA.” Offhaus added scientific research is often more costly than research in the humanities or arts, thus requiring larger grants. “Compared to LSA, medical
research is far more expensive, and so we’re applying to sponsors that are prepared to cover the cost of the research or part of the cost of the research and so those tend to be larger awards than, say, in LSA,” Offhaus said. “Engineering is a little more like we are in terms of size and scope of awards.” Though Crisostomo acknowledged science and technology research can be costlier in terms of personnel and equipment, he also attributed the funding gap to a lack of appreciation for the humanities. According to Crisostomo, the humanities are often seen as purely academic, luxury fields of study, whereas the natural sciences are considered to have more realistic applicability. “There is a tendency for the natural sciences to be more easily understandable as somewhat practical research,” Crisostomo said. “You think about the projects at U of M such as automated driving that led to a lot of attention, and you see how that’s practical outside of academia.” Crisostomo said he strongly believes in the value of humanities research, because it builds empathy and promotes the careful consumption of media. He added humanities scholars, especially those who study the past, are able to piece together fragmentary information to better understand historical events, a skill that translates to modern politics and global issues. In applying for grants from funding agencies, Crisostomo said, humanities researchers must make a strong case for the validity and value of their work. “We have to make the case,
whereas for some natural sciences it’s more assumed, it’s a default thing that they’re really applicable,” Crisostomo said. “It’s not as obvious a case for the humanities.” In spite of his difficulty finding external funding, Crisostomo said he has noticed the University’s efforts to direct more internal funds toward the humanities. “One of the good things that I’ve seen here at the U of M is recently there has been more of a push for getting some humanities funding,” Crisostomo said. “For example, I know that the college of LSA has increased the amount for the startup package, that is the amount of money given to incoming professors to get their projects going, and that includes the humanities, that includes social sciences.” Amy Dittmar, vice provost for Academic and Budgetary Affairs, said the University tries to compensate for the lack of external funding by supporting humanities research with internal funds, such as initiatives like the Institute for the Humanities and Humanities Collaboratory. In 2017, the humanities, arts and social sciences received a combined 56 percent of grants and awards distributed by the Office of Research. “We really are mindful in making sure that there are available resources for all of our faculty to do research, and some of those areas naturally have external funding and some of
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Opinion
4 — Tuesday, October 2, 2018
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How Trump’s got it wrong on trade
ith the U.S.China trade war and the sanctions on Iran and Russia dominating much of the news these days, U.S. trade policy has become the spark of much controversial debate. To me, this didn’t make much sense. Any Economics 101 professor would have told you in the first week of class that trade benefits all. But when I looked into it, it seemed that there was a consensus among some of the world’s highest-ranked officials that free trade was not equal to fair trade. And so, in order to figure out the truth behind all of this, I decided to interview one of our own experts in international trade: Alan Deardorff, University of Michigan’s John W. Sweetland Professor of International Economics and Public Policy. When it came to the definition of free trade, the answer was pretty obvious: in Deardorff’s words, “eliminating barriers such that trade could flow freely.” But fair trade was much more ambiguous. The term had begun to be used freely “to mean any trade (an individual) didn’t like.” For example, when a country subsidizes one industry over another, the industry’s competitors would view the trade as largely unfair. But if, say, China, decided to subsidize their exports, the U.S. consumer population would benefit, as “we’d get cheap stuff.” Similarly, if a company were to outsource manufacturing to a country where labor and input costs were cheaper, it could also be viewed as unfair by domestic suppliers. But, the real question is, if these allegations of unfairness were addressed, would trade become more efficient and less “unfair?” According to Deardorff, “that kind of unfair trade benefits us. Our country overall (would) be better off if we freely import from countries that want to sell to us, regardless of what determined the prices that they’re offering.”
That said, there is, in fact, a legal definition of unfair trade. Economic dumping occurs when a country exports for a price that is lower than the selling price locally. Now, this is controlled by laws that allow a country to put tariffs that would offset the price gap that dumping creates. But, that said, these anti-dumping duties are not often used by the U.S. except for specific cases in industries such as steel. Evidently, this “type” of unfair trade is obviously not what President Trump is talking about. Rather, the current administration has been fixated on the tariffs that China has imposed on us, calling their acts of protectionism completely unfair and harmful to the U.S. Tariffs traditionally have two effects. One, they “raise the price to the (country’s) buyers,” and two, they “lower the price to the (country’s) sellers.” As long as the country is small, the effect of a tariff is localized and there is no change in the world price. However, “when a country becomes very large, there is the possibility of pushing down the exporter’s price.” According to studies done by Deardorff, though, “there is no country (not even the United States) that has enough share of the world economy (to significantly affect the world price).” That said, tariffs instituted by countries like China do have the potential to affect U.S. producers. But, the extent to which our producers versus China’s consumers are getting hurt by a tariff is mixed. Obviously, U.S. producers will lobby for subsidies regardless, as it is in their political interest to do so. One popular case of this recently is the soybean industry. With that in mind, our administration’s reaction in putting our own tariffs in place to combat the “inequity” created
by the Chinese tariffs have doubly hurt our consumers. In fact, when I asked Deardorff about this, he said that there actually is a proper response to countries that have overstepped their boundaries by implementing high tariffs in filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization. The WTO would investigate the measure and determine whether the tariff is justified or not. In a perfect world, the United States should have paused, evaluated the conflict with China and filed an appropriate complaint. Rather, we hastily implemented tariffs which resulted in an escalation of the conflict, throwing us into a trade war. Neither country is really justified in their actions, and now the international trade scene has been turned upside down. Trump seems to think that our trade deficit with China is the main cause of our conflict. However, trade deficits by nature are just a means of a company dealing with specialization. When a country buys more than it sells, it’s simply a matter of specialization and relative comparative advantage. Though trade deficits are not ideal in that we really should be producing for ourselves, there is no wrongdoing of China’s that is causing the imbalance and, according to economist Joseph Gagnon, “there is no evidence that high tariffs reduce (trade deficits).” The U.S. has unequivocally got it wrong on trade. We are sacrif icing free trade in the name of protectionist policies that are isolating our countr y from the rest of the world and creating major political and economic harm. It doesn’t alig n with Democratic or Republican policy. It’s just plain wrong.
HANNAH MYERS | CONTACT HANNAH AT HSMYERS@UMICH.EDU
Adithya Sanjay can be reached at asanjay@umich.edu.
First impressions
“F
irst impressions last a lifetime.” “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.” These are the words of wisdom that led me toward my greatest adventure in medical school — an international rotation in Ghana. Pursuing my dream in another country created memories that will last a lifetime and inform who I am as a physician. First Day in the Labor Ward As I entered the labor ward at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, I discovered a large room divided by thick concrete walls. Each section contained pleather beds covered in plastic tarps that patients brought from home. I found myself fascinated by the lack of equipment. There were no IV poles. The background noise was free of the familiar beeping monitors and inflating blood pressure cuffs. You would not find a large TV displaying continuous fetal heart tracings, but on each dividing wall, you would find a Pinard horn, a funnelshaped instrument used to manually count fetal heartbeats. Intermittently, I would observe Ghanaian medical students place their hands on mothers’ abdomens to count the number and duration of contractions in a 10-minute period. The results would be entered into a pantograph, a paper chart that is used to track labor progression. Even without the lines and monitors, it was incredible to witness the level of medical care being provided within a limited resource setting. As I continued my observations, I discovered that all patients go through “natural births,” predominantly due to the cost of epidurals. One might expect the ward to be filled with yelling and laboring mothers crying out in pain, yet it was surprisingly quiet. No one called out and no one screamed. Instead, I was surrounded by women snapping their fingers, praying and humming through contractions. As I followed a mother’s progress through labor, I was taken aback by her final delivery process. In the “second stage” area, there is no coaching, privacy or family members, just the mother, her midwife and any medical students who decided to observe the delivery. Though it was her first child, the mother was
not coached through her delivery. If she did not push adequately, the midwife would hiss in disgust. During the delivery, the midwife made an episiotomy, a surgical cut at the base of her vagina to aid in the delivery, but the patient, unfortunately, sustained a second-degree tear. While repairing the laceration, the patient would pull away due to pain. Each time the patient moved, the midwife would express her anger and displeasure. I struggled to watch as the patient writhed in pain. I desperately wanted to console her, but it did not feel like it was my place. With each unwanted movement by the patient, the tension in the room built. The midwife grew tired and at times, even pretended to give up on completing the repair entirely. Seconds felt like hours as the midwife worked to close the laceration and reunite the mother and her baby. First Day as First Assist “Can I scrub on your C-section case?” “Yes, of course.” The excitement that overcame me was palpable, as the idea of being first assist was merely a dream that I had prior to visiting Ghana. The resident took me through the scrubbing process, which entailed the typical personal protective equipment, rubber boots and a shin-length rubber apron worn over our surgical scrubs. We then scrubbed with pieces of pink soap left in a dish in the scrub room. As the foam collected on my hands, I found myself reviewing the steps of the operation, the patient’s medical history and any complications she was at risk for perioperatively. As we entered the operating room, my heart began to race with anticipation. I gowned and gloved myself and then assisted with draping. We then made the first incision of the elective C-section for a fetus with a genetic disorder of bone growth called achondroplasia. When the baby delivered, his appearance was typical of achondroplasia: frontal bossing and shortened upper extremities. The baby was carefully placed on a nearby table, and then the surgeon’s technique took center stage. He prided himself on minimal tissue manipulation, leaving the uterus inside the abdomen during the repair and abstaining from exploring the uterine cavity for
placental remains. We finished the operation and the only evidence of our presence was a small, beautifully closed pfannenstiel incision. First Day Eating Ghanaian Fufu “Are you free for dinner? We are going to try fufu.” As a first-generation Nigerian American, I have consumed plenty of fufu in my life, including the batches that I personally struggled to prepare. Ignoring my familiarity with the dish, I enthusiastically accepted the invitation. My mind drifted over the possible variations of Ghanaian fufu. Would it be made of potato, yam or even plantain? Would it be hard or soft? Sour or neutral? Though fufu, a staple in Nigerian and Ghanaian cuisine, is essentially pounded starch and water, it can be made in numerous ways. I was excited to try this twist on a familiar dish. We left the medical campus and began our journey to a restaurant called Confidence. When we arrived, we each ordered the fufu with groundnut soup and goat meat, a standard in Ghanaian cuisine. Within minutes, the server placed multiple large bowls of water and soap on the table and instructed us to wash our hands. The act heightened the experience, as I felt like a native Ghanaian eating in the proper way. The food came shortly thereafter, and as the bowl was placed in front of me I appreciated the nutty brown color and aroma of peppers and spices. Immediately, I reached into the bowl with my right hand to fish out a piece of the fufu ball floating in my soap. I flattened the fufu between my fingers while simultaneously scooping up the soup, and then lifting it to my mouth. The flavors were bold, yet balanced; new, yet familiar; and most importantly, delicious. For any student traveling abroad, I encourage you to embrace the unfamiliar. If you challenge yourself to let down your guard and experience life in an open, curious and engaged manner, you will be rewarded with first impressions that last a lifetime. Kiki Ogu is an M4 at the University Medical School.
ABBIE BERRINGER | COLUMN
I
Believe survivors?
am a woman. I am a survivor of sexual assault, but I don’t want you to simply “believe me” because I wrote this. Why? Because I believe in due process. I believe in “innocent until proven guilty.” I believe the principles of the American judicial system are ones rooted in justice. I know that the system has flaws and corruption has overtaken parts of it. It is hard to come out about sexual assault for many reasons. Corruption within the system often ends up protecting the powerful. However, just because we know this is true, it does not give us the right to label someone “corrupt” or “guilty” without the evidence to support it. It is brave to come forward. I didn’t come forward. In fact, what nearly held me back from writing this piece at all was the fact that I would have to tell my parents what happened to me all those years ago. The knowledge of how much it would hurt them was almost too much to bear. Up until now, only a handful of people knew what happened to me five years ago when I was just a junior in high school. In the days, weeks, months and even years after the incident, what kept me from talking to most people was a mix of complicated emotions: embarrassment, fear and an overwhelming desire to put the whole thing behind me. If I had gone to my parents, they would have wanted me to go to the police. If I had gone to the police, they would have opened an investigation. If an investigation was opened, one thing would have become abundantly clear: There was no evidence. It was just me and him in a dark room, with one other person who happened to be asleep. I woke up and he was touching me, but he didn’t rape me, so I would have no DNA evidence. He didn’t bruise me, so there would be no marks on my body. There were no witnesses, just my word against his, and I know that for good reason the justice system does not allow people to be convicted on hearsay. It is sad. It is sad that I discovered that this person committed almost exactly the same crime against another
friend of mine some time before this incident had happened to me. I wasn’t his first victim, and the sickening truth is that I will more than likely also not be his last. Yet the truth is that my word alone is not, and should not, be enough to convict him. It doesn’t matter what the statistics are on accusations of sexual assault. Studies quoted in Vox, the BBC and Vogue have already reported that most people who come forth with sexual assault accusations are not lying. Whether these studies are accurate or not, I do not know. However, I do know that it truly doesn’t matter. As Voltaire once said, Sir William Blackstone echoed and Benjamin Franklin later co-opted: “it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer,” is a maxim that has been long and generally approved. I still believe in this maxim and I think that, as Americans, we all should. This maxim is a protection. It guarantees that someone who would seek to destroy your life on baseless accusations, due to some personal vendetta, or a desire to harm you for one reason or another cannot do that without creating some sort of elaborate plot that frames you as “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” The truth is that tomorrow I could come out with a baseless claim against anybody, an old enemy, a bad professor or a former bully, but I am deterred from doing so by the fact that my baseless claim can do no more than hurt their reputation. What I fear is that, in this new world, where the push by the left is to unequivocally believe the accuser, this deterrence will exist no more. If we start punishing the potentially innocent based on nothing but accusations alone, then it encourages those who may seek to destroy someone else’s life to take that avenue. In the world of politics, the corrupt work by trying to ruin the lives of their opponents. If we don’t want the corrupt to win, then we can’t give them the chance to turn allegations into guilty verdicts, because that is exactly what they want. Due to what I have gone
through, it is not lost on me that this does and will continue to lead to some of the guilty going free. It is also not lost on me that there is still a culture of mistrust and blatant sexism toward women, one that has enabled sexual abuse to continue running rampant in our society for far too long. Because of my own circumstances, I am very likely to believe the accuser in a sexual violence case, and more than anything I want our justice system to punish rape crimes more harshly. It is a disgusting injustice that someone like Brock Turner, the guilty party in the infamous rape case at Stanford University, only spent three months in prison for his heinous crime because the judge actually cared that his life had been forever changed, as his parents and lawyers argued in court. His life should have been ruined. He didn’t and, in my opinion, still doesn’t deserve to walk free. It physically pains me to think that my abuser walks free and that there is nothing even the justice system is able to do about it, but I know if my word alone could have convicted him that would have been a very dangerous power. I don’t want that power in my hands or in the hands of anyone else. I would rather see my accuser go free, even as tears come to my eyes as I write this, than to know that the power to ruin someone’s life based on an accusation alone has become a reality in the American justice system. So, I ask us all to think about what we should truly believe in. I believe in justice. I believe in due process. I believe in evidence and “g uilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” but I don’t simply “believe survivors.” It hurts to say that because I am one, and most people who say they are a survivor are telling the truth, but regardless, you shouldn’t believe me based on my word alone.
Abbie Berringer can be reached at abbierbe@umich.edu.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 — 5
FOOD COLUMN
Inside Ann Arbor’s most happening spot, Sava’s ELI RALLO
Daily Food Columnist
Seated in an upholstered booth surrounded by a sparkling jewel toned interior and lit with a warm, bright glow, Sava’s Ann Arbor has everything a millennial foodie needs for the perfect Instagram picture — the trendy, boho ambiance pairs perfectly with their token Sweety Fries, of course. When Sava’s first opened its doors to the Ann Arbor community, they weren’t located in the large, aesthetically designed sweet spot on State Street, where they are now. They were actually right across the street in a modest 23 seat café which they were pushed out of due to the opening of State Street CVS. Since its humble beginnings, Sava Farah (restaurant owner) has transformed Sava’s into one of Ann Arbor’s hot spots — taking that small, quaint café and creating a full service, 300 seat dining experience. Sava’s has gone on to become, indisputably, one of Ann Arbor’s most popular restaurants. The restaurant now serves over 800 guests on any given Sunday for brunch, says general manager Melanie Brown, who has been a part of the Sava’s family for seven years. Brown is part of the reason the place seems to have so much heart — her commitment to being set up for success every day is both admirable and inspiring. “I come in and open Sava’s and my main motive is that we are set up for success. Everything from the music, to the lights, to the atmosphere. I just want to make sure all of the guests have the best experience possible,” she said, when asked about her typical day. It seems that hospitality is at the core of so much of Sava’s culture, which is what sets the standard of such a tremendous experience every time you walk through the front doors. My experiences in Sava’s over the past two and a half years have been nothing short of exceptional. Everything from its diverse menu options to trendy atmosphere has made my wide array of brunch dates, birthday celebrations and meals with visitors from out of town special and delicious. I am a firm believer that you can’t find better sweet potato fries anywhere you look in Ann Arbor, which is a testament to the “Sweety” sauce I’m not ashamed to admit that I’d willingly drink. Ann Arbor has a diverse and intriguing restaurant scene — with over 300 restaurants dotting its streets and filling the hearts and stomachs of University students, professors, tourists and townspeople alike. But something about Sava’s puts it above the rest — it is always packed with customers, whether it’s a Sunday morning, a Friday night or a Wednesday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. I was curious about just what makes Sava’s so irresistible.
“I think the location really helps, but the diverse menu options really makes Sava’s appealing to all walks of life. Sava’s has everything,” Brown answered, before Adrienne Brady, marketing and media coordinator chimed in: “And our Insta game, of course. We really know our audience.” I couldn’t think of a better person than Brady to be in charge of coordinating the social media and marketing for all of the SavCo Hospitality
Ann Arbor has a diverse and intriguing restaurant scene — with over 300 restaurants dotting its streets and filling the hearts and stomachs of University students, professors, tourists and townspeople alike. But something about Sava’s puts it above the rest
locations, including Sava’s and Aventura. She is bright and bubbly, astute and curious. Sava’s is a known hot spot for all occasions — from casual lunches with friends, to important dinners, to the idiosyncratic Sunday brunch buffet, they never seem to miss a beat. “We started the Sunday brunch buffet because on Sunday we’re so busy that the kitchen couldn’t keep up. The chefs create a variety of amazing options every week, and the brunch has become so popular it’s more busy than Sunday nights,” Brown said when asked about the brunch phenomenon that Sava’s masters so well. I would venture to say that if I only ate the chicken sausage for the rest of my life, I’d be more than happy. “Our audience is the students, and we market to them,” Brady added to emphasize the University brunch habit that Sava’s helps people to indulge in. Whenever I go to Sava’s, I
have my favorite dishes on the menu that I can’t resist. It’s really something special and alluring that the menu is able to tackle so many options, so much so that it is impossible to dislike Sava’s. I usually opt for the Hippie Bowl — a delicious variety of fresh vegetables and grilled tempeh tossed in a tangy lemon-tahini dressing. The Mediterranean salmon bowl is also one of my go-tos — the mushroom medley and roasted pearl onions it is served with are to die for. I was curious about finding out which of their iconic menu items sell best, considering the restaurant is a revolving door of hungry students all day long. “The mac and cheese and the greek salad are without a doubt our best sellers,” Brown said without missing a beat. The mac and cheese is one of Sava’s most recognizable dishes, with students coming back time and time again for the beloved bowl of cheesy goodness. “In terms of breakfast, I think the avocado toast and kale breakfast bowl are the best menu items,” Brady finished. Lucky for Brady, her job is based out of the downtown SavCo offices, so she’s away from the heat of the busy kitchen, yet still has the privilege of coming into the restaurants to photograph and taste the memorable dishes. This is a job I know many University students would die to have, as so many of us would select Sava’s as our favorite option for a meal out in Ann Arbor. Sava’s is one of the beating hearts of this community — with its reservation list filling up weeks before major weekends in town and the students’ consistent loyalty to its delicious food and one of a kind dining experience. When asked what it is like to be a part of such a large college community, Brown had so much to say about her experience working at Sava’s in Ann Arbor the past seven years. “(The University) keeps us alive. The hospital, the students, the professors, the employees, the tourism — we have new guests from around the world all the time but we also have our devoted regulars. I get the opportunity to meet so many interesting people from so many walks of life every single day.” Brown is passionate and enthusiastic about continuing to make Sava’s as remarkable as it can be, and it’s clear just from speaking with her that she’s successful in her mission. The restaurant business is no easy corner of the world to live in — with its erratic hours and constant challenges to tackle — but it is one that both Brown and Brady are ecstatic to be a part of. “I mean it’s never boring in this business. It’s so fast paced and exciting. I love just meeting all of the different unique people involved in this process. It’s just simply addicting,” Brady said of her experience with her first year
ALEC COHEN / DAILY
ALEC COHEN / DAILY
in the restaurant business. She also mentioned that she knows she’ll be here for a while — the business has such an intoxicating and high energy, and this fits her personality so well. “I love to make people’s days and connect with anyone. It is the best way to foster human interaction and meet people,” Brown said of her experience with the business. She circumvented challenges and confusing situations with ease even during our brief conversation — her go-getter attitude and organized form of leadership is the backbone of the whole place. It is known that the restaurant business is different and new everyday — fighting new fires that arise each day is one of the main jobs of a general manager, and she is perfectly suited for such a job. When asked what’s next
for Sava’s and SavCo at large, the ladies shared with me the inside scoop about the new SavCo restaurant — the DixBoro house, opening this spring. Even with new restaurants opening, and others thriving just down the road, Sava’s is continuing to up the ante. “We’re tailoring what we do to the needs and wants of the community constantly,” Brady remarked, and I found this the perfect time to attempt to convince them to put the gluten free pancakes, porridge bowl and chicken sausage back on their fall brunch menu. They took the suggestions very seriously, noting that they always take the students’ advice and ideas into consideration. “We’re always aesthetically improving, we have a new fall menu and drink menu coming and we’re constantly
diversifying the menu and what we do here,” Brown said. I left Sava’s with an intense craving for Sweety Fries, as one does, and not without inquiring about reservation openings for parents weekend, which is over a month away. They are already fully booked, which is unsurprising and makes me wish one place could seat more than 300 people. With their current success, they would certainly thrive with an even bigger location, if at all possible. My biggest take away from my experience speaking with Brown and Brady, was their amiable nature and positive energy. They confirmed for me that what Sava’s does for our community is important and lasting, and left me hoping that I will be able to return for my favorite chicken sausage and banana topped porridge bowl sometime this fall.
TV REVIEW
‘Manifest’ is not destiny SAMANTHA DELLLA FERA Daily Arts Writer
A lot of great media begins with an airplane. There is the touching movie “We Are Marshall,” which details the rebuilding of the football program and morale at Marshall University following a plane crash that took the
“Manifest” Series Premiere NBC Mondays at 10 p.m.
lives of 75 members of the football team. On TV, there is “Lost,” one of the most iconic and well-known shows of all time, due to both its consuming storyline and one of the most infamously confusing finales of all time. There is a lot that a show or movie can do with an airplane. It can tell a harrowing tale of human fear or a heartwarming story of community. It can paint a tear-jerking picture of reunion or show an unlikely character overcoming all odds. Yes, there are endless possibilities when it comes to basing a show off
an airplane. “Manifest” takes advantage of none of them. Following precedent, “Manifest” could’ve been a show about how people adjust after an unexpected, strange occurrence, but instead it takes a different route: superpowers. The main narrator, Michaela Stone (Melissa Roxburgh, “Valor”), is the first to experience a newfound telepathy as she is riding the bus. Her own voice speaks to her, repeating “slow down, slow down.” Michaela relays this message to the bus driver, which prompts him to slow down and avoid hitting a young boy chasing a ball into the street. Her brother Ben (Josh Dallas, “Once Upon a Time”) also hears his own voice, and it is revealed at the end of the episode that the Stone siblings are not the only ones. The episode ends with every person from the f light getting a pain in their head, drawing them to the tarmac the f light is docked at. As they all gather there, watching the plane that changed their lives, the plane blows itself up, emphasizing the supernatural direction “Manifest” plans to take. On its surface, “Manifest” is an intriguing show. Flight 828 took off from Jamaica in Apr. of 2013. After a spout of rough turbulence, the plane safely landed in New York — on Nov.
4, 2018. None of the passengers were injured, and not a single one aged a day. Even with the slightly ridiculous time warp plot, “Manifest” still sets up enough emotional situations for its characters to redeem itself. Upon landing, the Stone siblings find that in their time missing, their mother has died, Cal’s twin sister is five years older than him and Michaela’s former fiance is married to another woman. Yet everything significant that happens in the first episode ends before it even begins, leaving very little room for the show to develop. It’s a disorganized story, one that is vaguely interesting to watch but exhausting to follow. “Manifest” is the type of show you may only watch if you were staying home sick from school, or that your mom would DVR to watch later another day with a tall glass of wine. It uses shock factor to set up a story that could have been caused by literally anything else, sucking the story dry of uniqueness or enjoyment. A plane crash is a popular trope used among all forms of media, but the stunt can be overlooked if it is used in a way that creates an iconic piece of art. “Manifest” fails to do this, and thus becomes yet another tacky attempt at exploiting an overused gimmick, with no depth behind it to justify that.
NBC
Arts
6 — Tuesday, October 2, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ALBUM REVIEW
Defying expectations: ‘The Rick and Morty Sountrack’ doesn’t quite make you want to set yourself on fire JONAH MENDELSON Daily Arts Writer
Are you ready for a review of this weekend’s most hyped project? That’s right, today we’re going to dive deep into The Rick and Morty Soundtrack. I woke up
The Rick and Morty Soundtrack Rick and Morty Sub Pop Records
this morning, set my Spotify to “Private Session,” and hit play, fully expecting to wince through the entire record. The first track was the main theme, a boilerplate sci-fi intro, a pastiche of the “Doctor Who” main title theme. The next song, however, took me by surprise — “Jerry’s Rick” is an elegant if simple instrumental track that was, somehow, quite good. I began to take this soundtrack a little more seriously after that, having come in expecting to sit through 40 minutes of shit like “Get Schwifty.” I came to find that there are three broad categories of songs on the soundtrack: The first consists of vocal tracks with lyrics that only function to advance the plot within the show (these are by-and-large pastiches of certain specific genres or artists), the second are instrumental tracks that deserve to be taken seriously on their own merits and the third are original songs done by outside artists — Chaos Chaos, clipping. and Chad VanGaalen all contribute songs inspired by the show. Most of the first category are simply unlistenable outside of novelty value. “Flu Hatin’ Rap”
comes to mind which, while being a competent work done in the style of the Sugarhill Gang, carries no comedic value of its own accord and is too dumb to be taken seriously. Of course, a lot of these songs are designed to be bad as a part of a joke, but just because they are intentionally bad doesn’t make them any more pleasant to listen to when the music is isolated from the plot. The one exception is “Goodbye Moonmen,” consisting of a tasteful and restrained acoustic chord progression and vocals which straddle the line between being an imitation or an excellent parody of David Bowie. It’s a shame that the lyrics make most of these songs borderlineunlistenable outside of the context of the show. The second category is by-andlarge filled with impressive and thoughtful works. The best song on the record is “African Dream Pop,” a genre of music invented for the purpose of the show. It is shockingly innovative, groovy and atmospheric; it’s really the only song worth returning to in the future. “Jerry’s Rick” and “Unity Says Goodbye” are balanced, cinematic works of composition that, while I don’t think necessarily merit repeated listens, certainly deserve to be viewed as more than songs from that one show with the alcoholic pickle guy. The third category is hit-ormiss: “Stab Him in the Throat” is the most memorable of the pack, the experimental hip-hop group clipping. laying down bars over a reworking of the main title theme. The instrumental is a great remix apart from the overtaxed sample of Rick burping. Daveed Diggs comes with a hard flow, but whatever momentum he manages to build is sent crashing down by lines such as “He looking schwifty, man you shouldn’t trust him,” “hopped up out the whip, same color Pickle Rick” and “that habanero have him leakin’
Szechuan right there on the floor.” “Memories” is pretty but a bore. The vocalist of Chaos Chaos has a vulnerable, shoegaze-esque voice that almost saves the track, but it doesn’t quite do enough. The inoffensive song also has the advantage of never invoking “Pickle Rick.”
I woke up this morning, set my Spotify to “Private Session,” and hit play, fully expecting to wince through the entire record
To be honest, if you aren’t a massive “Rick and Morty” fanboy, the only track worth listening to off this soundtrack is “African Dream Pop” (maybe “Goodbye Moonmen” if you have strong feelings about David Bowie). If you are a massive “Rick and Morty” fanboy (more power to you), you’ll probably love the whole album. The show has received a lot of probably undeserved backlash over the past year due to a particularly toxic fanbase, so I came into the soundtrack with certain offputting expectations. However, much like the show itself, the negative stereotypes surrounding the work are based in reality but largely exaggerated.
Release Date: Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Gulf States prince 5 Macy’s competitor 10 Eucharist celebration 14 See 62-Across 15 Boise’s state 16 Israeli airline 17 Tool for cutting stone and concrete 19 River of Cairo 20 Playing surface surrounded by boards 21 Access charge 23 Chinese menu promise 25 Garden digging, e.g. 26 Abandoned building, say 28 Jules who created the Nautilus 29 Form a union 30 Passé reception aid 34 Love personified 35 Richly upholstered seat 37 Nobel Peace Prize city 40 Toxic substance 41 Snapshot, briefly 44 “SNL” alum Cheri 46 Dancer Duncan 48 Prilosec target 52 Caught with a lasso 53 Old-fashioned printing machine 54 Champagne brand 55 Got on in years 56 Carry on the same way ... and what the ends of 17-, 25-, 35- and 48-Across do 60 __ majesty: high treason 61 Diarist Nin 62 With 50-Down and 14-Across, fairy tale opening 63 Newspaper section with many reviews 64 Horizontal graph lines 65 Enthusiastic
DOWN 1 Takeoff approx. 2 1002, to Caesar 3 Gun carrier’s warning 4 Careless 5 Garden hose obstruction 6 Unmatched 7 Welcomes to the treehouse 8 __ apso: little dog 9 Scattered, as seed 10 Department store section 11 Wing-shaped 12 Port near Naples 13 More streamlined 18 Like an accurate soccer shot 22 Gun, as an engine 23 Just out 24 Santana’s “__ Como Va” 25 __-Croatian: Slavic language 27 Do another stint 31 Here, in Haiti 32 Twain/Harte play 33 Vientiane’s country
35 Becomes rusted 36 Lined up 37 “C’est magnifique!” 38 “The Pawnbroker” actor Rod 39 Least fatty, as corned beef 41 Many a Top 40 song 42 Cork’s country: Abbr. 43 Heel
45 Hairy Addams cousin 47 Is moderately successful 49 How some documents are sent 50 See 62-Across 51 Kick back 54 Forest floor plant 57 Golf ball position 58 Cocktail cooler 59 Down-for-thecount count
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
By Roland Huget ©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
10/02/18
10/02/18
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FILM REVIEW
‘Night School’ should be shoved in a locker for good JEREMIAH VANDERHELM Daily Arts Writer
Outside the theater where I saw “Night School,” there was a cardboard standee that depicted star Kevin Hart (“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”) trying to climb out of a locker he has
“Night School” Ann Arbor 20 + IMAX, Goodrich Quality 16 Universal Pictures presumably been shoved into while an unimpressed Tiffany Haddish (“Uncle Drew”) stands outside with her arms crossed. Walking in, I took it as a piece of marketing and nothing more. Walking out after two hours of the sort of banal anti-comedy that has come to define Hart’s movie career, I’m not gonna lie, the image of his character being shoved in a locker took on a sort of cathartic quality. I’m used to saying that a movie wastes its cast, but this feels like a different cast, one which, especially the star and co-writer, wastes the movie. In order to give you an idea of the sort of jokes “Night School” has up its sleeve, let’s look at the first scene that Hart and Haddish share together. Hart rolls up to a stoplight in his Porsche. Haddish stops next to him. She’s yelling about something raunchy over the phone, because raunchiness is innately funny. Hart tells her he can hear her, and she starts yelling because people yelling is innately funny. He psshes her, she psshes him back, and then they just start making weird noises at each other. This goes on for quite some time. This should probably go without saying, but taking a gag
that isn’t funny to begin with and extending it to mind-numbing lengths isn’t the very essence of comedy, it’s the very essence of sadism. For all Hart’s experience as a comedian, this sort of scene is alarmingly commonplace. It gets to the point where these extended riff sessions start to infringe on the story. The godawful editing is annoying on its own, but it also clearly signals multiple important plot points, subplots or character arcs that are either montaged over or cut entirely, presumably to make room for the scene where Kevin Hart makes baby noises. With the theatrical cut already running an overindulgent two hours, one can only imagine the ego-stroking excess of the original. That’s the biggest problem with the film. Comedies still have to tell stories, but “Night School” isn’t interested in all that. It’s just interested in making things as easy on Kevin Hart as possible. So his character has flaws, but most of his problems come from the overblown villains in his life — like his father (Keith David, “The Nice Guys”), or his high school rival turned principal (Taran Killam, “Single Parents”). He’s a serial liar who needs to change, but other people are the real problem. This keeps Hart from having to actually, you know, act. Even when the script touches on something real, it can’t resist going for the easy way out. There are moments where it broaches the subject of learning disabilities and the shame that can come with that, but it doesn’t actually engage with these topics. It pays empty lip service to the idea of Hart learning differently, then cuts to a scene of Tiffany Haddish’s stunt double kicking the shit out of him in a hexagon to teach him math. Get it? Because it’s different. It’s shortselling the message of the film for a bad joke, but it’s different. What’s most disappointing is that we do see flashes of another
version of “Night School.” Take a scene where we see Haddish working with a child with a learning disability and teaching him math by playing cards with him, for example. All I could think during this scene was that a similar scene between Hart and Haddish, done right, would have given them room to riff off each other in a
Taking a gag that isn’t funny to begin with and extending it to mind-numbing lengths isn’t the very essence of comedy, it’s the very essence of sadism
believable setting, developed their characters and their chemistry and actually confronted the reality of people who learn differently. Yes, this scene would have been harder to write than, “Then she suplexes him and farts on his face.” Yes, the jokes would have been less broad. And yes, it would have been harder for Hart to sleepwalk through this version, but it would have been undoubtedly better than settling for weird noises and a fart joke.
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FIELD HOCKEY
Midfielders’ play spurs Wolverines on offense ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer
It may have been Meg Dowthwaite who scored the goal that put the No. 6 Michigan field hockey team (3-1 Big Ten, 7-4 overall) on the board in its eventual 3-2 win over No. 10 Northwestern (2-1, 7-5) on Friday. But to hear the junior forward tell it, she was just in the right place at the right time. Instead, it was sophomore midfielder Kayla Reed whose perfectly-placed diagonal pass put Dowthwaite in position to hammer the ball straight into the goal. “It was a great ball from Kayla,” Dowthwaite said. “And I was lucky that I was in the right position at the right time, to be honest.” Added Reed: “I kinda got the ball on the right-hand side and kinda one of my specialties is going around the right, and I just saw it and took it and Meg was in the right spot.” And though that goal was the most obvious example of midfield play creating opportunities for the Wolverines, it was far from the only time Michigan’s midfielders stepped up and found success. Earlier in the season, the Wolverines struggled to score goals even with a litany of shots. Their one-dimensional offense relied on penalty corners and senior forward Emma Way. If Michigan wanted to score against an aggressive team like the Wildcats, it would be up to the midfielders to generate chances. “Against Northwestern we were trying to transfer the ball to the other side and break their spine, as it’s called in field hockey,” said Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz. “Which is, break their press. (That tactic) was really successful.”
Junior midfielder Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort was the main back-breaker. Playing in the center spot, Fernandez Lacort executed the transfer to nearperfection in order to open up the offense, then finished off the Wildcats with several steals that led to breakaways. Reed and junior midfielder Fay Keijer took it from there, passing to the forwards inside the circle or taking shots themselves. Late in the first half, Keijer stole the ball from a Northwestern defender, dribbled into the circle and roofed a reverse chip into the cage to put the Wolverines up 2-1. “Fay had a really strong game today,” Pankratz said. “She sometimes plays forward and then we bring her back into the midfield, so she’s versatile. … She was really reliable today.” Three of Michigan’s main midfielders graduated last year, forcing the Wolverines to experiment with new looks for the unit. It’s been a learning curve for the younger players, who sometimes struggled to find each other and get into position. But as Reed came along the right and executed the perfect pass for the assist, as Keijer got the steal and the goal, as Michigan got three goals and a win against a top-10 conference rival, one thing was clear: Unlike other games, the Wolverines didn’t just have to rely on star fowards and penalties. Instead, the midfielders stepped up, created their own opportunities and became the key cogs in Michigan’s victory. “Our transferring through the midfield is, I reckon, some of the best we’ve seen in a long time,” Reed said. “We’re able to get the ball from side to side, through (Ferndandez Lacort) in that center and it’s looking really nice.”
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 — 7
‘M’ gets three goals from three players in win BENNETT BRAMSON Daily Sports Writer
When sophomore midfielder Kayla Reed collapsed in a heap and laid on the ground after taking a ball to the side of the head, the entire crowd held its breath – right until she got up. “Kayla’s a warrior,” said Wolverines coach Marcia Pankratz. “She’s a tough player and she’s experienced and smart. It doesn’t surprise me that that would happen.” Reed quickly recovered, and on the very next play received a pass on the right sideline, deked the Northwestern (7-5 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) defender along the baseline and passed the ball right in front of the net to Michigan’s second leading scorer, Meg Dowthwaite. The junior midfielder scored the Wolverines’ (7-4, 3-1) first goal of the evening en route to a 3-2 victory. “We’ve been working, actually, in practice around baseline carries,” Dowthwaite said. “It was a great ball from Kayla and I was just lucky that I was in the right position at the right time.” The game started off slow for Michigan, which failed to garner any scoring opportunities while the Wildcats had four in the first 20 minutes of the game. Freshman goalkeeper Anna Spieker had a couple of big saves on the second of Northwestern’s three penalty corners, twice using her right blocker to knock the ball away. On the third corner, however, Spieker and the Wolverines were not as lucky as an elevated Wildcats shot snuck its way into the upper net. “(Spieker’s) so young but
CAMERON HUNT/Daily
Sophomore midfielder Kayla Reed scored the game-winning in Michigan’s win over Northwestern on Friday.
very experienced and poised, skilled, makes good decisions,” Pankratz said. “I think the team trusts her back there and she keeps us in the game each day and we love having her defending our goal.” Mere minutes later, junior midfielder Fay Keijer zigzagged her way through the Wildcat defense and fired a backhanded shot that bounced off the Northwestern goalkeeper and landed in the top corner. The goal gave Michigan a 2-1 lead with only 1:30 left in the first half. From there, the Wolverines never relinquished their lead and carried the momentum the rest of the game. “The mark of this team, Team 46 this year, is that we really stay steady and play 70 minutes,” Pankratz said. “We don’t let the momentum switch too much and so they stay focused and keep working hard. I think that was evident in getting the goal
“She’s a tough player and she’s experienced and smart.”
back right away.” For the majority of the second half, Michigan dominated the ball and maintained possession. Just five minutes in, senior forward Emma Way extended the Wolverines’ lead to two. Michigan racked up seven shots in the half compared to just two shots from the Wildcats, both of which came off rare mistakes. Michigan’s first error came 15 minutes into the half. An errant pass led to a one-on-one opportunity for Northwestern junior Saar De Breij between her and Spieker. De Breij won the battle as she smoothly dribbled around the young goaltender and cut the deficit to one goal. Then, with only 8:42 remaining, Reed was awarded a potentially costly green card and the Wildcats were given an opportunity to tie up the game. Even being down a player,
though, the Michigan defense was stout and staved off any true Northwestern scoring opportunities. “We slipped up a few times here and there, but I’m really proud of the girls for staying in it,” Reed said. “It’s not easy having a one-goal lead, it’s a hard position to be in, but I thought we handled it really well.” No matter the way in which they got there, the Wolverines ended the night with a victory over a highlyranked opponent. “Anytime you can beat a Big Ten opponent we’re thrilled,” Pankratz said. “We’re working on a very particular kind of tactic and we’re trying to transfer with some good midfield passing. “I thought, when we did that today, we were super successful and I was happy about being able to grow from that and take that into the next couple of games.”
“Anytime you can beat a Big Ten opponent we’re thrilled.”
Michigan’s home win streak snapped by straight-set loss to Penn State DANIEL DASH For the Daily
The phrase “home sweet home” has brought nothing but success for the No. 17 Michigan women’s volleyball team. That is until Sunday, when the Wolverines (2-2 Big Ten, 13-2 overall) fell to Penn State (2-2, 11-3) in straight sets by a score of 17-25, 21-25, 23-25, tarnishing the perfect 9-0 home record they held entering the match. Under the g uidance of Russ Rose, the NCA A’s all-time winningest women’s volleyball coach, the Nittany Lions picked up their 11th victory of the season in one of the conference’s toughest atmospheres: Crisler Center. Penn State jumped out to a hot start, grabbing an early 6-2 lead as a result of a handful of errors committed by the Wolverines. Soon after, Michigan found its footing and used a pair of big stuff blocks in the middle from sophomore middle blocker Kiara Shannon to trim the Nittany Lions’ lead to 8-10. A few points later, a huge cross-court kill from senior outside hitter Carly Skjodt cut the deficit to 10-11. With the momentum in the Wolverines’ favor, a heroic dig by senior libero Jenna Lerg set up yet another Skjodt kill, a turning point that gave Michigan a 13-12 advantage — its first lead of the match since being up 1-0. But to the Wolverines’ demise, Penn State closed the set on a 13-4 run to take the opening set by a score of 25-17. Michigan played significantly better coming out of the gates in set two, going up 5-4 following a pair of kills and a service ace from Skjodt. After an accurate cross-court swing on a slide by Shannon and a wrist-away kill from her middle blocker counterpart, redshirt junior Cori Crocker, the Wolverines’ middle blockers began to take control of the match at net. Later in
EVAN AARON/Daily
Freshman outside hitter Paige Jones finished with 11 kills on 22 attempts in Michigan’s straight-set loss to the ninth-ranked Nittany Lions on Sunday.
the set, Michigan took a 12-10 lead thanks to a lethal swing by freshman outside hitter Paige Jones off of a perfectly placed back-row ball by senior setter MacKenzi Welsh. Jones and Welsh showed off their excellent chemistry throughout the match, finishing with 11 assist-kill connections. “Paige is a great physical player and she’s still growing as a great mental player,” said senior libero Jenna Lerg. “She has a good mindset right now, and she’s a talented all around player which is what we need. Having her on the court has been really fun — she’s great to play alongside.” Meanwhile, the Wolverines as a whole were plag ued by their own errors throughout
the rest of the set. Over the course of the match, Michigan committed a total of 32 total errors en route to just a .150 attack percentage, its secondlowest mark of the season. Those numbers have given the Wolverines a focus for practice this week. “We were a little bit sloppier tonight than we usually are but I think that’s because we were playing a better team and we wanted to go harder to challenge them,” Lerg said. “It’s good motivation for practice this week so we can have our hitters work on scoring points instead of just putting the ball in play. I don’t think it’s something negative — rather, it’s something to focus on this week.”
“It’s good motivation for practice this week...”
Despite the low attack percentage on Sunday afternoon, Crisler Center boasted an energetic crowd of 5,433 fans — a fig ure that exceeded the previous 2018 attendance record of 5,210 from Michigan’s Sept. 14th sweep of Notre Dame. This season’s massive turnouts haven’t gone unnoticed by the Wolverines on the court. “We’ve pulled a great amount of attendance in our home games so far, and the fans who come out to support us are awesome,” said Lerg. “They’re really good volleyball fans — they know when to cheer. If we’re feeling down on ourselves, we feed off them. When they get riled up, we hear their energ y. They’re
loud during the point when someone makes a great dig or has a great swing. It’s awesome and we really enjoy it as a team.” Even with such a large home crowd, Penn State still managed to control one major aspect of the game — the Nittany Lions consistently outplayed the Wolverines in their performance at the service line. Even when its serves weren’t aces, which it had four of, Penn State’s ball pace took the Wolverines out of system for most of the match. “Once they built a lead, they really started ripping their serves,” said Michigan coach Mark Rosen. “They had a much bigger cushion which allowed them to be a lot more
“I was glad we were able to make the adjustment...”
aggressive. All of a sudden, we had to weather that too because they were going at full speed without worrying about the risk.” Even while serving with maximum aggression, Penn State committed just five service errors on the afternoon — a fig ure that serves as a strong testament to their talent and precision at the service line. As for how he tackled the task of slowing down the Nittany Lions’ service momentum, Rosen said, “Their rotation one killed us. In the final set, their rotation one only scored one point at the service line. I thought we did a really good job of stopping that rotation after spinning our lineup to give us better matchups. I was glad we were able to make the adjustment and prevent that from beating us.” On the offensive end, Skjodt led the Wolverines with 15 kills on 44 swings with 3 errors — a .273 attack percentage — while Jones added 11 kills on 22 attempts with 4 errors — a .318 attack percentage. Skjodt’s 14.7 attempts per set marks a season high for her, something that can be attributed to both gameplan and the natural f low of the match, according to Rosen. “We set Carly a lot from a tactical standpoint, but there are also a lot of situations when we’re out of system and she’s the only person we can set on the antenna,” Rosen said. “She’s a great outlet to have when we’re in a bad situation. Forty-four attempts is more than we’d like to set her but we had to because of how often we found ourselves out of system today.” Despite being on the wrong side of the sweep, the Wolverines still found a number of takeaways from today’s match to help them improve moving forward. Rosen said it best: “That’s what up and down play will do to you.”
Sports
8 — Tuesday, October 2, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Karan Higdon relishes workhorse role he played against Northwestern ETHAN WOLFE Daily Sports Writer
Even when he wanted to forget about it, Karan Higdon couldn’t avoid seeing his holding penalty from Saturday’s 20-17 win at Northwestern. “(I’ve seen it) a couple times, I had no choice,” Higdon said. “A lot of people sent it to me. It’s one of those things that — I can’t say it happens — I have no explanation for it. … I don’t know how that happens.” The senior running back was faked a handoff up the middle, getting swallowed at the line of scrimmage by a Wildcat player while Shea Patterson scrambled to the left for a 20-yard pickup. While Higdon was sent to the ground, so was the yellow penalty f lag, calling back Patterson’s run and stymying a potential comeback drive in the fourth quarter. The call was a blemish on an otherwise hardnosed contest that primarily featured Higdon. With junior running back Chris Evans — who Higdon calls his “partner in crime” — again sidelined due to an injury, Higdon was the Michigan football team’s bellcow. He toted the ball 30 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns — one of which gave the Wolverines their first lead with 4:06 left in the game. It’s no wonder that on the fake handoff, Northwestern swarmed him. Higdon’s 30 attempts are hardly eye-popping; it’s only tied for the 55th-most rushing attempts in Michigan history. It’s not even the most he’s had as a running back — he tallied 35 rushes in his freshman year of high school. But in a pivotal, “prove it” year in the Jim Harbaugh era, the workhorse role given to Higdon in Evans’ absence is emblematic of just how much trust the coaches
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Senior running back Karan Higdon carried the ball 30 times, the most since his freshman year of high school, in the Michigan football team’s 20-17 comeback win over Northwestern on Saturday.
and players have in him to fulfill that role. “He’s a very valuable player in the backfield,” said redshirt sophomore tight end Nick Eubanks. “I have no doubt in mind that he’ll run the ball, break tackles. He always has the urge to get the extra yardage off breaking tackles. I’m glad to have a dude back there like that.” And as Higdon stood before the media on Monday afternoon, the wear and tear from Saturday’s game was non-existent. He has a trusted post-game and rehab routine
— contrast bath therapy, a massage and repeat. After all, Higdon has seen similar work before. The senior popped off for a previous high of 25 carries in a dominant 200-yard, threetouchdown performance against Indiana in 2017. But on Saturday, the running lanes were tighter and Higdon had more difficulty getting chunk yardage — 12 of his carries went for three yards or fewer. And yet, his versatility and pass protection kept him as the lead back. “He really got the ability
to run all the assortment of runs,” Harbaugh said. “He’s not really in a category where he can only do inside runs or can only do outside runs, he can do both. (He) can also pass protect. High level of trust with Karan in every phase, including ball security. It allows us to do as much as the offense has.” Even with a career-high in carries, the performance was a not a career-best. But his dependability rested not only in Higdon’s run game, but in his level-headedness. Higdon said he gets “hotter
Runyan: O-line improved, but still needs work
and hotter” with more carries, an assertion evidenced by his night-capping, fourth quarter touchdown. His calmness was also emblematic of his sideline demeanor in a comeback situation. “This was a game where g uys had to really dig deep, look in the mirror and see how bad they really want it,” Higdon said. “Guys like myself, the other three captains, Shea, a lot of the g uys on the defense stepped up, coaches — just saying, ‘Keep going, it’s a four quarter game, we have all a
VOLLEYBALL
‘M’ sweeps Rutgers
MARK CALCAGNO Daily Sports Editor
The season-opening loss to Notre Dame displayed numerous truths about the Michigan football team. It showed that the addition of one player — junior quarterback Shea Patterson — couldn’t fix everything. It showed the beginnings of a heavily-penalized defense. It showed a continuation of the Wolverines’ struggles on the road. But at the defeat’s core was an offensive line that was outmatched. Michigan allowed three sacks while struggling to generate substantial push for senior running back Karan Higdon. That combination — a quarterback with little time and a running back with little room — culminated in only one offensive touchdown against the Fighting Irish. “Notre Dame showed us what we needed to work on,” said senior left tackle Jon Runyan Jr. “For me, it was definitely pass protection.” The emphasis has been clear in the following weeks, albeit versus lesser competition. Michigan’s offensive line has allowed five sacks in its four games since, as Patterson has had noticeably cleaner pockets from which to throw. “Pass protection is going prett y well,” Runyan said. “… Shea’s had time, and when he has time, he can make unbelievable plays with his arm.” Patterson’s abilit y was apparent in Michigan’s gamewinning drive Saturday. He found redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry twice for gains of 12 and 22 yards to set up Higdon’s go-ahead touchdown. Most importantly, they were completions that were well protected. Patterson went through multiple prog ressions before throwing both passes, allowing Gentry
TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Redshirt junior Jon Runyan Jr. (#75) believes the offensive line has improved pass protection but still needs work.
enough time to get open thanks to his offensive line. Now, Runyan sees run blocking as his unit’s biggest area for improvement. Excluding jet sweeps and quarterback runs, the Wolverines ran for 126 yards on 33 carries Saturday. That’s respectable but, especially with Higdon’s yards-aftercontact, not ideal. “We’re not at the point we need to be,” Runyan said. “I think we averaged (around) three yards per carry last week, and we want to get that up around four, four and a half. … That’s something that’s been a big point of emphasis as an offensive line.” There’s been no shortage of criticism for the g roup this season. From former standout receiver Braylon Edwards to fans, the Wolverines’ offensive line has been dragged through the mud on social media.
It’s been a challenge for Runyan to manage all that noise. For he and fifth-year senior right tackle Juwan Bushell-Beatt y especially — the most popular targets of criticism — it’s a delicate balance using it as motivation and not listening at all. “The narrative has been going in ever since I’ve been here that the Michigan offensive line hasn’t been up to the standards that people outside this building would like,” Runyan said. “We take that personally, and we’ve been trying to (change that) every day. “When it comes to certain things that go on during the game, people have no idea what our scheme is on the play, no idea how we block it. … Stuff like that, we take it with a g rain of salt it doesn’t affect me too much.” It helps Runyan to know he’s an everyday starter.
“Notre Dame showed us what we needed to work on.”
Even with his struggles and g rowing hype around redshirt freshman James Hudson and true freshman Jalen Mayfield, coach Jim Harbaugh hasn’t wavered on his starting g roup. That’s allowed chemistry to build up front. Last week, junior g uard Ben Bredeson said communication was the offensive line’s biggest jump since Notre Dame — something Runyan now believes comes naturally on the left side. “Being with Ben working with him since the beginning of camp, we have that nonverbal communication going where we don’t really need to say much — we know what to do,” Runyan said. “Having that consistency has been really helpful.” Added Harbaugh: “(Runyan’s) been healthy, stronger this year playing with physical demeanor. He’s always been athletic, but he’s stronger at the point of attack. Playing good football.” With their play on Saturday, perhaps that last point can be extrapolated to the rest of the offensive line as well.
whole other half. This it the time to make a difference.’ And we did that.” For now, Evans’ timetable to return is still a mystery. But without him, Higdon and his team still don’t bat an eye. When Higdon was told of the current Michigan record for rushing attempts — 51 carries by Chris Perry in 2003 — he laughed. “50 carries? Shoot, I’d do it though,” he said. “… Whatever it takes to get the job done.” And that’s what Higdon did Saturday, despite how ugly it was.
The job every week for the No. 17 Michigan volleyball team is to handle business and get the win. So against Rutgers, the Wolverines could be considered overqualified. The Scarlet Knights have won only one out of 80 Big Ten games since joining the conference, and on Friday, the Scarlet Knights continued the trend of losing by bowing out to Michigan in straight sets, 3-0. The Wolverines played the match much like how a typical work day would go. Up early, staying strong until the break but ready for the day to end at close. Michigan put in work on the offensive and defensive end in the first two sets, providing little reason for scare until the third set, when it lost focus and dug itself in an early deficit. However, the Wolverines responded in quick succession to quash any doubt that they would win. “Being down or being close to a team and being able to keep playing our own game,” said junior outside hitter Sydney Wetterstrom. “And I think that we’ve implemented it in this match, and we’ve been working on it.” Playing its game and style had given Michigan success all season, so the team had little reason to change. With their balanced offense, the Wolverines were led by senior outside hitter Carly Skjodt and Wetterstrom in the first set. With three runs of four or more, Michigan built an early lead that it wouldn’t relinquish, winning the first set 25-11. Rutgers had little response in the second set as well. Though it put up a much better fight, the efforts of the Wolverine veterans proved to be too much to overcome. Junior setter Mackenzi Welsh, in particular, played her part in controlling the pace of play. “(Welsh) ran a great offense,” Wetterstrom said. “I think tonight, she was seeing the block. She was heading away from the block, we had a lot of one-on-one, or one-on-nones hitters, and she was utilizing going against the mismatch, and she just did a really good job placing the ball.” For part of the third set, the
Scarlet Knights worked out an answer. This time, it was an approach Michigan had seen before. Opposing services have proven to be a challenge for the Wolverines all season if they deviate any bit from the standard serve. Michigan saw it with Nebraska and with Iowa. And as both teams started play after intermission, Rutgers pulled out the same tactic. Quickening the pace at which she served, Scarlet Knight Marle Weidt disrupted the pace of play for Michigan by preventing the Wolverines from setting up their receive defense. Unsettled, the team allowed Rutgers a 7-3 lead. “That server was going back and serving as soon as the ref blew the whistle, and that’s not something we see very often,” Welsh said. “In the Big Ten especially, and she was putting really good pace on the ball, and so we put our three best passers back there to be able to fight her off and be able to get out of the rotation as fast as possible.” With a lineup of sophomores defensive specialists Jacqueline DiSanto and Natalie Smith and senior libero Jenna Lerg in the back row, Mark Rosen opted for a defensive lineup specializing in receiving. The Wolverine coach saw the struggle and realized the need to respond. With better first touches, Welsh saw the burden of having to coordinate passes off of bad touches lifted. Michigan, through the efforts of Welsh, Wetterstrom and Skjodt, fought back to win the set 24-26 and claim the match 3-0. Welsh ended the night with 41 assists while Skjodt and Wetterstrom tallied 15 and 11 kills, respectively. “I think the passing and defense tonight was amazing from all the people that played back row for our team,” Welsh said. “I think I was put in really good positions to out our hitters in really good positions because of that. And I think all of our hitters did amazing and got hits when we needed them and fought hard through every single push.” Though Michigan lapsed at moments during the game, the match ended up as just another day’s work for the team.