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ADMINISTRATION
Symposium discusses psychedelic VP E. Royster therapies, neuroscience impact Harper retires Keynote speaker Rick Doblin takes a trip to Rackham, discusses ongoing projects
after 20 years in leadership
Campus community reflects on her legacy, commitment to diversity and lengthy career JULIA FANZERES Daily Staff Reporter
RUCHITA IYER/Daily Neuroscience graduate student Emma Trammel presents research findings at the Psychedelic Neuroscience and Therapy Symposium in the Rackham Thursday.
HANNAH MACKAY Daily Staff Reporter
On Thursday in Rackham Auditorium, about 200 attendees listened to experts on psychedelic neuroscience share their research and the vast potential for psychedelic therapies to treat patients with mental health disorders. The “Psychedelic Neuroscience and Therapy” symposium was hosted by the University of Michigan’s Center for Consciousness Science. Psychedelic science and therapy go far beyond the familiar party
drugs characteristic of the 1960s. Researchers and advocates aim to sway public opinion away from entrenched taboo stereotypes and toward decriminalization. Originally characterized as hallucinogens, psychedelic drugs are known for inducing states of psychosis or altered perception. Many drugs like MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy) and LSD were discovered in the early 20th century. These drugs were used for research purposes in their infancy, and it wasn’t until the 1960s that their recreational use became popularized. This
CAMPUS LIFE
Consulting group to be politically connected
First non-partisan student organization forms to work for local campaigns
led to mass criminalization of psychedelic substances by the FDA and the development of their illicit social stigma. The keynote speaker of the event was Rick Doblin, founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. Through MAPS, Doblin has dedicated himself to popularizing a more positive and scientific view of psychedelics. Doblin introduced several ongoing projects investigating the healing potential of psychedelic drugs. One aimed to use MDMA as a treatment for post-traumatic
stress disorder. The brains of people suffering from PTSD are altered to respond dramatically to fear triggers and to think less logically. “MDMA changes the brain too, but does it in the opposite way,” Doblin said. “It increases activity in the frontal cortex so that people can think logically about these things and not get triggered so easily.” Doblin discussed studies which show promising healing potential for MDMA in other disorders.
Vice President of Student Life E. Royster Harper, is retiring from the University of Michigan after 20 years in her current position. In an email to the University community Thursday morning, Harper announced her retirement, which will be effective at the beginning of the Winter 2020 semester. She cited wanting to spend more time with her family and enjoying other life pursuits as the reason for her retirement. “I read a statement recently that said, ‘Life is too precious to be anything but deeply alive in it.’ For me that means moving from my current role that I have cherished over these past 20 years, and spending more time with my family and life’s other pursuits,” Harper wrote. “Thus, it is with deep gratitude that I am announcing my retirement, effective Jan. 17, 2020. While this was an incredibly difficult decision to make, I am ready and excited for this next adventure.” As vice president of Student Life, Harper works closely with several student organizations such as Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, Fraternity
& Sorority Life and the Trotter Multicultural Center. In an email statement, University President Mark Schlissel thanked Harper for her service with the broader Michigan community for the past two decades. “During the five years I have known her, I’ve been continually impressed by her thoughtful and innovative leadership on important issues,” Schlissel wrote. “In particular, she has spent all of her time at U-M working to improve the student experience, particularly for those who are underrepresented, and she has led groundbreaking sexual misconduct prevention efforts and empowered survivors to report, recover, and seek justice.” Faculty and student leaders on campus who have previously worked with Harper describe her commitment to prioritizing student voices. Julio Cardona, director of the Trotter Multicultural Center, detailed how Harper’s dedication to the University’s student body has spanned over her decades of service. “Dr. Harper has committed her career to making a positive difference in the lives of generations of U-M students,” Cardona said. See RETIRE, Page 3
See PSYCH, Page 3
TRANSPORTATION
Study finds marijuana usage among Research college students at historic 35-year high focuses on
Researchers note dramatic increase in vaping as mode of consumption LEAH GRAHAM Daily News Editor
Marijuana use by college students hit a 35-year high, according to a study released last Tuesday. The annual Monitoring the Future panel study, a joint effort
by researchers at the University’s Institute for Social Research, found that, in 2018, 43 percent of full-time college students said they used marijuana at least once in the previous year, while one in four said they had used it in the last 30 days. The national survey also showed
that binge drinking and other types of illicit drug use had decreased among college students. The study surveyed 1,400 adults age 19 to 22, including 900 who were full-time college students and approximately 500 non-college youth. Principal investigator John
Schulenberg put it bluntly: He noted that prevalence levels for marijuana use have not been this high for three-and-a-half decades, when 45 percent of full-time college students in 1983 said they had used marijuana in the last 12 months. See STUDY, Page 3
sickness in automobiles
White paper examines method for quantifying illness in driverless vehicles
EMMA RUBERG
FRANCESCA DUONG
Daily Staff Reporter
Daily Staff Reporter
A group of University of Michigan students recently launched Michigan Political Consulting, the first political consulting organization on campus. The non-partisan organization works with various state and national campaigns and currently comprises of an executive board and a small consulting team. MPC Vice President Sam Burnstein, an LSA sophomore, said the group was founded to fill a gap in opportunities for campus involvement. “There are over a dozen different business consulting groups that are well known and highly coveted by students pursuing those careers,” Burnstein said. “But there wasn’t even one for politics or campaign work.” LSA senior Rachael Freedman is interested in campaigning and was intrigued by MPC’s mission.
The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute released a report detailing methods to quantify motion sickness in automobiles in August. With the conversation on driverless vehicles growing, motion sickness has been a concern, since one out of three people is highly susceptible to motion sickness according to the National Institutes of Health. UMTRI Director James Sayer, an adviser to the project, said the autonomous car industry talks about how these cars would free up time for passengers, allowing them to even watch movies. But motion sickness needs to be addressed before this idea can be made into reality, Sayer said. “The idea that you could have a fully autonomous vehicle drive you to work while you get work done or watch a movie … that’s something that the industry has been pedaling for some time,” Sayer said. DESIGN BY SHERRY CHEN
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See CONSULTING, Page 3
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 131 ©2019 The Michigan Daily
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................5
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7
News
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MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers
TUESDAY: By Design
WEDNESDAY: This Week in History
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THURSDAY: Twitter Talk
FRIDAY: Behind the Story
B EHIND THE STORY Every Friday, one Daily news staffer will give a behind the scenes look at one of this week’s stories. This week, LSA junior Elizabeth Lawrence wrote about her experience covering gun violence as a both as a student journalist and a professional reporter. “This summer, I was working as an intern at USA Today, and there was that back-to-back shooting. And I was just really upset about it, and needed an outlet to deal with reporting on that all day. I feel like that day in March [when U-M experienced a false-alarm shooting situation] also really affected me, and I had pushed it to the back of my brain, so that’s why I wrote the piece.” Elizabeth Lawrence: “Into the Chaos: Facing gun violence as a student reporter”
ALEC COHEN/Daily
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“
Working with VP Royster Harper has been one of the best aspects of my term as president... She has been a fierce advocate for the Panhellenic community and I cannot imagine where we would be today without all of the support she has given us. The Panhellenic community wishes her all the best in her retirement. I feel very privileged to have gotten a chance to work with VP Harper during my time as President.”
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Editorial Staff
Environmental Working Group releases report about PFAS in drinking water Activist organization adds 90 contaminated sites to list, including those in MI KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter
Drinking water supplies at 108 Army and Army National Guard installations are contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, according to a report released by the Environmental Working Group on Wednesday. Contaminated sites include Grand Ledge Army Aviation Support and Jackson Readiness Center in Michigan. The report added 90 installations to the existing 18 which were known to have contamination. PFAS are a wide variety of chemicals produced by manufacturing, industrial and agricultural processes. In Syndication Michigan and some other Sudoku states across the country, PFAS is a growing threat to drinking
systems, thyroid disease and other health problems,” the report said. “The chemicals have been detected in the drinking water of 19 million Americans in 49 states, and unreleased EPA data show that up to 110 million people may have PFAScontaminated drinking water.” U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, released a statement on Wednesday in response to the report. “PFAS is a serious national health problem and every day we find more and more of our nation’s service members are being exposed to PFAS,” she said. “The Environmental Working Group is doing valuable work to expose the extent of the contamination. We must be serious about identifying contamination, cleaning it up, and preventing further contaminations and dangers going forward.” EASY Dingell said the Department of Defense must stay transparent and be held accountable in its role in PFAS contamination. She mentioned the National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed by the house in July. It includes three amendments by Dingell addressing PFAS. “The House passed a strong National Defense Authorization bill that included a number of my amendments that will help clean up the nearly 300 military sites identified with PFAS contamination — including designating PFAS as hazardous. With the EWG’s new findings, it’s even more critical that PFAS provisions in NDAA © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com make it into the final bill,” Dingell’s statement reads.
water. Ann Arbor residents have become increasingly concerned with the levels of PFAS contamination in Washtenaw County, especially in the Huron River. Last May, the city launched a transparency initiative to detail updates on water quality. The EGW’s data was obtained from the Department of Defense under the Freedom of Information Act. Since 2016, the total number of current and former contaminated military installations rose from 207 to 297. The report detailed the negative effects of PFAS chemicals and their reach across the U.S. “Low doses of PFAS chemicals have been linked to cancer, harm to the reproductive and immune
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The amendments added MAX MARCOVITCH and ETHAN SEARS by Dingell designate PFAS Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com chemicals as hazardous Senior Sports Editors: Anna Marcus, Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Mark Calcagno, Theo Mackie, Tien Le substances in order to qualify Assistant Sports Editors: Bailey Johnson, Bennett Bramson, Connor Brennan, them for clean up under the Jacob Kopnick, Jorge Cazares, Rian Ratnavale EPA’s superfund program. The ARYA NAIDU and VERITY STURM amendments also ban the use Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com of PFAS materials to produce Senior Arts Editors: Clara Scott, Emma Chang, Cassandra Mansuetti, Sam ready-to-eat meals, or MREs, Della Fera, Trina Pal Arts Beat Editors: John Decker, Sayan Ghosh, Mike Watkins, Ally Owens, consumed by servicemen and Stephen Satarino, Izzy Hasslund, Margaret Sheridan women in training and require ROSEANNE CHAO and JACK SILBERMAN that military bases cooperate Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com with state regulation if PFAS Senior Design Editor: Sherry Chen contamination is detected near ALEC COHEN and ALEXIS RANKIN the installation. Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com LSA senior Sophia Simon, an Senior Photo Editors: Alexandria Pompei, Natalie Stephens, Alice Liu, Allison Ann Arbor native, emphasized Engkvist, Danyel Tharakan the importance of protecting Assistant Photo Editors: Miles Macklin, Keemya Esmael, Madeline Hinkley, and preserving our natural Ryan McLoughlin resources. She believes that the ANDREA PÉREZ BALDERRAMA Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com University has a part to play in educating students about Deputy Editors: Matthew Harmon, Shannon Ors http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ local environmental issues, as SILAS LEE and EMILY STILLMAN well as preserving sustainable Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com practices. Senior Copy Editors: Sadia Jiban, Olivia Sedlacek, Reece Meyhoefer “I grew up near the CASEY TIN and HASSAAN ALI WATTOO Huron River and have been Managing Online Editors webteam@michigandaily.com Senior Web Developers: Jonathon Liu, Abha Panda, Ryan Siu, David Talbot, swimming in it for years, but Samantha Cohen PFAS contamination poses a ELI SIDER big threat to the river water Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com quality,” Simon said. “The NA’KIA CHANNEY and CARLY RYAN University should invest Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com in keeping our river clean, Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Samuel So, Ana Maria because it’s such a beautiful Sanchez-Castillo, Efe Osagie, Danyel Tharakan Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Harnoor Singh, Nada Eldawy, Maya and important part of Ann Mokh Arbor.” CATHERINE NOUHAN LSA junior Kellee Byard, who Managing Podcast Editor is enrolled in the University’s MADALASA CHAUDHARI and CAROL CHEN Program in the Environment, Managing Social Media Editors called for urgent action against PFAS contamination. “I think this issue is vital for both local and regional administrations to act urgently MOLLY WU and aggressively, because PFAS Creative Director affects drinking water and also ZELJKO KOSPIC RYAN KELLY Special Projects Manager Sales Manager resides in the environment,” she said. “This is harming humans ANITA MICHAUD ROBERT WAGMAN Brand Manager Marketing Consulting Manager and organisms within nature, overall creating unhealthy ecosystems resulting in a slew The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during of health risks. We must stop the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is the production of contaminants 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 that ultimately end up in our subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription water.” rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid.
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CYBORG ARTIST PSYCH From Page 1
KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily Self-identified cyborg artist Moon Ribas performs her cyborg art movement in the Michigan Theater Thursday evening.
STUDY From Page 1 That same year, 26 percent said they had used marijuana at least once in the last 30 days. Schulenberg also noted the dramatic increase in vaping nicotine and marijuana among college students, particularly among the percentage who said they had done so at least once in the previous year. “For both of those, annual use increased,” Schulenberg said. “Both of those doubled or more than doubled in just one year, and we hardly ever see that happen as we track substance use.” Among college students, the 30-day prevalence of vaping marijuana rose from 5.2 percent in 2017 to 10.9 percent in 2018. Vaping nicotine increased as well, with 30-day prevalence going from 6.1 percent in 2017 to 15.5 percent in 2018 in “one of the largest oneyear proportional increases
CONSULTING From Page 1 “I believe that Michigan Political Consulting offers a niche, yet incredibly valuable, opportunity to Michigan students,” Freedman said. “I think political consulting would give students access to a variety of political perspectives, offices, causes and operations compared to one internship or job.” The group works with various Michigan campaigns, including Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign, Jon Hoadley’s congressional campaign for
RETIRE From Page 1A “Dr. Harper has done this through an innovative student-centered approach that has been modeled at other higher education institutions throughout the nation.” Panhellenic Association president Taylor Fegan, LSA senior, said working with Harper on FSL matters was a privilege. “Working with VP Royster Harper has been one of the best aspects of my term as president,” Fegan said. “She is dedicated, kind and one of the biggest student supporters on campus. In working with her, it is so clearly apparent that she loves the University
for any substance over the past 40 years.” Vaping nicotine also increased among noncollege respondents, going from 7.9 percent in 2017 to 12.5 percent in 2018. Schulenberg said it was rare to see higher nicotine use among college students compared to non-college youth, adding that people’s perception of harm tended to impact usage levels. Historically, according to Schulenberg, when the survey recorded higher levels of perceived harm associated with using a substance, prevalence levels tended to be lower. “And it depends how you think about it, but people risking their health is bad,” Schulenberg said. “The good news is, for example, binge drinking among college students is at a record low. That’s for the first time ever below 30 percent, so there’s a significant drop, just in the past year in binge drinking among college students.” LSA senior Eric Terbush
is a member of Green Wolverine, a student organization that promotes knowledge of the legal aspects of the cannabis industry. Terbush said while the increase in cannabis consumption among college students was statistically significant, it should be considered alongside the “displacement of alcohol consumption.” “I think that overall ease of access to cannabis, increased interest in personal health and perceptions of cannabis’s safety are all key elements in the increase in consumption among collegeage demographics,” Terbush said. “The real question is if this displacement is an overall net positive or negative on student health. While alcohol has a measurable death toll, the social costs of cannabis are much more opaque. I think this study overall confirms longer trends in substance abuse.” Schulenberg said researchers were still
trying to figure out if the decrease in binge drinking was associated with the increased use of other substances like marijuana. “Scientists are asking that more and more,” Schulenberg said. “They call it substitution. It’s, ‘OK, well, they’re going to get high on something,’ so, first they’ll want to use something that’s readily available, and basically, marijuana is always readily available. Perhaps there’s more opportunity to use it, and perhaps the perception is it’s not such a big deal, and maybe people are substituting. The research is not there yet, so we don’t know, but it’s definitely a good hypothesis.” L.J. Horowitz, Green Wolverine President and Kinesiolog y senior, said increased use of marijuana should be viewed as beneficial. “The increase in marijuana use among college students should be noted as a positive for both the cannabis
industry and society as a whole,” Horowitz said. “It is imperative for readers to know that the report, more importantly, indicates a significant drop in abuse of other illicit drugs — alcohol and opiates — due to using cannabis as a substitute.” Schulenberg added that the study also found a decrease in reported usage of narcotics other than heroin, saying that public health efforts to combat the opioid epidemic may prove effective in curbing other addiction crises. “We’re seeing declines in that among, not just college students, but also same-age people who are not in college, and that’s great news,” Schulenberg said. “I mean, these can be horrible drugs, so what I want to say is that public health campaigns, getting information out, can turn things around. We can be proactive and turn things around, and I think that applies to the vaping.”
Michigan’s 60th district and Alberta Griffin’s state House campaign for Michigan’s 61st district. Hoadley is a Democrat, first elected to the House of Representatives in 2014. Griffin is also a Democrat and served a previous term in the state House, before being defeated in 2018. MPC Recruitment Co-Chair and LSA junior, Taylor Smith, said the group has to adapt to each campaign’s specific requests, but in general MPC works on social media, polling, fundraising and more. “Every client will have a different set of needs,” Smith said. “But the work
generally includes making social media posts for them, doing graphic design, data, polling, fundraising — a lot of different things.” Burnstein talked specifically about MPC’s work for the Warren campaign and how they got connected. “We got in touch with someone from the Warren campaign,” Burstein said. “She expressed an interest in working with us, and she connected us to the youth political director. He was keen on having us set up student groups on other campuses across the state of Michigan.” Though MPC says
they’re a non-partisan group, the majority of their current clients are Democratic campaigns. Burnstein emphasized that the group is happy to work with both Republican and Democratic campaigns, but acknowledged the difficulty of finding an ideologically diverse membership. “By the nature of being in a college town, it begets a lot of progressive and democratic voices, which is the main composition of our executive board, unintentionally, of course,” Burnstein said. “I think it has been difficult recruiting students with non-mainstream voices and
views.” Freedman agreed having a group with diverse perspectives and ideologies is important in political organizations. “It is absolutely vital to incorporate individuals from all political ideologies at one table,” Freedman said. “Executing effective political leadership and best representing those who elect an official is done with a diverse representation of ideologies present.” The group hopes to grow this semester while providing quality work for their clients. They are receiving applications until Sept. 1.
of Michigan, but more importantly she loves the University of Michigan students.” Izzy Baer, former vice president of Central Student Government, echoed those sentiments as she looks back fondly on her time working with Harper. “(Harper) made herself extremely accessible to the CSG executive team through our term,” Baer said. “More so, Royster always ensured that student decisions and actions were autonomous, she worked hard to advocate and advise, while always maintaining student voices.” Harper was also known for being a champion of diversity. She helped create the new Trotter Center on Central Campus and is on the executive board of the
Ann Arbor branch of the NAACP. Baer said Harper’s commitment to equity and inclusion made a mark on the University. “Her commitment to diversity and inclusion on campus reverberated to every corner of campus,” Baer said. “I hope to see the new VP prioritize revising our sexual misconduct policy, expanding mental health resources on campus and continuing Royster’s legacy with a commitment to DEI.” Cardona also discussed how having a vice president of Student Life who prioritizes diversity is essential. “A commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is a priority for
the University of Michigan. As such, it is important to continue the work of Dr. Harper and other leaders across the campus of supporting all students in intentional ways as part of our efforts to foster an inclusive campus climate,” Cardona told The Daily. “Additionally, it is important that all members of the U of M community, including those who are underrepresented, are provided equal opportunities to thrive and excel.” Along with student organizations, Harper oversaw the University Health Service. Earlier this month, Harper, along with other administrators, responded to the student backlash over an added fee for testing for sexually
transmitted infections. The University then reversed its policy after students created an online petition demanding the University eliminate STI testing fees. “You have helped us understand just how important it is to maintain confidentiality in this process all the way through how those tests are paid for,” Harper wrote in an email explaining the policy reversal to students. “We would never want the payment process for these important medical tests to stand in the way of any student accessing important medical services or testing.”
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“We’ve done some small pilot studies with other indications, including social anxiety in adults on the autism spectrum,” Doblin said. “We’ve done work with MDMA for anxiety associated with lifethreatening illness.” After dedicating his life to researching psychedelic drugs, Doblin spoke on the progress made since he was inspired to start MAPS. “The FDA is now going to create guidance and documents if you want to do psychedelic research,” Doblin said. “This idea of trying to bring our different selves together — bring the psychedelics out into the open — it’s working and what we’re doing is making MDMA into a medicine.” LSA junior Nick Lemaster expressed his own long-term interest in the topic, as he was originally inspired by a pilot study that used Psilocybin to minimize withdrawal effects of alcoholism. “I just think it’s a fascinating new frontier of research in terms of psychological treatment,” Lemaster said. “It’s an avenue that hasn’t been explored much, and it’s also an experience that hasn’t been researched much.” LSA senior Briana Johnson spoke on the potential to embrace this new type of therapy. “Keeping your options open and not turning away from things that people say are inherently bad or add to the degradation of society, you shouldn’t turn your back on things that could potentially help people,” Johnson said. “As more and more people start to see that it’s beneficial, it might be more mainstreamed and have the potential to be more regulated.” Rackham student Nick Denomme presented research on the history and discovery of LSD and its key role in understanding the function of serotonin in the brain and mental illnesses. “The remarkable effects of LSD evolved our thinking about neurochemistry and the etiology of mental illness,” Denomme said. “These discoveries really helped us steer psychiatry away from psychogenic models and develop chemical models of mental illness.” Katrin Preller, a researcher at Yale University, presented her work on the therapeutic potential of the psilocybin mushrooms, or magic mushrooms. “Alterations in social cognitions are core symptoms of many psychiatric disorders,” Preller said. Preller described the profound impact social rejection and exclusion has on psychiatric patients. She also explained the potential for Psilocybin to lessen this. “Psychedelics reduce the processing of negative information — under Psilocybin they report reduced feelings of being socially excluded,” Preller said, referring to patients in a study with borderline personality disorder. Rackham student Emma Trammel emphasized the importance of increasing public awareness in her presentation. “So often we have these science conferences that just aren’t accessible to the general public, so it’s just scientists telling scientists about what they did, when what we really need to focus on is telling the general public about the work that we’re doing so that they trust that we know what we’re doing and they have reason to support us,” Trammel said. LSA senior Christopher Fields, who attended the symposium, expressed his excitement at the prospect of exploring this new field. “The therapeutic use of psychedelics halted and became a standstill in the late 60s,” Fields said. “The fact that U-M is hosting this event is a huge indicator of revamping psychedelic research.”
Opinion
4 — Friday, September 13, 2019
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ISABELLE SCHINDLER | COLUMN
The Trump administration’s attack on reproductive rights
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SONEIDA RODRIGUEZ | COLUMN
Collegiate food insecurity is the key to blood security
“
Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice,” as poet Robert Frost once said. However, I believe there are three threats that will be humanity’s downfall: food, waste and blood. Unfortunately, the “friendly little bubble” around Ann Arbor is not enough to shelter the city from the plague of collegiate food insecurity, food waste and national blood shortages. At first glance, it may seem these public health threats belong in different categories and should inspire separate solutions. However, there is an intersection between all three of these issues that would provide the opportunity to create a single solution that could combat all three problems at once. In other words, I am betting that you can kill three plagues with one stone. Before I make my case for a solution, I figured I ought to break down each problem first. First and foremost, I understand that college is an investment for your future. However, it is ridiculous for an investor to go hungry in order to see a return on their investment. Nevertheless, according to a 2015 study by Nikki Kasper, “41.4 percent of U-M students had low to very low food security.” Low food security is defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as “the disruption of food intake because of lack of money and other resources.” Unfortunately, the University’s response to this issue has been less than urgent. In recent years, multiple food pantries on campus allowed students to scramble alongside hundreds of peers once a month to secure free food in what can only be called the actual Hunger Games. According to The Daily, starting in fall 2019, Maize and Blue Cupboard food pantry will begin offering daily distribution of nutritious food and produce at a permanent location on Central Campus. However, the question still remains as to whether these efforts alone can satisfy all the hungry students on campus. Luckily, on a college campus, where there is scarcity there is also surplus.
According to MLive, in the spring of 2018, Sava’s did not have enough dumpsters to hold all of its waste. It doesn’t take a master’s degree to understand that a good portion of that waste was leftover food. I recognize that not all food waste can be recovered safely. If food is no longer safe for human consumption, of course, a restaurant should responsibly dispose of it or compost it. However, not all food is unsafe for consumption when it is thrown away. It seems rather ironic that dozens of restaurants and cafes like Sava’s are throwing away food every day when they are just steps from a campus where more than 41 percent of students are food insecure. Sava’s is only one of dozens of local restaurants and cafes that benefit from the endless foot traffic the University of Michigan supplies to keep their businesses open. Consequently, it would be worth asking them to donate leftover food back to local students who need it the most and give it back it to the community that supports their bottom line. Beyond just food insecurity, there is also a constant need for blood donations. It seems that every summer there is a drought of blood donors, largely due to the fact that school is out and a great deal of students no longer make time to donate. According to a U-M Health Blog post, these “nationwide blood shortages … ( leave) doctors and emergency room personnel without the resources for some surgeries and procedures.” In essence, students have the blood and empty bellies while local restaurants have the food and should be motivated by the prospect of giving back. I propose creating a digital platform that enables students to subscribe to reserve and pick up extra food that would otherwise go to the landfill from restaurants in Ann Arbor. Instead of money, however, the subscription fee for this service would be to donate blood reg ularly, every two months throughout the year and particularly during the summer and winter when blood shortages are most
likely to occur. If students don’t qualif y as blood donors, perhaps they could donate their time at blood drives or solicit someone to donate in their name to satisf y the subscription fee. Restaurant employees could identif y students who are active donors through a special discount card mailed to them every two months or a smartphone QR code sent to the students’ email. According to Kasper, some studies have found that limited free time and lack of transportation may also be barriers to food, so perhaps the digital platform could provide delivery to students for a small fee. When it comes to public health issues, extra food pantries established by the University are not going to be enough. As a student body, we have the power to take matters into our own hands and problem solve. As a society, when we examine public health issues, we often section them off, try to isolate their specific causes and brainstorm solutions independent from each other. Such a practice is as outdated as the bubonic plague itself. When studying public health issues independently, it’s easy to fail to see the big picture or recognize how they can intersect. It’s kind of like trying to navigate to a new location by only looking at a fraction of the map. If most of your map is covered, then you are going to miss an intersection that could make it easier to get to your destination — which, in this case, is hungry students, less landfill waste and reduced blood shortages. The reality is, if you are willing to challenge conventional thinking and break the silos we keep around separate public health threats, you will find connections. Public health is far too complex an issue to try to isolate problems. Turns out that mapping out a social venture that can combat public health threats is as simple as finding the connection between public health problems. Who knows, maybe your next social venture is just an intersection away. Soneida Rodriguez can be reached at soneida@umich.edu.
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T
hese days, it feels like barely a week goes by without President Donald Trump’s administration enacting another barrier for women making personal family planning decisions. The most recent is somewhat dry and complicated but still undeniably dangerous for women’s health. In 1970, the Title X funding program was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. This program provides funds for clinics across America to help offer family planning and other reproductive health services to low-income communities. Forty percent of the people served by Title X funding receive their care through Planned Parenthood clinics. This, however, is about to change due to a new directive from the Trump administration. In February 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a new rule that bars any organization receiving Title X funding from referring patients to abortion providers. After months of court battles, this change has been allowed to go through. Planned Parenthood has likened this new policy to a gag rule and said that they cannot accept any more Title X funds if doing so will prevent them from referring their patients to abortion services. This withdrawal from Title X by Planned Parenthood is set to have a detrimental impact on low-income communities across Michigan and the United States at large. Planned Parenthood provides nearly 40 percent of patients under Title X funding, delivering much-needed care to nearly 1.6 million Americans annually. Planned Parenthood of Michigan has said the loss of Title X funding will have a major impact on the state. Currently, 70 percent of Title X services in Michigan are handled by Planned Parenthood. The loss of Title X funds is estimated to impact 42,000 Michiganders who receive low-cost health services from Planned Parenthood. This loss of care will be felt especially in certain counties, such as right here in Washtenaw County, where the only health care facility offering Title X coverage is Planned Parenthood.
While abortion opponents have accused Planned Parenthood of playing politics with women’s health, the real fault lies in the hands of the Trump administration for implementing this dangerous law, knowing full well the negative impact it will have. Despite Planned Parenthood’s warnings about the potential loss of Title X funding following the gag rule, the Trump administration pushed ahead with this policy, leaving Planned Parenthood no choice but to back out.
This administration has been relentless in chipping away reproductive health care
The importance of Planned Parenthood being allowed to refer patients to abortion services cannot be overstated, especially given the recent rise in misleading crisis pregnancy centers. Crisis pregnancy centers are organizations that push false narratives to try to coerce women into not having abortions. In 2015, The National Abortion Rights Action League witnessed this firsthand during an undercover investigation of crisis pregnancy centers in California. NARAL reported workers at the crisis pregnancy centers telling patients patently false information, including that abortion is linked to breast cancer and infertility, neither of which is true. These centers often advertise online and make it seem as if they are impartial organizations. For women dealing with the stress of an unwanted pregnancy, it can be hard to determine which organizations are legitimate abortion providers and which are not. This action is another example of the Trump administration putting partisan politics ahead of the health of Americans. Whether it be attempting to defund Planned
Parenthood or this new directive, this administration has been relentless in chipping away reproductive health care. This laser-like focus on restricting reproductive health care is emblematic of the rapidly changing Republican party. Republican President Richard Nixon signed this legislation into law, but that has not stopped the Republicans of today from gutting the law. As the Republican party becomes more conservative, we see ordinary people who simply want control of their bodies caught in the crosshairs. This is especially true with Title X funding, which has helped so many people. The funds used from Title X provide services desperately needed by so many Americans, from birth control to cancer screenings. In fact, a 2010 study concluded that the Title X program was highly effective and prevented 2.2 million unintended pregnancies, 99,100 cases of chlamydia and 410 HIV infections. These numbers prove the importance of these services and the sheer backwardness of the Trump administration’s new rule. As students, we cannot sit by as millions of Americans lose their access to this critically important care. Though Planned Parenthood is committed to making up for this major loss of funding, this will be no small feat, especially in Michigan. Currently, Planned Parenthood is “deprioritized” for receiving state funding. If you feel strongly that this is not all right, then write to your state representatives, get involved with abortion groups here on campus and, most importantly, vote, not only in the presidential election but also in down-ballot races. Here in Michigan, many of our fellow citizens are at risk of losing their care. This cannot stand. We must continue to raise our voices against this new policy and advocate for the state of Michigan to allocate more funds to help make up the difference in Title X funds. This is the only way to ensure all Michiganders have access to the health care they deserve. Isabelle Schindler can be reached at ischind@umich.edu.
JARED STOLOVE | COLUMN
Debate qualifying polls should use ranked-choice voting
E
arlier this week, Maine made headlines as the state’s legislature passed a bill introducing a substantial electoral reform to the state’s presidential primaries and elections. The bill institutes rankedchoice voting, a system that allows voters to rank their preference of candidates for a position and takes all of these preferences into account in the final result. In short, ranked-choice voting is likely to lead to elections that better reflect voters’ preferences, allow for more diversity of candidates and reduce vote-splitting. Recognizing this, Democratic parties in six other states have plans to implement measures similar to Maine’s in their upcoming presidential primaries. Also, this month, the field of possible Democratic presidential nominees was effectively cut in half. Out of the 20 candidates present on the stage of the second debate, only 10 met the requirements for polling and donations set by the Democratic National Committee to qualify for the third. With the Iowa caucus still far off, similar polling cut-offs are likely to be used by the DNC to further narrow the field in the future. Watching these two events occur in tandem, it seems strange that the moves being made by Maine Democrats to reform actual elections haven’t been reflected in these debate qualifiers. In the weeks since the second debate, the polls used in the DNC’s cut-offs have served as a sort of pre-election, defining the candidates that voters will and will not get to choose in the future. And while the 10 candidates eliminated in this round were all unlikely to win, these polling cutoffs will become much higher stakes as the field narrows. This is especially true for the “second tier” of candidates — those who are not frontrunners but have a shot at becoming one in the future. At this point, that’s essentially everyone other than former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Warren, D-Mass. These candidates may be victims
of the same problem that Democrats in Maine and other states are trying to solve with ranked-choice voting. In one of the polls used by the DNC to determine the candidates for the third debate, CNN asked respondents to indicate both their first choice for a nominee and the candidate that they are next most interested in hearing from. The results show an enormous discrepancy between voters’ first and second choices, revealing some candidates to be significantly more popular than they initially seem. For example, in April polling, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., garnering only 5 percent of first-choice votes, beat out the three frontrunners by being listed as 23 percent of voters’ less preferred choice. In fact, almost all candidates other than the frontrunners appear substantially more popular once second choices are taken into account, while Biden and Sanders seem to perform worse. Essentially, this indicates that while most voters prefer Biden, Sanders or Warren as their top choice, many of them wouldn’t choose one of the other three frontrunners as their second choice. Another one of the qualifying polls confirmed this: Morning Consult explicitly asked supporters of the top candidates to indicate their second-choice preference. About half of supporters of the top three candidates did not list one of the other three frontrunners as their second choice. This means that the results of subsequent polling cutoffs may be significantly different between traditional and ranked-choice voting mechanisms. While I wish I could tell you how the results would be different, the problem of ignoring voters’ second-choices is too entrenched to allow that. None of the polls used by the DNC published detailed results of voters’ second choices, and most of the ones I looked at didn’t ask about second choices at all. Ultimately, this problem extends beyond the cut-offs for the primary debates and into the way we cover and discuss elections. Polls aren’t
just hurdles for candidates to jump over on their way to the debate stage. They are also one of the primary ways voters, politicians and commentators try to understand what is going on in elections. The results of polls can go viral, thrusting candidates into the spotlight and giving their prospects a boost, as happened when a single poll earlier this month contradicted all others by finding Warren tied with Sanders and Biden among Democratic voters. Furthermore, the campaigns themselves are influenced by polling data in developing their messaging and policy. If polls ignore voters’ second choices, they can make some candidates, like Harris and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., seem substantially less popular than they actually are (and others, like Sanders, more so). If polls only incentivize candidates to make attention-grabbing, radical statements to accumulate more first-choice followers, it may lead them to ignore building a broadly supported platform that will actually get people out to vote in the general election. At a time when the Democratic party is increasingly fractured, and winning the general election has never seemed more important, these could be costly mistakes. The good news is that substantive change need not wait on the lengthy legislative processes faced by states like Maine attempting to institute ranked-choice policies in actual elections. The DNC could immediately require qualifying polls to ask more questions about voters’ second and third choices. Even if subsequent debate cutoffs don’t use ranked-choice mechanisms, altering the polls alone would instantly deepen our understanding of the election and the public conversation about it. Doing so now, before the field narrows further, could shape the outcome of both the primaries and the general election. Jared Stolove can be reached at jstolove@umich.edu.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, September 13, 2019 — 5
FILM NOTEBOOK
FILM REVIEW
Stay awake for Roy Blair’s electro-rap fusion ‘Graffiti’ SAMANTHA CANTIE Daily Arts Writer
YOUTUBE
‘After the Wedding’ is absolutely middling ASIF BECHER Daily Arts Writer
The main purpose of “After the Wedding ” is to be a showcase for its three principal actors, veterans Billy Crudup (“Where’d You Go Bernadette”), Julianne Moore (“Bel Canto”) and Michelle Williams (“Venom”). Williams plays Isabelle, an American ex-pat running an orphanage in India who travels to New York seeking funding from the wealthy entrepreneur Theresa, played by Moore. Isabelle is invited to Theresa’s daughter’s wedding, and a f lurry of secrets and family drama unfold in the ensuing weekend. Theresa’s husband (played by Crudup) turns out to be an old f lame of Isabelle’s. At the wedding, Isabelle discovers that the young woman getting married is in fact her and Oscar’s daughter, who she believed she had given up for adoption over 20 years ago.
The problem is that “After the Wedding” is bad in the worst possible way a piece of media can be bad: it’s bland and inoffensive. It’s milquetoast, airy, completely free of any identity, substance or personality
The premise is intrig uing, and the actors all have enormous talent and impressive resumes. The film has all the hallmarks of a prestige drama, the kind that crackles with tension and brilliantly rendered
screaming matches. And yet, despite the juiciness of the conceit and the caliber of the actors anchoring the piece, absolutely nothing in this film captures the attention or imagination of the audience. “After the Wedding ” takes its time — or rather, it takes too much time. It stretches lang uorously like a cat, puttering around aimlessly from toothless scene to toothless scene. It’s a film about uber-wealthy people who have sprawling estates just outside Manhattan and work in glass offices on the 40th f loors of skyscrapers. There’s a minor tension between Isabelle’s discomfort with the grandeur of Theresa and Oscar’s life and the casualness with which they spend money on hotel suites and wedding meals. But ultimately, the film relaxes into the opulence. I’d estimate a third of the runtime is spent with the camera slowly roaming the halls of its sets, lingering on the gorgeous kitchens and massive sofas with all the subtlety and emotional resonance of a Pottery Barn commercial. The remaining two thirds of the film are spent watching people we are given no reason to care about tearfully clutching shawls to their chest and arg uing their way through their complicated situation with dialog ue that’s as clunky and sparsely written as the characters themselves. The problem at the heart of the film isn’t that the story is fragile (though it is), or that the characters are thin and poorly rendered (though they are). The problem is that “After the Wedding ” is bad in the worst possible way a piece of media can be bad: it’s bland and inoffensive. It’s milquetoast, airy, completely free of any identity, substance or personality. It was a deeply unpleasant viewing experience, but not the kind of unpleasant that’s at all interesting to unpack or provides any kind of insight into what makes films tick. It simply fails at creating stakes, tension or compelling characters. The result is a movie that clocks in at just under two hours but feels like it lasts anywhere between seven and nine. But who knows? “After the Wedding ” could very well find a new audience out of theaters — perhaps it simply can’t fill the dramatic demands of a big screen. Maybe it will find a new life being watched by half-asleep passengers on planes, or filling a midafternoon time slot on TV, playing in the background while people clean their houses. Maybe that’s where it
SONY PICTURES CLASSIC
After the Wedding Michigan Theater Sony Pictures Classic
Roy Blair wants his new EP Graffiti in the hands of Timothée Chalamet. Quite literally, there is no better project for Chalamet’s personal narrative. Blair’s second track on the EP, “Franzia,” fuses synth-pop with an electronic dance beat that creates an aura that I would call the “Study Abroad in France” space. Graffiti launches listeners into the auditory equivalent of taking transcendental humanities classes while Timothee Chalamet invites you to fall in love with the French electro-dance clubbing scene. Blair is a young heartthrob (despite his claims about having a punchable face) and with Graffiti he has shed his sprightly skin, evolving into a detailed-focused artist who wants to make music and then disappear. The Chalamet bells are RINGING. Lime green is Blair’s choice for his newest hair color and for Graffiti’s cover art; the electricity of lime perfectly matches Blair’s emergence into a fusion of synth-pop electronic
rap. The lime green visualizes a phoenix mentality, a new flair for crazy syncopation and impressive synths. Graffiti follows Blair’s debut comingof-age album: Cat Heaven, which Blair released when he was 20 (he is now 22) in an ode to his cat, Gary, who passed. Cat Heaven was a DIY project known for its nostalgic happiness and appealing, melodious raps, which allowed Blair to score a spot as Kevin Abstract’s opener. Graffiti launches Blair out of the fresh-faced cat mourning phase and into elevated lyricism with more tricky, embedded meaning. These lyrics flourish with the support of producers Slaters and Sasha Daze, who effectively drag Blair out of his bedroom rap and into Pharrell-inspired production. Graffiti fires up interest in its impeccable production, but falls in its lack of cohesiveness, which is to be expected in a 3 track EP preceding a full sophomore album (to be released in 2020). The production flows seamlessly among the tracks, but their themes seem to ping-pong with personal identity quarrels and ills of relationships. That being said,
Graffiti Roy Blair ROY / EMPIRE
the atmosphere created is gripping in every sense — it seems to move effortlessly between clubs, liquid and solitary confinement. The track “I Don’t Know About Him” uses offbeat rhythmic stresses to unsettle the listener, creating a dull feeling of standing in line, waiting for something a tad too long. The track closes with the glory of what seems to be an angel playing the piano underwater. The dance scene track “Franzia” is the sort of song that bounces back and forth from your right headphone to your left headphone with a high pitched autotune that resembles the mocking SpongeBob meme where EVerYtHinG SoUNdS LiKe tHiS, a voice-cracking that embodies vulnerability in every sense.
ROY / EMPIRE
ENTERTAINMENT COLUMN
Ian Harris: It took years, but I have been seduced by Spotify IAN HARRIS
Daily Entertainment Columnist
For as long as music streaming services have existed, I have resisted the call to join them. I’ve argued with friends, family and in this column that streaming music is bad for artists, bad for the consumer and bad for listening. In many a long car ride I’ve ranted against what I call “media socialism”: the idea that no individual should purchase songs or movies and instead should subscribe to an ever growing number of media streaming services. The whole thing has always made me uncomfortable and left me imagining a 1984-esque dystopian future in which there are only a few conglomerates with sole control over the distribution of all media. It would be as if there were no copies of books outside of libraries, and all of the libraries were privatized. That future could still come to pass and still scares me. But after two back to back road trips with friends in which Spotify was used almost constantly to recall practically any song one could think of, I began to feel, at long last, the allure of the music streaming service. The truth is that sticking to my archaic ritual of manually dragging songs from my iTunes library to my iPhone like it was 2006 has become less and less feasible as time has gone on. This summer Apple announced that they were planning to phase out iTunes entirely and while this news shocked me at first, when I looked around and realized I was literally the only person I knew who still used the application, it began to make a bit more sense. Faced with the death of iTunes and the increasing feeling that I was depriving myself of quality listening time by having to look up songs on YouTube and listen to ear-splitting YouTube ads while biking around campus, I began to think that joining Spotify might not be the worst
decision I’d ever make. Why had I fought against it all these years? Was it really because I hated “media socialism?” I’d had a Netf lix account all these years, hadn’t I? It’s not like I was buying every song I listened to, I was ripping them from CDs or YouTube videos. I was nothing more than a stubborn hypocrite, too lazy to switch from my old ways and too stubborn to admit I was wrong once I’d committed to the “media
So I did it. I got Spotify. I’m one of you now. I’ve given in completely to media socialism and allowed myself to become just another person in the crowd
socialism” bit. I stuck it out with my archaic ways out of nothing less than ignorance. All these years I’d deprived myself of the ability to listen to whatever music I wanted, whenever I wanted. And at a student price of $4.99 a month with Hulu included? I must have been truly insane to not sign up the day I decided to come to Michigan.
So I did it. I got Spotify. I’m one of you now. I’ve given in to media socialism and allowed myself to become just another person in the crowd. And within just a few short weeks I’ve found myself wondering how I ever lived without it. To think that I was once concerned with storage space on my iPhone and whether or not new updates to iTunes would mess up my sync settings. I mean, Spotify has practically every song ever. It’s actually insane. It’s amazing what the human brain can compartmentalize and twist to suit its own purposes. For years whenever I heard of Spotify my first thought was just “oh, I don’t use that,” and I never once considered why I didn’t use it, what I was missing or if I was making a big mistake. But I’ve changed. I’ve fully converted to the church of Spotify, and never again will I irritate my cousins, friends or club members by insisting that physical media is the only true path. And yet there is still something. A vague discomfort that I barely acknowledge, save in that liminal space between waking and sleeping. Perhaps my intuitions were correct, perhaps Spotify is in fact the work of the corporate devil, designed to entice and entrap. Or perhaps I’ve simply spent so long decrying it that I’m experiencing cognitive dissonance now that I’ve joined. I listened to Spotify the entire time I wrote this article. They say that absolute power corrupts absolutely. They also say that human beings struggle to choose when faced with a multitude of choices. In this new media landscape, where any song, film, or television episode ever made is accessible to us at every minute and every moment of every day, do we still appreciate art the way we once did? In gaining access to everything, have we lost something along the way? I wonder about this, and so many other things, and then I go ahead and add a few more songs to my queue.
Arts
6 — Friday, September 13, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FILM REVIEW
CONCERT REVIEW
‘Luce’ unsettles Snarky Puppy brings a fresh sound to Hill Aud. with their latest album SAMANTHA NELSON Daily Arts Writer
to the screen. Spencer and Edgar both play characters with questionable integrity. Throughout the film, we find ourselves going back in forth, struggling to determine who actually has the moral high ground or if both are in the wrong. A testament to their stunning embodiment of Ms. Wilson and Luce, Spencer and Edgar have us desperately picking up breadcrumbs leading to the truth from the opening scene until the screen goes black. Along with its solid characters, the film score and expert pacing add to the overall enchanting air of mystery. The film is accompanied by a melodic but unnerving sprinkling of musical accompaniments. The score manages effortlessly to enhance the film as a whole, without distracting from what is happening on screen. Perhaps what makes the incorporation of music in the film so fitting is the perfectly-timed flow of events. Though not riddled with fast-moving, intense action sequences, “Luce” does not lose our attention for a second. The tension in the film lies in the clashing between the internal complexes of the characters and the external interactions among them. Seething with passive aggression and fakeness, the relationship between Ms. Wilson and Luce is a ticking time bomb just begging to be set off. We can’t help but sit at the edge of our seats, wideeyed and eagerly waiting for the inescapable explosion. As we are teased along for nearly two hours, there is an anticipated promise of resolution, but when the lights come back on we hold nothing but a few loose ends. Though initially disappointed, once we’ve tossed our popcorn, exited the theater and started to untangle the knot of emotions that “Luce” left us with, we start to see the film’s non-ending as a testament to its quality and as much more of a blessing than a curse.
In the eyes of a parent, a child can do no real wrong. Even the most vile of children might be seen as angels through the eyes of a loving parent, especially during their tumultuous teenage years. Our parents are supposed to be our biggest cheerleaders and our greatest protectors, but the reality is that they often see us as they want to see us, not as we actually are. In a sense, as a part of growing up, we all develop two separate identities — the people that our parents know us to be and the people who we are. In “Luce,” director
Spencer and Edgar have us desperately picking up breadcrumbs from the opening scene until the screen goes black
Julius Onah expertly explores the inevitable gap that develops between children and parents as adulthood looms, crafting a riveting, wickedly suspenseful film that left me unexpectedly shaken. Luce (Kelvin Harrison Jr. “Monsters and Men”), a high school senior, has a relationship with his parents that seems quite healthy, filled with family dinners and car-ride banter. Practically a beacon of light to everyone around him, Luce lives up to his name. Envied by his peers, placed on a pedestal by his teachers, and adored by his parents, Luce is the paradigm model student. Or so it seems. To an outsider looking in, every piece of Luce’s life appears to fit perfectly. However, after his stern history teacher Ms. Wilson (Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”) finds a mysterious bag filled with incriminating contents, the virtuosity of Luce’s character steadily becomes less and less clear. What really makes this film work is that every single actor brings their A-game. Props especially must be given to Spencer and Harrison, who truly carry the entirety of the film and keep audiences glued
You can’t really put a label on what kind of band Snarky Puppy is. Although they’re often billed as a jazz band and play in a variety of jazz idioms, I wouldn’t really call their music jazz. I’m not sure if I’d even call them a fusion or a jam band. The only thing I can definitively say about the band is that it’s a supergroup of some of the best
These worldly influences aren’t completely new for Snarky, but the way they leaned into them more than their last visit to Hill was captivating
teasing us with a new direction and then immediately returning to where they had come from. Objectively, the band sounded great. However, as much as I did appreciate the group trying to do something new with their new songs on this tour, I really wish they would have leaned even further into it. This was my third time seeing Snarky Puppy, and don’t get me wrong, each time I’ve seen them I’ve been blown away. The group was such an innovative, forward-thinking band when they emerged onto the scene in the mid-to-late 2000s. Years later, though, I wish they would fully embrace a new direction. For an album, I wasn’t a big fan of the lack of cohesiveness between tracks, but in a live setting, hearing the band play a variety of genres and styles was extremely entertaining and showcased just how talented this group is, even without their full recording roster of around 25 musicians. Each of the nine musicians on stage had a distinct musical voice, even beyond the fact that they were playing different instruments. Solos taken by saxophonist Chris Bullock tended to be more straightforward and melodic, while Shaun Martin often times took solos on his Moog synthesizer that integrated crazy timbral shifts and chaotic f lurries of sounds. As the group returned to the stage of Hill for an encore, the audience erupted into cheers as the opening chords to the band’s ever-popular song “Lingus” played, launching Shaun Martin into an epic five minute keyboard solo to end the evening. There was no better way to kick off the UMS season than with Snarky Puppy’s return to Hill Auditorium.
Michigan Theater NEON, Topic Studios ALICE LIU / DAILY
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis DOWN 1 Nile danger 2 John of “Star Trek” (2009) 3 1967 Etta James hit 4 Target section 5 Nastase on the court 6 Archaeological site 7 Jerks 8 Member of Genghis Khan’s horde 9 Write (in) tentatively 10 Ultimate objective 11 Weather headliners 13 Reason 14 With 42-Across, corrosive substances 16 Camping letters 20 Shakespeare’s plays are full of them 21 Slangy smoke 22 Heavy weight 23 Glowing barbecue bit 26 Orioles, e.g.
Daily Arts Writer
instrumentalists in the world. Founded in 2003, this Texas-born ensemble returned to Hill Auditorium this past Sunday for the opening of the University Musical Society’s 141st Season. The night kicked off with opening act Alina Engibartan, a vocalist and keyboard player accompanied by three other members of Snarky Puppy. Engibartan’s voice on both originals and jazz standards was a smooth way to ease into the energ y of the main event. Touring off of the release of their most recent album, Immigrance, the band mostly played new music, with a few favorites sprinkled in between. Many of these newer pieces were inf luenced by different types of music from all over the world. For example, Michael League, bassist and bandleader of the group, mentioned the inf luence Gnawa music had on the group after their recent trip to Morocco and then taught the audience how to clap an interesting three-overfour polyrhythm to accompany the band on their new track, “Xavi.” These worldly inf luences aren’t completely new for Snarky, but the way they leaned into them more than their last visit to Hill was captivating. For the most part, this new recipe tasted pretty good in the listener’s mouth. The addition of violinist Zach Brock added some textures that differed greatly from the traditional funk/fusion the group is famous for, but at times the music did feel like it was only going halfway. Certain songs like “Even Us” ventured deep into unknown territory for the band, while other songs like “Bad Kids to the Back”seemed like they could have come from any period in Snarky’s discography. It felt as if the band was
Luce
Release Date: Friday, September 13, 2019
ACROSS 1 Pretend to be 4 Center 9 Foot, in zoology 12 “Isn’t __ Lovely”: Stevie Wonder hit 13 Toyota until 2006 14 Posted 15 Time for an Oktoberfest tradition? 17 Erase 18 Deplorable sort 19 Where to find letters on tracks 21 Medical events in a 1977 Robin Cook thriller 23 Movie about a Jewish wedding staple? 24 Celebrity chef Garten 25 Set of values 28 Thinks intently (over) 29 Impedes, with “up” 31 Paramedic letters 32 Old brew revived in the 2000s 33 Festive Brazilian gathering? 38 Rapper will.__ 39 Stick in a lock 40 Jazz vocalist Laine 42 See 14-Down 45 Charged 47 Reservoir creator 48 One in a line of frolicking sea creatures? 50 Increases, with “up” 52 Creator of a sci-fi “Traveller” 53 Schroeder’s toy 55 Getting __ years 56 Wedding reception highlight ... and a feature of four puzzle answers 60 Rolled __ 61 Conceptualize 62 One may be bruised 63 MIT, for one 64 “Cool!” 65 Yang’s opposite
RYAN COX
27 Medical care gp. 30 Bits 32 Prefix with sail 34 __ metabolism 35 Recyclable item 36 Source of status 37 Tide table term 41 Sounds heard at an ashram 42 Blessing evokers 43 Colombard grapes product 44 Part of, as a gang
45 Live 46 Sports news 49 Like the Hollow Tree Factory bakers 51 Santa __ 53 Exam for jrs. 54 “Leave __ me” 57 Stephen of “The Crying Game” 58 Movie SFX 59 DMV wait time, seemingly
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By Steve Faiella ©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/13/19
09/13/19
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Friday, September 13, 2019 — 7
Rosen and Smith: New country, new roles, the road to a win
EVAN AARON/Daily
Michigan coach Mark Rosen was tabbed to coach a group of Big Ten All Stars last summer that also included Michigan’s Natalie Smith on the Big Ten Volleyball Foreign Tour in Japan, where the team went 1-3 against the country’s best teams.
TIEN LE
Daily Sports Editor
Twenty hours before the plane containing delegates representing 11 different Big Ten volleyball teams touched down on foreign soil, all the players met up for a brief practice in Chicago. There, they spent 45 minutes familiarizing themselves with one another before flying to Japan on June 14 for two weeks for the 2019 Big Ten Volleyball Foreign Tour. As night fell, the players and staff made their way to the airport. They trudged through the terminals together before taking off, concluding their brief introduction. *** When it comes to volleyball, Mark Rosen’s seen everything. After 27 years as a head coach, 20 with the Wolverines, Rosen acquired an array of knowledge, not just with collegiate teams but national teams, too. Even to him, being the head coach for the Foreign Tour team was “a very unique experience.” First slotted as an assistant coach on staff, Rosen was promoted to the top position after former Iowa coach Bond Shymansky, the orginial head coach of the Foreign Tour team, was fired due to NCAA violations. Assuming his new position, Rosen had a hunch this experience coaching former opponents would be a new challenge. “You’re coaching players that you’ve actually coached against, so that’s a weird dynamic,” Rosen said. Rosen has seen the scouting reports on these players over the seasons, but building a system around a ragtag team last minute was a tall task. “Some of it was just finding what players do, what roles go well,” Rosen said on making adjustments from match to match. “I didn’t really go into it with really that much information about the players. So we were figuring out on the
fly who handles what situations well, who do we want to put in certain positional situations.” *** Natalie Smith spent the majority of her first two years at Michigan as a defensive specialist. There was no need for a different player to get reps at libero during career starter Jenna Lerg’s tenure. But upon Lerg’s graduation, the spot opened up, and Smith rose to the occasion. During the spring season, the junior was the Wolverines’ primary libero, but even then, her reps were limited. There were just seven games over the course of the spring, so the trip to Japan to face highcaliber teams — collegiate and professional — proved valuable for a player getting adjusted to a new role. “It was a really good opportunity for her,” Rosen said. “Being a younger libero, trying to step in and trying to take over for Jenna, and that role, that’s a big shoe to fill. I thought it was a great extra opportunity for her, another two weeks to play volleyball, another opportunity to be in that role.” The opportunity wasn’t without its challenges, though. There was only one libero spot on the Big Ten team, and Penn State’s Jenna Hampton eyed it accordingly. In the end, Smith earned the role and Hampton became the designated defensive specialist. What stood out to Rosen was Smith’s skill as a firsttouch passer and — taking from previous role as defensive specialist — her defense. “She ended up playing libero in pretty much every match,” Rosen said. “And (Hampton) played (defensive specialist) and part of that is because she passed consistently, she defended really consistently, and she played really well.” *** When the team landed in Osaka, Japan, complications arose. When the players and coaches arrived, they prepared for a
Just finding what players do, what roles go well.
You’re coaching players that you’ve actually coached against.
full day of activity — eyeing a practice at Senri Kinran, a university in Osaka. They had their first matchup later that afternoon and a team dinner that evening. But the team couldn’t practice due to problems with the Senri Kinran practice facility. “I think there was a shooting that was going on there,” Smith said. “So we ended up going to a different part of town. Prioritizing safety, the team used its practice time, instead, to explore the city, stopping by temples and various parts of the town. For Senri Kinran, losing practice for a day was just lost practice. For the Big Ten team, it was losing so much more — they only had a set number of practices to begin with. After hours on a plane, moments after meeting as teammates for the first time, that practice wasn’t simply business as usual. It was a chance to further gauge each player, form chemistry and just get into a rhythm. For a team already struggling with familiarity, the lack of practice was a heavy blow. And it showed the next day when the two teams faced off. The Foreign Tour team not only lost, but lost badly. “We step on a court against a college team who really wasn’t very good,” Rosen said. “And as I watched them play and warm up, they weren’t very physical, they weren’t really that good.” Not really that good, but good enough to dominate the Foreign Tour team and blow it out in a 4-0 sweep? To lose 25-16, 25-15 to a team filled with players no taller than the shortest player on the Big Ten team’s end? But to Rosen, the answer was simple. “They were organized and we weren’t organized, because we didn’t really have a chance to organize the team. It was bad volleyball.” Added Smith: “That was disappointing, but also I think that you can’t become an AllStar amazing team, ever, in 12 days.” The next day, the schedule for the Big Ten team was wake up, go on a morning sightseeing session in Osaka, and then head immediately to the game with an hour to warm up. On a normal gameday at Michigan, the players would have three to five hours to get into game mode. “Here,” Rosen said, “we did it in 20 minutes.”
Combine the time crunch with the lack of chemistry and practice, and the source of the frustrating result became clear. “It was frustrating for everybody, and the players weren’t trying to play bad,” Rosen said. “It was nobody’s fault. It’s just, you’re trying to organize this group without any time or any opportunity to organize it. So I thought that along with everybody else, it was really frustrating that first night, because we were looking on, ‘How is this team losing?’ ” The team concluded its day in Osaka with the bruising loss and traveled to Kyoto to repeat the cycle, this time with a new city and a new team, but a similar result. Despite another three-set loss, this one felt different to the team. None of the sets were a one-sided affair. Instead, the team strung together three tightly contested sets and saw the growing pains beginning to subside. “I thought in the second night, we played another college team who was a little bit better,” Rosen said. “And we played better. “... We were like, ‘Hey, if we had played the team we played last night, we probably would have won.’ We could see them progressing.” *** A college team and a professional team are separated by a lot of things: salaries, endorsements, contracts. But the biggest factor in the matchup between the Foreign Tour team and Denso Airybees, a professional team based in Nishio, was practice regulation. As college athletes, the players and coaches are limited to 20 practice hours weekly. As Rosen joked with his team, “Those guys are probably at 20 hours of training by Tuesday.” And with more time to practice and train, comes a higher level of play. Additionally, the style of play in Japan is completely different from the U.S. Whereas in the U.S., physicality is the name of the game, speed rules supreme in Japan. In the matchup, the differences in style and training showed. “They practice a lot, and you can tell by the way they play,”
Rosen said. “They’re not very physical. They don’t outphysical you, they outplay you.” The end result was another three-game sweep, but unlike before, the growth of the Big Ten team could be seen as the sets progressed. 25-12, 25-18, 25-19. The more the teams played, the more adjusted to the speed the Big Ten players got. They were playing together and playing better volleyball. The next night, in front of a crowd of 1,500, the Big Ten team played Denso Airybees again. There, they made its breakthrough. “They’re so fast, and their system is so intricate,” Rosen said. “And a lot of these players had never seen anything like that so we had to make some adjustments on the fly.” Because the players in Japan were so much shorter, they ran their offense faster, forcing the contact to come around the chest area — a different experience for the players who are used to extending the length of their arms in hopes of tipping the ball with fingertips. The new point of contact and speed took time to adjust to, but with a proper game plan, they could envision the style vividly post match. There was no practice time in between the matches, despite being on two different days. There was only a video session, where the team sat down and talked about what it had to do. “Just speed comes so fast, you can’t move very much,” Rosen said. “Once the ball is set to the hitter, from set to hit, we call that base to read, you have no time, so you got to kind of position yourself in a way where you basically just have to face the action. You can’t really move into a new position.” The player that excelled in that was none other than Natalie Smith. Smith provided support in more ways than just as a libero, proving instrumental to the 3-1 win against Denso Airybees. She stepped up as a leader.
I thought that ... it was really frustrating that first night.
People who have worked with her say she’s an easy person to play with. She communicates well, works hard and connects easily. “She can slide into your team and be pretty comfortable pretty quickly,” Rosen said. Once Smith acquainted herself with the team, she took the next step as a player, taking a leadership role. As a libero, she occupied a large part of the court. However, just as the team didn’t have any scouting reports on the opposition, the teams they faced didn’t have any on them. So it boiled down to what the teams saw on the court. “They see a girl in the other colored jersey, and they’re going to assume she’s probably a pretty good passer,” Rosen said. “So she really didn’t get tested a lot, so she was helping the other players a lot by pushing their court and making sure she took more court, to ease them off, to help them.” It was something Smith had seen time and time again. They avoided her in the service game, giving her space on the court. That paid its dividends in the rematch against Denso Airybees. From her ball control to her defense, Smith actively commanded the first touch and enabled an efficient offense. “I thought (Smith) did a fantastic job of doing that defensively,” Rosen said. “Because it’s from setter to hitter, it’s bam bam, and they had to be really good at making adjustments, so I thought it was a great opportunity for her. And believe me, she’s not going to ever see anything faster than what we saw there.” Picking up on Denso Airybee’s tendencies was the turning point of the series. As every point passed, every set finished, the roar of the packed house in Kyoto quieted little by little, until nothing but silence answered the sound of the Foreign Team finishing a kill. Four sets later, 25-22, 25-23, 25-15, 26-24, and the Big Ten team prevailed, securing its only victory of the trip. “They’re all rooting against you, and then you beat them so easily,” Smith said. “It’s just so silent and serene.”
(Smith) can slide into your team and be comfortable.
Sports
8 — Friday, September 13, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Glasgow making impact at WILL OL looking to clean up penalties MAX MARCOVITCH
THEO MACKIE
Don Brown knows you’ll think he’s crazy, but he doesn’t much care. After all, he’s been around the block a time or two. In over 40 years in the profession, he’s coached All-Americans and future professionals. He’s spent his life living and breathing defensive football — and he’s one of the best around. That gives him the license to make a determination that strays from conventional wisdom a time or two. On Monday, that particular claim came in regard to senior linebacker Jordan Glasgow. “I’ll say this, and I might be criticized: This guy might be one of the best players in the Big Ten,” Brown said. “Watch him run and hit people. Just watch him play.” Coming into the season, the fifth-year senior was seen as valuable versatility — a depth piece to shore up the linebacking corps. He wasn’t the starter at VIPER, the spot belonging to senior Khaleke Hudson. He wasn’t the heir apparent to Devin Bush at the MIKE linebacker spot, either. That position, the general consensus held, was going to be Josh Ross’. He wasn’t slated to be the WILL linebacker either, but he won that job anyway. And in a personnel group defined in the early season by volatility, Glasgow remains a steadying presence. In the early weeks of the season, he’s taken that play up a notch. In a week one win over Middle Tennessee State, Glasgow secured two sacks, matching his career total to that point. Against Army the next week, he
As Cesar Ruiz assessed the state of Michigan’s offensive line earlier this week, he was careful not to label any struggles as “growing pains.” The implication accompanying that term is that the Wolverines’ inconsistency on the offensive line is a result of Josh Gattis’ new offense. The junior center knows that isn’t the case. “We all understand the offense, we all understand everything,” Ruiz said. “It’s just, once you get in the game, you’ve got to understand everything’s fast-paced and there’s no re-dos.” But the truth remains inescapable. Two weeks into Michigan’s season, the Wolverines’ offense hasn’t lived up to expectations. So what gives? “When you look at it over the past few games, we’ve got seven turnovers, we have 10 penalties, but then we also have seven drops,” Gattis said. “So you go back and look at all those plays in critical situations, they’re killers.” Turnovers have led to every regulation touchdown given up by
Managing Sports Editor
Daily Sports Editor
NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
Senior linebacker Jordan Glasgow has impressed Don Brown this year.
seamlessly slotted into one of the inside linebacker spots, helping hold the Black Knights to their lowest yards-per-rush average since 2015 and their lowest total yardage since 2017. Asked to dissect why Glasgow was accepting of a move inside, from his more natural VIPER spot, Brown initially scoffed. “Are you serious? He had no choice, ‘You’re moving inside,’ ” Brown joked. “(Glasgow) was willing (to make the move). He’s a great dude.” Glasgow came to Michigan a walk-on — and brother of Graham, who then manned the Wolverines’ offensive line and now plays for the Detroit Lions. His career at Michigan has been a coach’s dream — steady ascension, gradual increase in role, sudden blossom, invaluable veteran contributor. In many ways, though, he still carries the stereotypes that hang around his path. Asked after his standout opening-week performance about newfound speed, Glasgow instead shrugs it off. “It’s difficult to say. I don’t consider myself very fast relative to the other people on the team,
This guy might be one of the best players in the Big Ten.
people that are my size,” Glasgow said. “I think that you may be exaggerating how fast I am.” Turn to Brown, though, and he’ll entertain no such degradation. “I mean, he’s a junkie,” Brown said. “He might be one of the funnest guys in the world to coach, because he loves it. He eats it. He drinks it and he backs it up, because he smashes everybody that moves.” Brown then offered a quick anecdote to illustrate that point, recalling a phone call he received one night. Coach, I’ll be available tomorrow morning at 7:20. I’d like to go over my plays. OK, I’ll see you tomorrow to go over your plays. I specifically want to go over my (naked bootlegs). OK, we’ll go over the (naked bootlegs). If anything, Glasgow’s path lends more credence to his merit, not less. He is no longer a walkon. He is no longer just Graham’s brother. He’s shed nearly every hindrance in his path, and he’s done so on his own terms. Two weeks into his final collegiate season, Glasgow is a steadying force for a group once seen as a possible liability. And if Don Brown has anything to say about it, one of the best players in the Big Ten.
the first-team defense and drops have held the offense to nine selfdescribed “explosive” plays so far. But as Michigan’s offensive linemen spoke this week, it became clear that penalties are at the crux of the Wolverines’ bye week focuses. At first glance, 58 penalty yards doesn’t seem comparable to three turnovers on the list of reasons that Michigan went to overtime in a game it entered as a 23-point favorite. But when four of those penalties came in a seven-point first half on an offensive line returning three starters, it’s cause for alarm. “We had some penalties that shouldn’t happen,” said senior guard Ben Bredeson. “Procedure penalties that we’re better than that, we know better than that. And obviously just (frustrated) with myself for that one. But it’s just focus time and something that we need to correct going forward.” So as Ruiz watched his offensive line struggle against a defensive line with no player over 300 pounds, he had a message for the unit. “My thing was, we can’t lose,” Ruiz said. “We can’t lose to this
team. We can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot. That was my main message. We had a few false start penalties — I had one. ... You don’t get too many chances with the football against this team so we’ve got to maximize every opportunity we have.” Against Wisconsin next Saturday, the Wolverines will be confronted with one of the Big Ten’s premier defensive units, further limiting their margin for error. It’s why Bredeson called the bye week “not the worst (timing) in the world.” Now, the challenge is taking advantage of these two weeks. While eliminating unfocused penalties will be a point of emphasis during the bye week, Michigan will also be focusing on spotting blitzes and picking up assignments — two things the Wolverines practice every day, according to Ruiz. Now, the challenge is turning them into live reps. “Every game’s not going to be perfect,” Ruiz said. “But it’s up to us to minimize every single one of those mistakes. It’s great we have a bye week to focus on a lot of those things and to be extra focused on those.”
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Junior center Cesar Ruiz is among the offensive linemen who committed avoidable penalties against Army.
Back at Yost Ice Arena, Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor makes his presence felt TIEN LE
Daily Sports Editor
A sea of players took to the rink in Yost Ice Arena. Some wore blue practice jerseys, others white. One even wore purple — a signal for exemption from physical contact. But the one thing all the players of the Michigan hockey team shared was the navy helmet they wore, crowning them a member of the Wolverines. But as practice began this week, and even before that, a different colored helmet could be spotted — a player donning a white helmet in a white jersey — shooting pucks hours after practice had concluded and all the players had trickled off the ice to the locker room. It was Kyle Connor. The former Michigan forward recorded 35 goals and 36 assists in his lone year with the Wolverines, placing runner-up
for the Hobey Baker Award in 2015-16. Connor got drafted into the National Hockey League with the Winnipeg Jets where he continued his success, recording two back-to-back, 30-goal seasons. And lately, Connor’s presence, as an elite player and friend, has been felt at Yost. “Kyle’s been around,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson. “He’s been around the last few summers since he’s turned pro. He always comes back to Ann Arbor. He enjoys it here.” Swinging by, summer after summer. A standstill in contract talks has extended his annual summer visit into September this year. When he comes to Yost, Connor arrives with a wealth of knowledge and experience. With three years as a professional, on top of a storied college career, Connor has insights on what it takes to be successful at all levels.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
C O M M E M O R AT I N G
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 University of Michigan Law School, 1225 Jeffries Hall 4:10–5:30 p.m.
A CONVERSATION WITH
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JUSTIN AMASH Sponsored by U-M Office of the Provost
Former Michigan forward Kyle Connor has been practicing at Yost Ice Arena and giving advice to Michigan players as he waits for a contract standoff to end.
“As a coach, I want to ask him questions,” Pearson said. “Just about little things, whether it’s about analytics at the next level or practice at the next level, or how hard they work or what it might be. Or different drills. You’re always trying to steal ideas and steal thoughts and whatnot.” Connor’s time at Michigan didn’t overlap with Pearson, who was the then-head coach of Michigan Tech before taking over for Red Berenson before the 2017-18 season. But the lack of familiarity didn’t stop the two from conversing and learning more about each other’s path to success. And it wasn’t a one-way affair. “As a young kid coming in,”
Connor told The Daily, “you just want to pick his brain and talk, kind of similar to Red.” The trading of information wasn’t limited to just coach and pro, though. Pearson thought his players would be “well-served” to ask for a few pointers from “one of the best at what he does.” But the players didn’t need the push from Pearson to act — they had already approached the NHL star themselves. Though Connor was gone by the time the current seniors stepped foot on campus as freshmen, they had seen him plenty, whether for summer skate or a drop-by during practice. “I’ve talked to a lot of the guys, just kind of the upperclassmen,”
You just want to pick (Pearson’s) brain and talk ... similar to Red.
Connor said. “I know them a little bit, just being familiar and talking to them. They’re a great group of guys. And they work hard. I mean, that’s the biggest thing.” His pointers to the seniors, including forwards Will Lockwood and Jake Slaker, were centered around Connor’s specialties: shooting and passing. “We were out there doing a shooting drill, and he was talking about what it takes to score at the next level,” Lockwood said. “And just some things to work on, which obviously, coming from him, is a pretty big deal — he scores 30 goals a year.” Puck release, speed of shot, shooting on net. Connor
emphasized the importance of getting the puck off quickly, regardless of the power behind the stroke. “You just got to hit the net and get it off quickly, especially when the puck’s going from side to side, Lockwood said. “So some good advice from him.” But just as important as Connor’s words are his everyday actions at Yost. As he practices, skating or shooting, eyes wander in his direction, looking to him to lead by example. “It’s not even him talking. Just kind of watching him you know, of course as an elite player in the NHL,” Slaker said. “So just watching him you just learn. It’s fun having him there.”
Just kind of watching (Connor) ... as an elite player.