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Thursday, October 3, 2019
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Center of the City Task Force plans State budget to ramp up community engagement includes small Group’s 5th meeting focuses on involving stakeholders in planning process
increase for universities
U-M to receive total allocation of $373 million across three campuses LEAH GRAHAM Daily News Editor
University of Michigan campuses will see a slight increase in funding under the state budget Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law on Monday. The budget includes $322.8 million for the University’s Ann Arbor campus, a 0.6 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, with $26.3 million allocated for U-M Dearborn and $23.9 million for U-M Flint, 1 percent and 1.3 percent increases respectively. The funds contain a stipulation that tuition for in-state undergraduates does not increase by more than 4.4 percent or $587, depending on which is the larger amount. The budget is the result of a months-long standoff between Whitmer and Republicans in the state legislature over the governor’s signature campaign promise to fix Michigan’s worn down roads and infrastructure. Whitmer signed the budget for
fiscal year 2020 hours before the deadline to fund the government and avoid a shutdown. She issued 147 line-item vetoes to slash $947 million from the 16 budgets sent to her desk. The cuts included $38 million in higher education tuition grants for private colleges and universities in the state and $150,000 for a program that supports students who are pregnant or parenting children. In a video posted to Twitter on Monday night, Whitmer explained why she made the cuts. “I took my role as governor very seriously,” Whitmer said in the video. “I had to use the line-item veto to try to clean up budgets that were a complete mess, built on phony numbers, using funds in the wrong way, usurping executive power. These are important things that I had to eliminate from these budgets. I’m always going to put the safety and the health and the welfare of the people of the state of Michigan before anything else.” See BUDGET, Page 3A
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ALEC COHEN/Daily Members of the Center of the City Task Force at a meeting in Larcom City Hall Tuesday afternoon.
KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter
The Center of the City Task Force met at Larcom City Hall Wednesday afternoon to advance their public engagement plan. It was the fifth task force meeting for the 10-person municipal committee, created after local voters approved Proposal A to designate the library lot between Fifth Avenue and Division Street for plans to become a park and civic center commons.
Community member and Pioneer High School senior Miles Klapthor is not a member of the task force but led the meeting in place of committee chair Meghan Mussolf. He explained his interest in this project as an Ann Arbor native who wants to see the land put to good use. “I first got involved with the task force after reading about it in the newspaper. I thought it was pretty interesting, the idea of having public input for how lands going to be used around downtown and down the block,” Klapthor said. “A lot of
the time people my age, students in high school and students in college too, don’t really have a whole lot of input in the planning process in a lot of cases. Considering so much of the use of the area is centered around both the University, and a lot of high school students that are there, it’d be important to have some ideas brought to the table by people like me.” The committee discussed the most effective method to reach members of the community, weighing the general efficacy of universal mailing versus targeted
mailing, keeping in mind cost, likelihood of engagement and other factors. Committee member Alan Haber was the most vocal supporter of universal mailing, claiming it reached every stakeholder in Ann Arbor, while others proposed decreasing the scope of mailing lists to encourage specific feedback. “I do not believe our primary mode of communication with the public should be social media,” Haber said. See TASK FORCE, Page 3A
Professor Panel examines impact of opioid awarded crisis for those with chronic pain ‘Genius’ Event addresses effect of stereotypes, difficulty of navigating medical system fellowship ACADEMICS
JASMIN LEE
Elizabeth Anderson given MacAurthur grant for dedication, originality in her work ALEX HARRING Daily Staff Reporter
Elizabeth Anderson, University of Michigan professor of philosophy and women’s studies, was named a MacArthur Fellow last week. Anderson is one of 26 “Genius Grant” winners whose work displays “extraordinary originality.” In addition to Anderson, who is known for her work in political philosophy and social epistemology, this year’s MacArthur Fellowship class includes writers, artists and urban planners. The fellowship comes with a $625,000 grant to be distributed over five years. The Foundation was created by insurance businessman John MacArthur in 1970. The award is commonly known as the “Genius Grant” — against the wishes of the MacArthur Foundation itself — though Anderson said, in an interview with The Daily, she does not consider herself a genius in her field. Anderson pointed to research showing women are less likely to go into fields where one must be considered a “genius” rather than a hard worker. See MACARTHUR, Page 3A
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A panel titled “Unintended Consequences: Panel on the Impact of ‘Opioid Crisis’ Messaging on Those with Chronic Pain” kicked off Disability Community Month Wednesday. Disability Community Month is sponsored by the University of Michigan Human Resources department, Michigan Medicine and University Health Service. Around 30
people attended the event, held at Hatcher Gallery, and many of them were graduate students supporting Shanna Kattari, the event coordinator and assistant professor in the School of Social Work. Kattari was a panelist in the event, in addition to two other women, Emma Garrett and Clarissa Love. One additional panelist was unable to attend the event because she could not find a handicap accessible parking spot close to the Hatcher Graduate Library. Before the
panelists shared their own stories, Kattari shared stories of people who could not attend the panel due to their own chronic pain. Kattari shared one story about a Vietnam War veteran whose insurance stopped paying for the pain medication he had been taken for decades. When his children stopped hearing from him, they went to visit him and were shocked by what they discovered. “He was a mess,” Kattari said. “Turns out, after decades of being on medication,
his providers cut him off cold turkey... They told him to work on mindfulness exercises to handle it, but he was completely depressed. He never moved from his armchair, except maybe to use the bathroom, and slept in that chair all the time, depressed. He was embarrassed… because he was ashamed he couldn’t make due about the medication.”
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Panelists discuss the impact of the opioid crisis for those who deal with chronic pain at the Hatcher Gallery Wednesday afternoon.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 4 ©2019 The Michigan Daily
KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
MEDICINE
Hospital ordered to keep boy on life-support
Mother, community advocate for 14-yearold deemed braindead by University LEAH GRAHAM, MADELINE MCLAUGHLIN & ALEX HARRING Daily News Editor & Daily Staff Reporters
Sarah Jones doesn’t want to stop fighting. “I’m fighting to keep my son alive,” Jones said. “It’s been a nightmare every day since we’ve been here.” On Saturday, Sept. 21, her son, 14-year-old Bobby Reyes, went into cardiac arrest after suffering an asthma attack while she was driving him home in Monroe County. He was immediately transferred to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, where doctors declared him brain dead. After conducting a series of tests, doctors announced to the family Reyes would not recover, and they would be taking him off of his life support Friday, Sept. 27. In response, Reyes’ family contacted an attorney to issue a court order that would extend his time on life support. On Monday, Washtenaw County’s 22nd Circuit Court ordered Michigan Medicine to delay taking Reyes off of life support. See LIFE-SUPPORT, Page 3A
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2A — Thursday, October 3, 2019
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Jasmyne @jaschhen2 sitting in physics and i got an email saying my application is complete for university of michigan and i will receive a response by december 24 and suddenly i’m nauseous
Rob Stone @A2Copywriter Today University of Michigan alumna and superb operatic singer Jessye Norman passed away. A national treasure.
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Jeremy Peters @jeremypeters Overhead at @UMich: “This is the League, it is kind of like the Union, but not the Union.”
Cady Kity @cadyjaja I am fine just school can be overwhelming and if u went to UMich I am CONFIDENT u cried on campus too.
Captain Maya @_maya-kennedy whoever hacked chegg and therefore hacked my entire umich account tbh I fight today
Tyler K @tkoestdance I never thought I would say this, but today I took a tour of University of Michigan with Shaggy from Scooby Doo...
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MICHAEL BAGAZINSKI/Daily Laura Johnson of Case Western Reserve University discusses the impact of massive spin-2 gravitons on a multitude of spacetimes including de Sitter, anti-de Sitter and flat space as a part of the HET Brown Bag Seminars in Randall Laboratory Wednesday afternoon.
Panel discussion looks at impact of Brazil’s right-wing president Historians, political scientists examine Jair Bolsonaro’s effect on higher education in country
Bolsonaro with his billion of Brazil’s education administration’s attacks budget. Daily Staff Reporter In April, Bolsonaro tweeted on the press, loosening of environmental protections and a tweet which originally appeared in Portoguese, stating cuts to education spending. The Weiser Center for Panelist Casarões described that the Minister of Education Emerging Democracies hosted a the corruption present in the planned on reducing investment panel on Wednesday discussing Brazillian cabinet, especially in sociology and philosophy the state of Brazil under due to Olavo de Carvalho, self- courses in order to “focus on President Jair Bolsonaro and described Brazilian philosopher, areas that generate immediate reflecting on how his rule has and his strong influence on return to the taxpayer,” like impacted higher education in engineering and medicine. Bolsonaro’s administration. the country. Lessing described the “The most important feature About 45 students, faculty and of Bolsonaro’s narrative and disorder present within the community members attended Carvalho’s role in shaping Brazilian education system and the event, which consisted of Bolsonaro’s narrative is the fact the issues with Bolsonaro’s lack presentations and a questionthat he was able to appoint a of emphasis on the humanities. and-answer session from “To me, a huge risk that we number of different people to three professors and historical Bolsonaro’s cabinet,” Casarões haven’t talked about yet is what professionals. Benjamin Lessing, said. “So it called people’s I see as an attack on the federal assistant professor of political science at the University of attention when the government university system in Brazil,” Chicago, highlighted the was being formed that Carvalho Lessing said. “The attack on politics of crime and violence was able to appoint at least three higher education — which ministers out of 24 ministers (Bolsonaro) sees as infiltrated in Brazil, while WCED Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ in Bolsonaro’s cabinet, even by communism and basically in Postdoctoral Fellow Marília though Carvalho had no need of flushing out — it’s really trying to create chaos within the vote at all.” Casarões described federal university system and how one of the positions it’s kind of a vision of you don’t Carvalho appointed was need humanities, you don’t need the Minister of Education social sciences, you just need EASY Abraham Weintraub. technical education.” As a Brazillian herself, Corrêa Three of Carvalho’s former students are described her hesitation with also in Bolsonaro’s teaching in Brazil in the midst of the unsupportive education administration, filling crucial roles in system promoted by Bolsonaro. “So for me particularly, I am international affairs and foreign relations. Brazilian and people often ask Bolsonaro’s sons hold two me if I want to go back to Brazil to teach there, but right now, as of these three positions. Many have been one of the speakers spoke just angered by the corruption a little bit ago, the Bolsonaro within Bolsonaro’s government has been kind of administration, especially moving against the university in regard to the lack of system there,” Corrêa said. focus on higher education. “They have been cutting costs, In May, tens of thousands so we’re actually seeing brains of students, teachers leaving Brazil to go elsewhere and academics stormed in the world that value what the streets of São Paulo, they’re doing... it’s a really hard protesting the Ministry of time right now for the research, Education’s plan to cut 30 in the sciences too but especially percent of the funds to the in the humanities.” discretionary expenses © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. GET WELL SOON puzzle by sudokusyndication.com budget for universities Read more at in Brazil. This freeze is MichiganDaily.com equivalent to over $1.8 Generate and solve Sudoku, Super Sudoku and Godoku puzzles at sudokusyndication.com! PARNIA MAZHAR
Corrêa spoke on the history of Brazilian military dictatorship. Guilherme Casarões, lecturer in international relations at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas São Paulo Business School, focused on how Bolsonaro has reshaped Brazil’s national identity. Brazilians elected Bolsonaro, a far-right politician, as president in October 2018 after a controversial and polarizing political race. Since his election into office, Bolsonaro has angered many Brazilian citizens and people across the globe with his contentious policies. In a video address, he threatened jailing and banishing his political opponents, and in an executive order, he undermined the rights of indigenous people and the LGBTQ community. Panelists discussed the controversies surrounding
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Judges decline to halt ban on flavored vape products
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s prohibition survives legal challenges EMMA RUBERG Daily Staff Reporter
On Monday, Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stevens denied a request to temporarily postpone Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s ban on f lavored e-cigarettes that took effect Tuesday. The emergency order, which bans the sale of all f lavored nicotine liquid and the use of f lavors to market e-cigarettes, was announced on Sept. 17. Retailers were given two weeks from the announcement to sell or dispose of their products. The request was part of a lawsuit filed by Mark Slis, owner of 906 Vapor in Houghton, Michigan. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Jonker denied a similar request made by Mister E-Liquid, a Grand Rapids-based vape shop on Monday. Slis’s lawsuit was filed in Houghton County Circuit Court. It claimed the rules violate Michigan state laws and asked for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to postpone the ban. The temporary restraining order was denied, and a hearing was held Monday for the preliminary injunction. The judge took no action and postponed the hearing until Oct. 8. In his testimony before the Michigan House Oversight Committee, Slis offered a personal story about f lavored e-cigarettes helping him with his smoking addiction. He also discussed how the ban will affect his business and similar businesses across the state. “If the governor’s order stands and f lavors are banned, I will go immediately go out of business,” Slis said. “I will immediately file for bankruptcy. No question. I think my experience will be mirrored across the state.”
LIFE-SUPPORT From Page 1A Following the doctor’s decision, a Facebook page titled “Save Bobby” was created by the Reyes family’s friends and relatives. The page is intended to raise awareness about Bobby’s case, offer support to those close to him, and share information about potential medical alternatives. In the page’s description, the family pleads for community support and time. “I’m trying to be strong even though I don’t feel strong,” Jones said to The Daily. “I’m so weak. I’m tired. But I’m not going to quit fighting for my son as long as his heart is beating. I will be fighting for him to my last breath. And I said, whatever happens, it’s in God’s hands. If God takes my son while he’s on life support, you know, we’ll make peace with it, but I’ll never have peace with knowing that I consented to pulling the plug on my son when he’s still here.” A GoFundMe page was set up to help the family pay for legal fees associated with the court order and other costs to assist the family during this difficult time. Since it was published six days ago, it has raised more than $8,200.
TASK FORCE From Page 1A They also discussed neighbor outreach, with plans for meetings with library staff, Kempf House Museum staff, nearby residents, nearby business owners, Ann Arbor Transportation Authority representatives and Downtown Development Authority members. Task force members Norman Tyler and Ann Dilcher proposed an activity for the public meeting where the group is shown photos of urban spaces, in order to find out what aspects Ann Arbor
The lawsuit filed by Mister-E Liquid cites similar concerns, saying the company would be forced to shut down, leave the state of Michigan, and lay off employees. LSA junior Blake Richards used to use a Juul electronic cigarette but has recently quit because of mental health effects and decreased motivation and energy levels. He explained how he thought the ban would affect vape shops in Ann Arbor. “From what I’ve heard, several vape shops will essentially replace e-liquid with CBD oils, tinctures, etc. as CBD is becoming more and more popular,” Richards said. “I would imagine that this is why Gretchen Whitmer gave about a month’s notice.” He also explained he thought the ban would work and was worth possible short-term harm. “While I couldn’t speculate the percentage, I do think a large amount of kids will quit smoking,” Richards said. “Especially if they’re relatively new smokers. From personal experience, tobacco-f lavored e-liquid was only tolerable for a few hits in the morning and just a few more throughout the day. And cigarettes leave a horrible taste in your mouth and most people know they are filled with carcinogens, tar and about a dozen other chemicals that shouldn’t ever be in your lungs.” When she announced the ban, Whitmer said her order followed a finding by Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan’s chief medical executive, that youth vaping was a public health crisis. In a statement, Khaldun said the increase in vaping among young people was alarming. “In the past few years, we’ve seen an explosive increase in
the number of Michigan kids exposed to vaping products,” Khaldun said. “This is a public health crisis. These products can contain harmful chemicals that put our kids’ health at risk. I’m looking forward to working with Governor Whitmer to mitigate these effects and keep our kids healthy.” There have been concerns the ban would cause users to switch to cigarettes in the absence of an alternative. Michigan was the first state to enact a ban on f lavored nicotine liquid. Since Whitmer announced the order, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and California have taken similar actions. The Trump administration has also announced an interest in enacting a similar policy. “We’re looking at very strong rules and regulations. We already have laws as we need them,” President Donald Trump said in a Sept. 11 press conference. “But we want to get to the bottom of a very unusual situation. It’s so new, and it’s become so big, so fast. And it could be a potential very severe problem.” Alex Azar, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, also gave a brief statement about the administration’s ban and explained its goal of reducing the number of children using e-cigarettes. “So, with the President’s support, the Food and Drug Administration intends to finalize a guidance document that would commence enforcement to require that all f lavors, other than tobacco f lavor, would be removed from the market,” Azar said. “So, once the FDA would finalize this guidance, we would begin enforcement actions to remove all such products from the marketplace.”
“Every minute we have with him is a miracle,” Jones said. “He’s fighting, and I’m fighting harder for him. But we just want to bring attention to what’s going on at the hospitals, because I’m not the only one.” Mary Masson, director of public relations for Michigan Medicine, said in an email statement to The Daily Tuesday the hospital would continue to support the family. “All of us empathize with the extraordinarily emotional process that families facing such matters go through,” Masson wrote. “Michigan Medicine follows the State of Michigan law on determination of death, and conducts extensive testing before determining there is brain death due to the irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain. Our team of highly experienced and specialized nurses, doctors and other health professionals exhaust every available option to help patients who are critically ill.” William Amadeo is one of the attorneys helping out the family. He said he heard about the case through social media. “There were so many people that reached out to me on Facebook about a kid that’s dying,” Amadeo said. “I want to do my role to try to help the family. I mean, if there’s a
chance that Bobby could live I thought I was obligated to try to help.” Amadeo said his work typically focuses on criminal law, but he felt compelled to take on Bobby’s case pro bono. “There are cases when people are in need, I’ll jump in,” Amadeo said. “But this was the first actual situation with somebody who was actually deemed brain dead and I was trying to help them out, so it was kind of a new experience for everybody.” Amadeo said he worked with an attorney for the University to get the hospital records straightened out for the family and asked for people to continue to support the family. “At this point, you need to find another doctor, and the family is doing everything possible for that,” Amadeo said. Jones said she’s trying to move her son to a different hospital. “Now we need to find a place to get him out of here because he needs to go someplace else that wants to help him and doesn’t want to talk about, you know, pressuring his parents to do something that they don’t agree with,” Jones said. “You got to go with your gut as a mother and my gut is telling me to fight ‘til my last breath for my son.”
residents envision for this space. “We’re trying to get some feedback on the kinds of urban space that people would feel most comfortable with,” Tyler said. “It’s a very simple device to see what people like and they don’t like, and then ask for comments. I think people need to be educated, and we’re educating ourselves with this input.” LSA senior Hannah Boettcher, the only student on the committee, described her role as a student spokesperson and her excitement to engage with the community. “Organization has been our big struggle lately, just to get
things moving, get the ball rolling on events,” Boettcher said. “But I’m hopeful towards the future because we have these community engagement events on the records. It’s important to me that these community engagement events are really inclusive of the actual community, and I’m speaking specifically now towards the university student community, that’s a voice that can very easily be lost in these discussions.” The agenda for the next meeting will include further discussion of mailing, plans for the Nov. 6 meeting, discussion of public engagement, and website development.
MACARTHUR From Page 1A Anderson cited this characterization as her major qualm with the title. “Notoriously, philosophy and also math and physics are places where you have people believe you have to be a ‘genius’ to succeed in them,” Anderson said. “And those are also disciplines — especially physics and philosophy — where there are very few women, so I’m not keen on calling the MacArthur Awards ‘Genius Awards.’” In her studies, Anderson mainly examines problems in the circulation of ideas among people. She operates under the pragmatist tradition, which she described as a way of reviewing problematic experiences to diagnose the issue at hand. This line of reasoning, Anderson said, uses normative thinking to find solutions. When Anderson arrived at the University in 1987, she was the only woman on tenure-track in the Philosophy Department and in 1993, she became the first woman to be awarded tenure from within the department. Anderson’s experience as the only woman on tenuretrack in the department led her to seek out colleagues in women’s studies to help her better understand her experience at the University. This collaboration prompted her to think about feminist philosophy, which she said has gone on to shape her work. Anderson theorizes under non-ideal theory, which requires philosophers to think about what is appropriate in an imperfect world, rather than operating under the assumption the world is perfect. “It was a very problematic experience which actually led me to my colleagues in women’s studies, and really led me to start thinking seriously about feminist philosophy, partly just to understand my own experiences of what it’s like to kind of be a gatecrasher in an allmale domain,” Anderson said. “It’s interesting that a large number of feminist philosophers are attracted to the pragmatist tradition, because pragmatism always starts with problems, not
BUDGET From Page 1A State Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, said the budgets that made it to Whitmer’s desk fell short compared to the proposal Whitmer first offered in March, which called for a 3 percent increase in funding to Michigan colleges and universities while capping tuition hikes at 3.2 percent. “The governor proposed a budget with funding that was a lot higher than what the House ended up sending her, and I was disappointed to see that,” Rabhi said. “I was very supportive of the governor’s budget as she initially introduced it, I think that the increase that she had included was still even not enough, but way better than the 1 percent, or in some cases, less than 1 percent increase that the legislature gave, which to our 15 public universities, in my beliefs, is completely unacceptable.” In a statement, Cynthia Wilbanks, vice president for government relations, also said she found the approved budget disappointing. “We know that in order for our state economy to be strong, we will need a more educated workforce in the years to come,” Wilbanks said. “Unfortunately, this budget falls short in addressing our state’s pressing need and shifts even more of the cost burden to our students and families.” Rabhi said the governor’s decision to veto certain items was a result of her limited options.
Thursday, October 3, 2019 — 3A with utopia.” Peter Railton, professor of philosophy, said Anderson’s research on democratic theory and equality in political philosophy is unmatched. He explained her interest in the historical dimension of all political changes and ways to translate understanding into action makes her unique in the philosophy world. Railton said he is unaware of any living philosopher whose work better understands the value of philosophy in a changing world. He compared her work to that of John Dewey, Anderson’s profesorship’s namesake who was an American philosopher whose work inf luenced education and social reform. “She is certainly one of the leading contemporary philosophers working in English and her work is known worldwide … but this fellowship I don’t think is for being well-known, or even being widely read, it’s for being distinctive,” Railton said. “She has really been a pioneer in a halfdozen fields, and she’s done seminal work, so it’s easy to see why she was viewed as a distinctive philosopher.” Additionally, Railton said her work has enriched diversity and inclusion, and she has both personally and professionally enhanced the University community. Rackham student Mercy Corredor said Anderson’s reputation for enhancing the University is well known among philosophy students. When Corredor first arrived as a graduate student in philosophy, she said she felt out of place, but taking Anderson’s class first semester made her feel at home in the discipline. After building a rapport with Anderson through the class, Corredor asked Anderson to chair her dissertation committee. Now in her fifth year of graduate school, Corredor described Anderson as a teacher who is genuinely happy to work with students. “She just genuinely gets really excited about hearing ideas put in new and interesting ways,” Corredor said. “From the student side of it, nothing feels better than that — the advisor you respect so much genuinely getting excited about the things you think about.” As for why Anderson’s work is worthy of recognition from the
MacArthur Foundation, Corredor described her work in democracy and equality has been “revolutionary.” Corredor also noted the importance of Anderson’s problemfocused, solution-oriented approach to philosophy. “She has an incredible nose for finding important problems that are affecting people in the world, and she goes there and then theorizes as a way of alleviating those problems,” Corredor said. “A lot of philosophers like to look in the other direction, where they do the theorizing first, and then go out into the world and see if they can apply the theories to the people — and that’s the opposite of what she’s doing. She really cares about people and their problems. That’s part of her pragmatist approach, and so that is what motivates her work first and foremost and this is what makes her a really incredible scholar.” Currently, Anderson is on leave from the University to work on two books — one on the history and contemporary significance of the Protestant work ethic and the other on the ethics of political communication. Anderson said she is interested in writing for a broad audience so people can understand her work and apply it to the socialpolitical problems present in their everyday lives. Anderson, who has been as LSA professor for more than three decades, said the University has seen many changes from when she was the only female tenure-track professor in her department in the late 1980s. However, Anderson said she has always been impressed with the University’s commitment to interdisciplinary research. “University of Michigan is just a fantastic place to be doing research like this because there are so few barriers between departments, schools, units and programs,” Anderson said. “Everybody is really interested in talking to everyone else — interested in each other’s research — and it’s not like at other schools where departments are siloed and insulated from each other. So that’s the reason why I’ve chosen to stay here and make my career here, because it’s just an amazing intellectual environment.”
“Part of the issue that Governor Whitmer was facing is that she can only veto items and move funding around within a departmental budget,” Rabhi said. “But she cannot add funding to a departmental budget, so she was not able to add any money. She was basically faced, I think, with the decision of do we want to eliminate all funding to our universities and renegotiate it, or do we take what we can get for now, and negotiate for more later.” Rabhi said Democratic lawmakers wanted a larger increase in funding for higher education funding. “I wanted more money,” Rabhi said. “I ultimately voted no on the higher education budget, because I wanted to send a strong message and the rest of the Democratic Caucus wanted to send a strong message I think it was, you know, near-unanimous within the Democratic Caucus, that we were opposed to the higher education budget as it was presented.” The budget kept funding constant for two financial aid programs utilized by University students: the Michigan Competitive Scholarship, which supports students with a qualifying score on the ACT or SAT who have demonstrated financial need, and the Tuition Incentive Program, which benefits students of lower socioeconomic status with tuition assistance. Each of the programs received $6 million in additional funding last year. Public Policy junior Camille Mancuso, communications
director for the University’s chapter of College Democrats, said the state failed to meaningfully invest in postsecondary education. “While the state of Michigan has increased funding for U-M, there is still an apparent lack of meaningful investment in higher education,” Mancuso said. “The University’s tuition has increased over the past years, and there remains significant inequities between funding granted to U-M Ann Arbor compared to U-M Flint or U-M Dearborn.” The Board of Regents approved a budget for the University in June based in part on expected state funds, which they calculated would be $375.9 million. The actual amount of state funding — a total of $373 across the University’s three campuses — falls short of that project, leaving a revenue gap for the University to address. Rabhi framed funding decisions for universities as an issue of accessibility. “Regardless of where you live in the state of Michigan or how much money you make, it’s important that our universities do serve everyone,” Rabhi said. “Now that should be, in my opinion, a call to action for universities to ensure that they focus on accessibility so that every student in the state of Michigan feels that they can draw value from our 15 universities in the state of Michigan. They should serve everyone.” A representative from the University’s chapter of College Republicans declined to comment.
Opinion
4A — Thursday, October 3, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SOLOMON MEDINTZ | COLUMN
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JARED STOLOVE | COLUMN
U-M Ann Arbor doesn’t need state funding
L
ast year, a coalition of University of Michigan faculty and students launched the One University (1U) campaign, with the goal of advocating for more equitable funding across U-M’s three campuses. The campaign’s efforts culminated in May with the opportunity to speak directly to the Board of Regents at their meeting in Dearborn, after which the board did not implement the changes that 1U sought out. Despite this setback, the movement has built considerable momentum, with several regents expressing support and multiple state lawmakers publishing an op-ed advancing the 1U’s viewpoint. 1U’s argument is simple: The University’s Ann Arbor campus is substantially betterfunded than either of the Flint or Dearborn campuses – a problem exacerbated by the fact that Ann Arbor students tend to be from significantly more advantaged backgrounds. The argument of those who oppose the coalition’s view, such as University President Mark Schlissel, is also simple: The three campuses have different purposes and different goals, and the funding stream reflects that. While I’ve always found the “different goals” argument to be a dismissive response to a highly consequential issue, I also have been hesitant to fully embrace 1U’s mission. Most of the people I had heard advocate for 1U were either students at Flint and Dearborn — who only had things to gain — and Ann Arbor students like me, who come from wealthier backgrounds and would therefore be well-insulated from the impacts of budget cuts. On the other hand, many of my friends in Ann Arbor come from small towns in rural Michigan and are not necessarily better off financially than those students at Flint or Dearborn. Moreover, research shows that students who attend U-M’s Ann Arbor campus from less wealthy backgrounds are nearly twice as likely to move up the income ladder as students at Flint or Dearborn. Initially, I worried that budget cuts could reduce U-M Ann Arbor’s effectiveness as a platform for social mobility for people like my friends, either by harming the quality of the education
they had worked hard for, or by reducing the financial aid they depended on to go here. However, when I actually set out to look into the budgets of the three campuses, I realized that 1U was stating their case in the most conservative way possible. 1U’s research already indicates that Ann Arbor students receive over twice as much state funding per student and well over twice as much total funding in comparison to Flint and Dearborn. But this is calculated based only on the U-M General Budget. The General Budget, which comprises only of the revenue that U-M generates through tuition and state funding, accounts for less than a quarter of U-M Ann Arbor’s funding, as compared to over 80 percent of funding for the other two campuses. The rest of Ann Arbor’s funding comes from interest off of its $11.9 billion endowment, research grants from foundations and the federal government, designated funds and “auxiliary” components of the campus, like Michigan Medicine and Campus Housing, which generate their own revenue. These funding streams, which result from the Ann Arbor campus’ status as a worldrenowned research university with wealthy alumni, are simply less to the other campuses. Once these other funding streams are factored in, the calculations show that state funding shrinks to 3 percent of the Ann Arbor campus’ total budget, compared to over 15 percent on both of the other campuses. The endowment interest alone brings in millions of dollars more than the totality of state funding. This means state funding for U-M Ann Arbor students, which, to reiterate, is twice that of Dearborn and Flint, is barely significant in the context of the campus’ total budget. Thinking about my initial reservations about 1U’s arguments, I looked into financial aid. Unsurprisingly, the Ann Arbor campus spends only a miniscule amount of its total budget of financial aid – just 3 percent compared to 10 percent and 18 percent at the Flint and Dearborn campuses respectively. Since U-M Ann Arbor also relies so little on state funding, this means that reallocating state appropriations
would be unlikely to significantly affect financial aid on the Ann Arbor campus. To get a sense of how big the effect of reallocations might be, I did some back-of-theenvelope calculations. I held each campus’s percent spending on financial aid constant, and transferred an amount equal to one quarter of the Ann Arbor campus’s state funding to the other two campuses. The result? Average financial aid packages in Dearborn and Flint by increased by over 15 percent, while reducing Ann Arbor students’ financial aid by less than one percent. In light of numbers like these, the current funding structure isn’t simply unfair or inequitable: It’s completely at odds with common sense. Of course, the effect of reallocations might not be exactly what I found. There is a good reason why 1U only considers the General Fund in their calculations: much of the rest of the budget is earmarked for specific activities. Endowment donors want their money spent on specific programs, foundation funding is tied to particular research projects, and units like Michigan Medicine need much of their revenue to carry out daily operations. However, these funds heavily subsidize many of the activities, such as research, student services and financial aid, that are also paid out of the General Fund. Not accounting for these components completely disregards the enormous amount of funding that benefits Ann Arbor students at the cost of those in other campuses. Ultimately, the Ann Arbor campus simply doesn’t need state funding the way that either the Flint or Dearborn campuses do. U-M Dearborn and Flint students come from less advantaged backgrounds and receive less funding and support even while their schools dedicate much larger portions of their budget to serve students. These disparities across campuses can’t be erased, but it’s clear that they can be easily improved. What isn’t clear is why Schlissel, the Board of Regents, and the state legislature refuse to take action. Jared Stolove can be reached at jstolove@umich.edu.
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T
AB5 attacks the heart of the gig economy
his year’s most important bill for the future of work passed in California in September, and we should all take note. The law — Assembly Bill 5 — sets a new definition for what it means to be an employee, and it is the most direct legislative affront to the so-called “gig economy” yet. AB5 sends the right message, but it now seems too late. The gig economy and the companies that have made it are too far and too powerful. The timing of this bill is significant because the gig economy — where independent workers are paid by the individual job instead of a wage or salary — is growing quickly. By 2027, according to one model, approximately 50 percent of workers in the United States will not be tied to a specific employer. Instead, they will do some freelance or gig work. It is a dangerous trend. It signifies the end of a work culture in which employees rely on their employers for social insurance. The gig economy has grown because employment has become more of a burden and finding quick work has become easier. It has led companies to do everything in their power to classify their workers as independent contractors and not full employees. For their employees, employers have to provide unemployment and health insurance, pay for parental leave and overtime, abide by minimum wage laws and grant the right to form a union. For independent contractors, employers are off the hook for all of it. Specifically, AB5 clearly lays out the criteria for classifying a worker as an independent contractor, in contrast to the vague federal law under which most states operate. AB5 says that independent contractors are those who are not under company control, whose work is not the core part of the company’s business and that has an independent business in the industry. This law will have enormous consequences for gig workers across the state and their employers, but most saliently for Uber and Lyft. Under AB5, drivers will get all the employee benefits they have missed as independent contractors.
The National Employment Law Project estimates that it is 30 percent cheaper for employers to hire someone as an independent contractor than as an employee, a potentially crippling blow for companies that are already running deficits. But they will not go down without a fight. Uber and Lyft are up in arms over AB5 because it has the potential to reverberate around the country. The rival companies recently united to pour $90 million into a lobbying campaign to fight the bill and its implementation – and their efforts underscore how they cannot be trusted to give fair deals to their drivers. Their campaign has three parts. The first is the standard libertarian messaging that government regulation is limiting business. They are not wrong. Uber and Lyft will suffer as companies, drivers may not have as much flexibility and wait times and ride fares will likely rise. However, tech companies that rely on the gig economy should see AB5 as a challenge that needs to be faced. If forcing the companies to comply with standard labor law is a gut punch, Uber and Lyft’s business model needs to become more resilient. The second part of the campaign has been to try and mobilize drivers against AB5. But this effort has been full of deceit and intimidation. In early June, drivers were asked to sign petitions to support flexible hours without realizing they were fighting against employee classification. Some drivers were also under the impression that signing the petition was mandatory, including drivers for whom English is a second language. The tech companies’ negotiating tactics show how necessary confrontational organizing is. Drivers have been protesting how the companies take excessive portions of fares for years, but Uber and Lyft did nothing because their independent contractors did not have the capacity to collectively organize. Only after AB5 picked up steam in the California legislature did Uber roll out a compromise plan, even though its concessions were weak. Uber and Lyft marketed the proposal as a
$21 minimum wage, but since that wage only applies to drivers who are actively picking up or with passengers, drivers would still be making below California minimum wage. It is easy to frame AB5 as an unequivocal win. But under the law, Uber and Lyft can still make the working lives of their drivers terrible, and have suggested that they will. First, they have suggested that they will just ignore the new law. More likely and thus more concerning is what kind of retribution the companies will deliver to their drivers. The biggest question is what will happen to driver flexibility. Lots of Uber and Lyft drivers say that without the ability to choose their own hours, they would not work. This is especially true for drivers who work other jobs, quasiretirees who will not commit to working different hours and students with irregular schedules. When AB5 comes into effect, Uber and Lyft say they may have to start setting hour minimums or preventing certain drivers from logging on in low-traffic areas. The bill’s supporters have countered that AB5 does compel Uber and Lyft to implement such restrictions. If they do, it would be by their own volition. There is a way to address the ambiguities of AB5 as well as Uber and Lyft’s public relations campaign against the bill that will send a clear message to the gig economy. Instead of mandating drivers have a different relationship with their employers, they should be able to choose whether to be classified as employees or independent contractors. The drivers putting in 50 hours in the car per week are employees who deserve the rights that label entails. But the drivers who are actually independent contractors could retain the flexibility they need. If the vast majority of drivers choose to be employees instead of independent contractors, it would send an unequivocal statement of opposition to the gig economy, one that Uber and Lyft cannot muddle. Solomon Medintz can be reached at smedintz@umich.edu.
ANIK JOSHI | COLUMN
Felicity Huffman and the criminal justice we deserve
F
elicity Huffman, years in prison. McDowell and Huffman’s who plays Lynette in “Desperate respective cases illustrate a number of things, Housewives,” was but two to point sentenced in early out are the obvious September for her racial difference role in the college and the inefficiency admissions scam. of criminal justice. For those of you that Both of these crimes don’t remember, were committed that was when by mothers and the University of both were in the Southern California educational field (and a few other ANIK and, to be honest, selective schools) JOSHI neither one needs vaulted to the front pages of The Wall Street Journal a five-year sentence. I’m open and other newspapers for taking to the argument that neither one needs a sentence at all, bribes for admissions spots. Now, Huffman has been which brings me to point out sentenced for her actions in the obvious inefficiencies here. helping the Trojans beclown Keeping people locked up is not themselves yet again, to 14 days cheap and, all in all, is a pretty in the slammer, one year of bad use of state resources. probation, a $30,000 fine and Decades of just throwing a requirement that she wear homeless people behind bars Stanford gear for the next eight has yet to yield positive results months. That last one is a lie, and yet we continue as if we but the rest of it is true. Upon have a collective memory span reading her sentence, I was than a fruit fly. Instead of wasting taxpayer resources on struck by a couple of things. First, it seemed like a fair an endless scheme of locking sentence to me. I obviously up nonviolent offenders along think the actions of the parents with the less fortunate, there were pretty shameful but, at should be investments made the end of the day, these actions in rehabilitation and social didn’t really hurt anyone. You services as those have much could make a case that not better returns on investment for getting into some of those the community and much better schools had injurious effects results for those who utilize or devalued your degree and — them. Second, this made me think indicating the desperate need for tort reform — you could even about Lori Loughlin and her case. She reportedly regrets file a lawsuit along those lines. However, you should do not taking a plea deal early on none of those things because, and deciding to go to court, ultimately, Huffman got because she and her husband sentenced in a manner that got hit with additional charges was pretty fair relative to her after that. And, since Huffman crime. She’s not a murderer – got prison time, she almost why treat her like one? This certainly will as well. It seems principle should be applied unfair that choosing to go trial to more than just Huffman, will cause negative impacts though. For example, when out of the gate, as we all have Tanya McDowell used her son’s a Sixth Amendment right babysitter’s address to register to a speedy and public trial. her son in school, she absolutely However, in practice, what should not have gotten five happened to Loughlin is the
norm. Defendants who choose to plead not guilty and go to trial routinely receive harsher punishments than those who take plea deals, and this is a well known threat to induce confessions – innocence be damned. Huffman and Loughlin (and the rest of the clown car) did something that’s bad. You could look at it in a positive light if you want my againstthe-grain take but not many people do (for obvious reasons). Neither of these two women are convenient avatars for the injustices that are part and parcel of the criminal justice system but that does not mean that we should ignore the lessons that we can take from this event. First, USC is a bit of a joke. Second, Huffman getting a light sentence for a pretty light crime is a good thing, and if more people got those kinds of sentences, it would generally be a better world and making these sentences harder to get through a trial is on the merits, bad. A nation ruled by lawyers will always be procedural hell and there is no reason at all to encourage that. Third, Loughlin choosing to go to trial and appearing to get a harsher punishment for it is not a good thing. We all have a right to a fair trial, and it shouldn’t be unnecessarily abrogated. People will say that we shouldn’t care about Huffman’s and Loughlin’s run-ins with justice, and while I see their point, I disagree. The people who usually deal with that system are far less privileged, far less rich and oftentimes far less white. If some of the lessons from these cases can be applied a little more broadly, it’d be a much better country for all of us. Anik Joshi can be reached at anikj@ umich.edu.
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, October 3, 2019— 5A
Big Ten reacts to NIL law with mix of apprehension, ignorance and support JACOB KOPNICK Daily Sports Writer
ROSEMONT, Ill. — On Monday, the college athletics world was rocked to its core. California Gov. Gavin Newsome signed a bill into law that, starting in 2023, allows college athletes to benefit off their name, image and likeness (NIL). It’s the beginning of the payoff of a social movement that rallied professional and amateur athletes alike to push for the right of athletes to benefit off the name on the back of their jersey, as well as the name on the front. So it’s no doubt that this issue cast a large shadow over Big Ten Media Day on Wednesday. With the ground shifting beneath their feet, coaches from programs both big and small were quick to get ahead of the issue and take a stance on the topic. Some chose to champion the issue. Some chose to plead ignorance. But none outwardly said the move was bad for the world of college athletics and all that universities do for their players. That is, except Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney. His argument rests on the back of a claim that with only 1 or 2 percent of college athletes likely to profit from this new rule, why spoil the fun for the rest of the field? Kicking off the day’s festivities with his opinion on the issue, Delaney argued that the sport of basketball takes place in many environments, some of which pay their players and some of which do not. The Big Ten and the NCAA do not. “We’re not perfect,” Delaney said, “but I think that the opportunities that we have for the great many shouldn’t be sacrificed to the one percent who would probably have an opportunity to benefit here. “It’s a college game. It’s different than the NBA, different than the Olympics and different than the playground. So I think that we’re able to maintain the opportunities
that we have for men and women and avoid pay-for-play so far as we can.” As it stands now, the California bill would not limit the opportunities for the majority of college athletes who won’t have a shot to profit off their likeness. So how this new law might potentially take away from these athletes in the Big Ten remains unclear, but one thing is: the door to NIL profits for college athletes has been opened. With this development comes many concerns for coaches outside the state of California. Now that student athletes in the golden state may have the opportunity to net extra profits, any recruit with NBA aspirations and common sense will make a mad dash out west. The question now turns to leveling the playing field. “I think there’s still ways we need to learn because we do have to keep this on a level playing field,” said Penn State coach Pat Chambers, “because if it gets out of whack, well we’re gonna lose out because of recruiting when it comes to being competitive in the Big Ten and across the country.” For many athletes and coaches, the question is about fairness. What do you imagine when you think of the traditional college athlete? A pimple-faced teenager struggling to handle both transition defense and introductory biology? Perhaps. What about a married, father of two with bills to pay, mouths to feed and a whole course load to balance? If that doesn’t sound right, then meet Michigan State forward Xavier Tillman. When discussing the issue of pay to play, Tillman was quick to admit that a few extra dollars in his pocket would go a long way in filling the gaps his scholarship can’t quite cover towards expenses
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Under California’s new name, image and likeness law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsome this week, college athletes can make money off endorsements.
such as child care. The junior also posited that the California ruling could aid NBA-bound players in navigating the business end of things surrounding monetizing a player’s athletic ability. “I think it’s good just to educate NBA prospects or college players who have the potential to play in the NBA,” Tillman said. “To educate them on business decisions and stuff like that when they go to the NBA Draft, so it’ll be kind of nice for them.” Other players, like the Nittany Lions’ Lamar Stevens, thinks it’s just flat-out wrong that others, such as colleges and administrators, are profiting off a college athlete’s
It’s kind of dangerous like, ‘Man, I don’t have the money.’
name and face – especially when that athlete may be struggling. Michigan junior forward Isaiah Livers echoed this sentiment, arguing that college players don’t have other opportunities to earn cash, so this new development will be welcomed by those struggling to make ends meet. “At a time when you literally have to spend money on your rent, those are the things you’re thinking about,” Livers said. “You can’t spend this money because you have to save it for something that has to be paid for, and it’s kind of dangerous like, ‘Man, I don’t have the money to eat.’ You have to go to a dorm and have someone let you in, go get East Quad or South Quad food, and it’s sad man.” Joining Tillman and Livers, there were several Big Ten coaches who voiced active encouragement of the ruling despite potentially disruptive unintended
Michigan goalies focusing on mental readiness MOLLY SHEA
Daily Sports Writer
Hayden Lavigne crouched between the posts, knees bent, head up and readied himself for the oncoming shots. Down the ice, 200 feet away, Strauss Mann mirrored a similar stance. And somewhere in the middle, Jack Leavy, the third goaltender, stood, awaiting the signal to switch with Lavigne or Mann. Then it happened. Lavigne raised his hand, and Leavy headed towards him middrill. As he reached the left post, a puck was shot at Lavigne. With Lavigne guarding the right post and Leavy on the left, the two goalies came up with a save. Then Leavy took over for the remainder of the drill — a seamless transition. It was an example of the type of synergy and ability they lacked all last year. Looking at the goaltending stats from last season, the numbers don’t lie. There’s nowhere to hide. Mann and Lavigne struggled. Out of the 60 teams playing NCAA Division I hockey, Michigan finished 59th in goaltending. It finished the year with 13-16-7 record. New goalie coach Kris Mayotte knows this season has to be different. “I think they’d be the first ones to tell you that it has to improve,” Mayotte said. “But I think from what I’ve spoken with them about, and from what I’ve heard, they went into this last offseason with that mindset and that goal that they could come in this year and improve on that. I think their work ethic has been really good, their attention to detail has been good and their desire to improve.” From the end of last season to now, the coaching staff has been watching, observing and taking notes all in an effort to answer the question that haunted Michigan last season — who will be the starting goaltender? Despite the efforts, there are still kinks to be worked out. Mayotte spent the last month working to break any bad summer habits the three might have developed. One of the biggest shifts between
consequences. Minnesota coach Richard Pitino, Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey and Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg were among some of the big names who thought of the bill as progress for their student athletes. Others, like new Michigan coach Juwan Howard or Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, were more apprehensive. Howard, making $2 million this year, claimed ignorance on the issue, stating that he is too preoccupied with getting the reigns under control of his program to lend any thought on the issue. Izzo on the other hand, making $4.3 million this year, had done his research and still is unsure about
You have to ... go get East Quad or South Quad food.
WOMEN’S GOLF
Hailey Borja leads ‘M’ in Windy City Classic JAMES HILL
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior goaltender Hayden Lavigne is coming off a poor 2018-19 season in which he split time with Strauss Mann.
summer and season training is the focus required. In the summer, goaltenders face multiple shots back-to-back, sometimes all from the same spot one player after another. But in the game, there’s only one puck to focus on. Mayotte matches the enthusiasm of Mann and Lavigne. Prior to arriving in Ann Arbor, he reached out to introduce himself and begin forming the important bond between players and coaches. The day of his first practice as goalie coach, he wasted no time. Two words broke apart the huddle signaling the end of practice: “Go Blue.” Slapping their sticks against the ice, the players skated for the locker room. But the goalies, upon changing, headed straight for Mayotte’s office to review film. “Having him not be shy at all and jump right in to giving us advice right away has been a good way to just start the season,” Lavigne said. “To make the most of these limited practice hours that we’ve had. He’s done a good job of just acclimating real quick and getting us adjusted to his new coaching style real fast.” For Lavigne, the biggest obstacle between him and the starting spot, is his mental game. A disappointing performance in net and a lack of consistency knocked his confidence last year. During the 2017-18 season, Lavigne was in net for the Wolverines throughout their Frozen Four run. But last year, the goaltending
he displayed during that run was nowhere to be found. He ended the season with a losing record, going 7-8-3 with an .883 save percentage and a 3.16 goals averaged against. Lavigne’s mental struggle was so taxing that he couldn’t work much on the technical side of his goaltending like he wanted. “Last year obviously was a tough one for me,” Lavigne said. “But I think I learned a lot out of it from the mental side of things and how to handle certain situations. How to hold myself accountable and the things that I wanna do that I didn’t do very well last year. So it was a good learning stone from there.” Statistically, Mann didn’t fare much better. He posted a 6-8-4 record, though slightly edged out Lavigne with a .895 save percentage and a 2.91 GAA. Strauss’ obstacle is identical to Lavigne’s. Throughout the summer, he emphasized the importance of getting in the right headspace following a tough season. Mentally, he emphasized just playing and staying relaxed rather than overthinking every save. Once things clicked, he focused on staying loose to allow for more explosiveness out of his set up and fundamentals. Because being mentally strong is such a crucial part of being a goaltender — almost more important than the physical strength in the eyes of Michigan coach Mel Pearson. Goaltenders have a variety of
resources available to them. During talks between the netminders and coaching staff, coaches stress the importance of attitude, preparation and focus on things that can be controlled rather than what can’t. A confidence boost came Lavigne’s way on Monday when the Big Ten Coaches Poll was released and his name was on the list of honorable mentions. “That’s a huge honor,” Lavigne said. “After not coming off a great season last year, it still means that the coaches and the people that participate in that poll still see what I’m capable of.” Even now with both goaltenders mentally strong, the question of who will be Michigan’s starting goaltender is no closer to being answered. The exhibition match Sunday offers a chance for some clarity. Pearson wants both players to have an opportunity to show what they’re capable of and how far they’ve come. “They’re both going to get an opportunity in the first game,” Pearson said. “They’ll both play some minutes, and we’ll just go from there. A lot of it’s based even on just how they do there. “You take it week by week right now especially early in the season because they both haven’t played for so long. You just hope one of them’s ready to go, if not both of them. I’d like to see both of them really have a great competition and make it hard on the coaches to decide who’s gonna play.”
the consequences despite voicing support in helping athletes earn whatever they can. But he made one point crystal clear: “I sure as hell don’t think it’s politicians’ job to get involved in this.” Whose job it actually is will be litigated to death in the coming years. With many institutions seeking to weigh in on the hot button issue, don’t think you’ve heard the last of college players being compensated for their likeness. California’s new law is just the beginning with similar legislation being introduced across the country, and among all the confusion, one thing is clear – college athletics are about to change forever.
Golf has its ups and downs. It can have its beautiful drives down the middle of the fairway or its wayward shots deep into the abyss of the rough. It’s a patient game, and the Michigan women’s golf team stayed the course at the Windy City Classic on Monday and Tuesday in Golf, Ill. The Wolverines struggled during the first round of play, but eventually finished strong in the second day placing 14th out of 15 teams In a field full of schools ranked in the Top 25 according to the Women’s Golf Coach’s Association, Michigan coach Jan Dowling knew it was going to be a test of her team’s determination. “It was a heck of a test for us and a heck of an opportunity,” Dowling said. “We had a solid round (Tuesday) but I think the first round Monday got us into a pretty big hole, so that part was unfortunate but I think it clears up what we need to do moving forward.” After play ended on Monday, Michigan sat in 15th place with a score of 605 (plus-29). Freshman Hailey Borja led the team in just her second career start as a Wolverine, sitting tied for 23rd going into the second day of play. Borja tied for 19th place when the dust settled, shooting a 217 (plus-1). Dowling had nothing but praise for the freshman golfer, whose finish gives her two consecutive top-20 finishes early
in the season. “She’s one of the steadiest golfers I’ve been around and I think that will bode well for her moving forward throughout her career,” Dowling said. “She should be pretty thrilled with her top-20 finish but I know she thinks she could do even better.” Following Borja were sophomores Ashley Lau and Sophia Trombetta, who shot respective scores of 226 (plus-10) and 227 (plus11). Trombetta had a stellar final round, finishing out with a 71(minus1), which made her the only Wolverine to hit under par for the tournament. The results of the Windy City Classic aren’t the only results that matter for the Wolverines, though. Three players played as individuals at Eastern Michigan University in the Shirley Spork Invitational on Monday and Tuesday. Those three players were freshman Julia Schulz, junior Ashley Kim and freshman Anika Dy, who placed first, fourth and second, respectively. The next two tournaments for the team will both be in North Carolina as they travel to Chapel Hill to play in the Tar Heel Invitational next week and the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington at the end of the month. “We had a nice finish to our tournament here in Chicago and we hope to use that as momentum,” Dowling said. “We’ll be back at it again for two more great tournaments coming up that we’re really excited for.”
(Borja’s) one of the steadiest golfers I’ve been around.
We had a nice finish ... and we hope to use that as momentum.
Sports
6A — Thursday, October 3, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
‘Maniac’ Daxton Hill turning heads Wolverines finding balance at RB ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor
Daxton Hill was a highlytouted recruit coming into Michigan. A five-star safety who flipped from the Wolverines to Alabama and then back again, there were talks that Hill could get significant playing time, or even start immediately. But before the season even started, coaches put a damper on his hype. Jim Harbaugh said at a preseason press conference that the freshman safety would mostly play special teams. Safeties and special teams coach Chris Partridge said he was the fourth safety, behind not only senior Josh Metellus and junior Brad Hawkins, but also junior J’Marick Woods. The coaches stuck to their words, and on the field, Hill was quiet through the early goings of the season. Until Saturday. As a gunner on the punt coverage team, Hill flew down the field after Will Hart’s kick. Avery Young, the Rutgers returner, fielded the ball, then suddenly, Hill tackled him and pinned him to the ground. Young likely didn’t know what hit him. But the Wolverines did. “He’s the fastest guy on kickoff, on punt,” Partridge said Wednesday. “He’s maybe the fastest guy on the team.” Two weeks ago, at Wisconsin, Hill looked tentative on punt coverage, hesitating when he should have hit the gas. But he knew the mistakes he’d made and worked hard to fix them. It may have been that one hit on special teams that propelled him back into the spotlight, but behind the scenes, he’d already laid the foundations for a breakout game. “(He) practices like a maniac and really, really takes coaching,” said assistant
KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Freshman safety Daxton Hill saw his playing time increase against Rutgers.
special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh. “So when you watch a game — like the week before, there was a couple plays he didn’t make, and then the next week, and he makes them, it’s really cool.” Hill also saw time at safety Saturday, picking up four total tackles. Sure, the opportunity came partially because Woods was out with an undisclosed injury, but Partridge admitted himself that they wouldn’t have put Hill in the game if they didn’t think he was ready. There are still some improvements Hill has to make, like learning when you can run at full speed to hit someone and when you can’t and how to adjust to motion. But by all indications, he’s been progressing in those areas. “Dax has been practicing hard each week, he’s just been getting better,” said senior cornerback Lavert Hill. “His mind’s starting to slow down, and he’s just getting a feel for the games so it’s definitely a big jump in the past couple weeks.” Both Jim Harbaugh and Partridge want to get Hill more playing time, but like with most freshmen looking to work their way into the rotation, there’s a dichotomy. If Hill gets significant minutes this early, it’s probably because one of his
more experienced teammates isn’t playing well, something no coach wants. So while Hill will probably stay the fourth safety for now, he’s impressed enough that he could still carve out a niche on defense. Partridge preaches playing to everyone’s strengths with as much depth at the position as the Wolverines have, and against the Scarlet Knights, Hill frequently came out on third-down packages because of his speed. “He’s a great cover guy,” Partridge said. “He’s got elite coverage skills. His thing is just making sure we’re training his eyes and he understands what route combinations could possibly coming based on who he’s defending, splits, all that stuff, but he’s getting there.” Of course, one game against Rutgers isn’t going to suddenly rocket Hill up the depth chart, but his hype train has regained steam, and for good reason. Especially with Woods still questionable, Hill has emerged as a reliable backup option in the secondary, and one with upside, to boot. To see that upside, all you need to do is watch again as Dax Hill flies into the Scarlet Knights’ punt returner and waves his fingers afterward, as if making an introduction.
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Redshirt freshman running back Hassan Haskins had 10 carries against Rutgers.
THEO MACKIE Daily Sports Editor
Among the confounding trends from Michigan’s first four games, one stands out. In week two against Army, freshman running back Zach Charbonnet ascended into the spotlight, rushing 33 times for 100 yards and three touchdowns. In the Wolverines’ two games since, Charbonnet — “limited” by injury, according to Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh — has seven carries. Sophomores Christian Turner and Hassan Haskins have 17 and 10, respectively. Senior Tru Wilson, in his return from a broken hand, joined the mix with four carries against Rutgers on Saturday. Confusing, right? Turns out, that’s just how Michigan wants it. “I liked the fact that you can split it up, maybe 20, 20, 20, maybe a few for a fourth guy,” Harbaugh said. “But Zach played really well. Christian Turner played really well in this game, had some really fine runs. And Hassan Haskins really played well.” Look past Harbaugh suggesting the Wolverines run the ball 60-plus times in a game — even in a run-heavy gamescript against Rutgers, they ran 41 times — and you’ll see what he
wants this running back group to be. Charbonnet, as talented as he is, isn’t supposed to run the ball 33 times. “It’s just kinda common sense,” said running backs coach Jay Harbaugh. “As a running back, you don’t want that. But there’s times in a game where you can get in a situation where it’s a little bit unavoidable.” The key to avoiding those situations lies in establishing depth at running back — something Michigan didn’t anticipate struggling with before the season. Then, less than halfway into the season opener, Wilson broke his hand on a blitz pickup. Turner has struggled with poor pass protection. Behind them, Haskins and sophomore Ben VanSumeren — fourth and fifth on the preseason depth chart, according to Jay Harbaugh — weren’t quite ready yet. Now? Saturday’s carry distribution says it all. “Those guys really just (got) back to work,” Jay Harbaugh said. “There were certain things that they needed to focus on and get more mental reps, actual
physical reps, making sure that they’re ready to see in the game. “I think a lot of it’s just the nature of young, inexperienced players that’s it sometimes happens like that. None of those guys have played very many snaps in live action so it probably is a little less surprising to us than maybe it is to the outside that something like that can happen.” While Jim Harbaugh didn’t explicitly announce who his top three backs were when he called for a three-way split, the indication soon became obvious. Charbonnet and Turner were givens and Harbaugh’s next two sentences were, in fact, about those backs. The third spot, though, left some momentary intrigue. Haskins got nine carries against Rutgers, but that was the first game back for Wilson, part of the top trio before the season. Then, Harbaugh answered the question he himself had prompted. “Hassan Haskins really played well,” Harbaugh said “We’re watching Hassan now really make great strides in practice, see him play that well in the game. There are some examples of him dropping his hips and getting through the hole like some of the really special backs can do. So, redshirt freshman Hassan Haskins has really come on.” According to Jay Harbaugh, the keys for Haskins to establish his playing time were to fall forward at the end of runs and improve his blitz pickups. “All that is kind of the vision we had for him, which is great,” he said Wednesday. Now, the vision for the running back room as a whole is starting to fall in place with it.
You can split it up, maybe 20, 20, 20 (carries for each back).
Notebook: What you need to know from Media Day with Juwan Howard DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
ROSEMONT, Ill. — During the 2009 NBA season, a thought crawled into Juwan Howard’s head. Coaching. As a member of the Portland Trail Blazers, he watched head coach Nate McMillan in action, and his interest was piqued. It was just a seed at the time, but eventually it sprouted into something bigger than he could imagine. A decade later, he found himself behind the podium at Big Ten Media Day, donning a Michigan pin on the lapel of his sport coat.
Between his realization in Portland and Wednesday morning, he won two NBA titles alongside LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and spent five seasons as an assistant to Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. His convoluted journey back to Ann Arbor ended with an emotional press conference at the end of May, where he shed tears on the Crisler Center floor. The Daily breaks down what the Wolverines’ first-year head coach had to say. Lofty expectations for prized freshman Franz Wagner Juwan Howard’s first win on the recruiting trail came across the
Release Date: Thursday, October 3, 2019
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Collect 6 Stag 10 Diminished gradually, with “off” 14 Lake between the Silver State and Golden State 15 Promise, for one 16 Operation Solomon airline 17 Feature of an American flag purchased with 58-Across? 20 Raina Telgemeier graphic novel about a girl with braces 21 Breeder’s income source 22 Names as a source 25 Fizzy prefix 26 Decryption org. 29 Sidney Lumet film purchased with 58-Across? 34 Regatta racer 36 Paint store selections 37 Ristorante bottle 38 Mandolin kin 39 Loved, with “up” 40 Dasani product 41 Carbon monoxide’s lack 42 Iditarod racer 43 Capital of Ghana 44 Freight vehicle purchased with 58-Across? 47 Coal scuttle 48 “I have an idea!” 49 Silas of the Continental Congress 51 Deals with freebies 55 Museo Leonardiano city 58 Sales incentive 62 Everyone, in Essen 63 Mideast bigwig 64 Mill input 65 “All in the Family” producer Norman 66 Donnybrook 67 Church council
DOWN 1 QB’s stat 2 Big mouths 3 Word of disapproval 4 Sega’s hedgehog 5 Band concert guides 6 Cooperstown inst. 7 “Rope-a-dope” boxer 8 Races 9 “CSI” IDs 10 Multi-use workshop tool 11 Elsa and Anna’s snowman pal 12 Medium __ 13 Besides that 18 Mysterious Himalayan 19 Litigious type 23 Yoga instruction 24 Cooked in a skillet 26 Guitar string option 27 King Salman, for one 28 Do something in response to 30 Tease 31 Deadpan comic Hedberg
32 Summer month in South America 33 Annual Santa tracker 35 From now on 40 Alarms 42 More on the ball 45 Miss Muffet fare 46 Outer wall protector 50 Vestibule, e.g. 51 Nonstick kitchen brand
52 Sly trick 53 “Man __ Mancha” 54 Frozen Four game 56 Invent, in a way 57 “That being the case ... ” 59 Brazilian hot spot 60 Old PC monitor 61 Co. with a bouquet in its logo
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
By Jeff Stillman ©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
10/03/19
10/03/19
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Michigan coach Juwan Howard first realized his interest in coaching while playing with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2009 under coach Nate McMillan.
pond, where he landed German wing Franz Wagner — younger brother of former Michigan star Moritz Wagner — in July. But it didn’t come at the behest of a college blue blood. Instead, Howard lured Wagner away from Alba Berlin, his pro German club. With Wagner now spending at least a season in Ann Arbor, Howard has no intentions of coddling the freshman. He’s ready to see the floor from the start, and his ability to make an impact on offense should help compensate for the departures of Jordan Poole, Ignas Brazdeikis and Charles Matthews — a trio that accounted for the majority of the Wolverines’ offense last season. Wagner and junior wing Isaiah Livers’ ability to create their own offense could be what Michigan turns to if the offense stalls. “Franz is talented,” Howard said. “Franz is a big, huge pickup for us. In my opinion, if Franz lived in the U.S. he’d be the equivalent of what today’s players are rated five-star — he’s that good. And to be almost 6-foot-9 at a wing position, he has a high IQ. He’s tough, he’s skilled. He can put the ball on the floor, create his own shot, and he’s not afraid to dunk on you.
“One thing I did not mention which I should’ve mentioned first was he’s an underrated defender. We all talk about his skill level offensively, but the guy can defend. He wants to defend, and that’s the beauty of Franz. He’s going to be a pro.” Clean slate for Brandon Johns Despite being the Wolverines’ second-highest ranked recruit last fall, Brandon Johns couldn’t earn regular minutes under John Beilein. With a year of college experience now under his belt, Johns will see an increased role under Howard. In Johns, Howard sees all the tools. As a former NBA All-Star who worked closely with big men like Hassan Whiteside and Bam Adebayo in Miami, Howard knows what it takes. “(Johns) has a beautiful shot, (he’s) athletic (and) skill-wise he still hasn’t tapped all the way into what he has,” Howard said. “Once he figures that part out? Woah, this kid’s interesting. And that’s the beauty of working with Brandon and many others like Brandon, when I talk to them at the beginning of practice — great eye contact, trust, you can see I want him and I’m going to do whatever I can to help him get better.
“He knows he has an opportunity to play. We’re going to lean on him, he can be one of those stretch fours that can be able to guard a ‘2,’ ‘3,’ ‘4’ and ‘5.’ Now it’s basically picking up the concepts and learning the terminology. He’s going to be good.” After averaging just 4.2 minutes per game across 28 appearances at the ‘5’ last season, Johns’ ability to take a stride forward could very well hinge on his confidence. As a natural power forward with defensive versatility, Johns looked uncomfortable playing the role of small-ball center last year. Despite his difficulty adjusting, he remained boxed in because few minutes were available at the ‘4.’ In Howard’s positionless basketball philosophy, he’s crossing the confidence bridge by challenging Johns with competitive practice matchups. “I’m going to keep working with (Johns), developing him and breathing more and more confidence in him,” Howard said. “ … He’s very interesting. Playing against a Franz everyday in practice, competing against Isaiah Livers — that’s just going to help his skill level rise even more. They’re challenging one another each and every day in practice, and I’m
making sure of that.” High praise for Eli Brooks’ ‘basketball mind’ Since relinquishing starting point duties to now-senior Zavier Simpson in his freshman year, junior guard Eli Brooks has assumed a pivotal bench role. His high IQ, quick first step and ability to lead a fast break earned him playing time in each of Michigan’s 37 games last season. He averaged 13 minutes per game, averaging 2.5 points and 1.1 assists per game. Now an upperclassman, Brooks can ease the Wolverines’ offensive struggles by igniting fast breaks that result in easy points. His quickness and decision-making in transition could ultimately determine how much playing time he sees. “(Brooks) gets it,” Howard said. “He has a basketball mind — he picks things up so quick, you only have to tell him one time. His IQ in transition, he can apply it quickly. “He’s super crafty with the basketball, getting to the paint, whether he’s making a play for himself or for others. He’s competitive. Some would say he’s undersized, but I think that’s what really makes him edgy because he’s counted as small at his position. I look at Eli as a combo guard.”
Thursday, October 3, 2019
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2B — Thursday, October 3, 2019
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B-SIDE: MUSIC NOTEBOOK
Signed, sealed, delivered: From our hearts to yours DYLAN YONO Daily Arts Writer
MADELEINE VIRGINIA GANNON Daily Arts Writer
JULIANNA MORANO Daily Arts Writer
JONAH MENDELSON Daily Arts Writer
The sound of a love letter You know you love someone when you can write them a love letter and the words flow like a waterfall, feeling by feeling, an unrelenting avalanche of emotion for another. But life moves fast. Things happen so rapidly, so haphazardly, it’s hard to pin your feelings for others. Family, friends, lovers and exes, people who have brought us joy and drama, pleasure and pain. That ambiguous emotion in your stomach, is it love, hate, passion, fury, infatuation or worry? If your love has no words, make them a playlist. I have maybe-feelings for a maybe-someone, and their maybe-loveletter is “Sweet To Me” by Summer Salt, “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston. Then there’s the one it was never going to work out with, who made me feel “Saw You In A Dream” by The Japanese House, “I Feel For You” by Chaka Khan, “Feel Like A Fool” by Kali Uchis. But it’s not always a romantic love letter that music can embody. There’s platonic love for my best friend, who I would tell the dumb excitement we share is encapsulated by “BOOGIE” by BROCKHAMPTON, “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince, “Superheroes” by Daft Punk. And for my family, a love letter that only they would understand: “Friday” by Rebecca Black, “Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey, “P.I.M.P.” by 50 Cent. The songs just fall into place. It’s the sequence that so perfectly mirrors the wavelength of your heart. Music evokes emotion, sometimes emotion more romantic than the classic written words of love on paper. To say, “You make me feel the way this song makes me feel” can be the most heartfelt sentiment (if the song is right). It can be a hard copy — a series of songs burned onto a CD, the titles scribbled on the disc in magic marker. Or it could be digital, a Spotify link at the end of a sweet text. All that matters is the music, the rhythm, the harmony and the pitch can capture the way that person makes you feel. The love letter looks different for every writer, the songs that compose it different for every recipient. There are no words that can capture the writer’s feelings for everyone or that evoke all recipients’ feelings the same. A playlist to me with “Come On Eileen” by Dexys Midnight Runners on it means something different to me if it comes from my childhood friend instead of my mom. A playlist from me with “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” by Panic At The Disco on it means something different to my cousin than it does to my first girlfriend. The music on a playlist — the words in a love letter — are unique for sender and receiver, an intimate covenant of understanding. A playlist may not seem like a direct way to communicate love. But that’s only true from the outside looking in, for a playlist without the context of sender and receiver. For two people that share something — memories, experiences, a connection — the message in the music is all too clear. Music has a long history of millions and millions of songs. There’s no end to the precision with which to show warmth and fondness. Somewhere, on a record on a shelf at the back of the thrift store, in a cassette at the bottom of a box in the basement, on a still-kind-of-working iPod Shuffle in the closet, there are the songs that make your love letter.
— Dylan Yono, Daily Arts Writer Dear reader(s), ‘Tis the season of love! No, Valentine’s Day is still a ways away. Yes, “spooky season” doesn’t exactly spell romance. As for the cold weather “cuffing season,” there’s still time to prepare for cozy hibernation (although I would argue that the in-between of summer flings and relationshipdamning family holidays is the perfect time to find someone to shack up with). Despite this, this is the season of love not because capitalism or dead saints has deemed it so, but because any day is a good day for love. And what screams love better than a love letter? Nothing. Except, maybe, a playlist of musical love letters. That’s right, here at the Daily, the perfect playlist of love letters has been handcrafted for your enjoyment. Whether it’s good, old-fashioned romance, platonic friendship or even a dose of selfappreciation (Hot Girl Fall, anyone?), this playlist has all the bases covered. ABBA and Patsy Cline bring on the girl-power self-love with tracks like “Dancing Queen” and “Walkin’ After Midnight.” Both tracks celebrate finding yourself amidst the crowd; ABBA as an open letter to every dancing queen out there, and Patsy as an introspective serenade for her own lonely march down the road, “Searchin’ for me.” Elvis, Fats Waller, and The Black Crows (to name a few) add a traditional spin with their more literal love letters, thematically focusing on mourning lost love and lyrically recalling the format of a love letter. Edith Pilaf’s “La Vie en Rose,” Albert Hammond’s “It Never Rains in Southern California” and Atta Boy’s “Walden Pond” all focus on a passionate love for life, regardless of the trials and tribulations. This playlists balances the old with some touches of the contemporary (but the Oldies are Goodies) and captures the many sides of love. No matter the decade, the genre or the artist, love can be found anywhere and everywhere. Indulge in some lovin’ (in a loveshack, if you can) and some plain, good music this week. Signed with love, [Return to Sender] The Black Crows, “Girl From a Pawnshop” Fats Waller, “Sit Right Down [and write myself a letter]” Patsy Cline, “Walkin’ After Midnight” ABBA, “Dancing Queen” Edith Pilaf, “La Vie En Rose” Atta Boy, “Walden Pond” Elvis, “Return to Sender” Shirelles, “Please Mr. Postman” Vera Lynn, “We’ll Meet Again” Albert Hammond, “It Never Rains in Southern California” Bob Dylan, “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” Bon Iver, “For Emma” Penny and the Quarters, “You and Me” — Madeleine Virginia Gannon, Daily Arts Writer This is an abridged history of songs I consider(ed) love letters in approximately three parts. Part One: male songwriters who didn’t sound misogynistic. In eleventh grade, I wrote an essay about
No matter the decade, the genre or the artist, love can be found anywhere and everywhere.
men who “get it.” A significant portion was about The Killers and how understood I felt by the lyrics of “When You Were Young,” but in retrospect, I don’t think it still registers as a love letter. I wanted it to be the love letter I would receive someday from a boy who “didn’t look a thing like Jesus, but talks like a gentleman,” like I imagined when I was young. Flash forward to my senior year English class. As some sort of introductory activity for what I imagine must have been a study of ballads, we were asked to produce love songs. I picked “Casimir Pulaski Day” by Sufjan Stevens. While my (hip) teacher, who knew the song, questioned my choice, I think it brings us to Part Two of the history: (still) male songwriters, but ones who actually get it. Stevens, Death Cab and Iron & Wine all lured me into a less prescriptive, idealized, biblical, impossible image of love — I owe them each love letters for that fact. Big Thief single-handedly ushers us into Part Three, where you can write letters to people you love, not just people with whom you’re in love, and account for all the complexity that comes with that. “Mythological Beauty,” Big Thief’s moving love letter to a complicated mother figure, opened the floodgates. Love letters could be addressed to mothers, to hookups who meant more than you intended, to platonic best friends. Oh, and they didn’t have to be piano-based or acoustic anymore, either. Love letters aren’t just for the unrequited love of your life. In fact, your mom probably deserves many, many more love letters than a classmate you’re unwisely crushing on. If you don’t believe me, listen for yourself. Signed, Julianna — Julianna Morano, Daily Arts Writer “They say you measure a man by how much he loves.” — Sturgill Simpson This playlist is a collection of love letters. Some of the songs are literally structured as letters; some just function as such. I admit that some of them are a bit of a stretch if you’re going to be strict about what constitutes a love letter, but I tried to keep them epistolary to a certain extent: expressions of love addressed directly to the object of their affection. While “love letters” are typically assumed to be expressions of romantic love, those in the playlist encompass love in its many forms. From the generative, paternal “Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)” to the playful, platonic “A Postcard to Nina,” to the fragile yet roaring “When You Sleep,” this collection of songs is an hour-and-twenty-three-minute-long tribute to the range of emotions that love can comprise. — Jonah Mendelson, Daily Arts Writer
POLAR MUSIC INTERNATIONAL
B-SIDE: COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK
To all the bookstores we’ve loved before KAITLYN FOX
Daily Arts Writer
ELI RALLO
Daily Arts Writer
Bookstores are more than just retail shops — they are sacred spaces where profound ideas meet curious thinkers. When I walk into a local bookstore, I’m overwhelmed and excited by the endless shelves full of new stories and ideas. I’ve discovered some of my favorite books in local bookshops and often peruse them when trying to decide my next read. Independent booksellers have spent years trying to keep their businesses afloat with the rise of chain bookstores, and local owners are now facing new challenges as more readers are turning to Amazon or e-readers to satisfy their literary appetites. Most readers choose these digital alternatives for ease, but in doing so sacrifice the ambience and community of their local bookshops. Despite these obstacles, Ann Arbor is still home to a varieaty of independent bookstores that continue to serve the local community. Dawn Treader, one of the oldest bookshops in downtown Ann Arbor, has been selling used books since 1979. While its exterior gives off the impression of a quaint, nook-sized shop, a walk through the store will take longer than you might think. With its winding, maze-like aisles filled top to bottom with books, you can find anything from your longforgotten childhood series to your most recent favorites. Dawn Treader is a time capsule, offering some rare and valuable finds if you’re willing to embrace the hunt. Another integral member of the Ann Arbor literary scene is Crazy Wisdom, a spiritual bookshop that also doubles as a tea room. The shop offers more than 14,000 books and is largely centered around naturalistic and alternative spiritual practices. Upon entering the shop, customers are immediately immersed in the ambience of Crazy Wisdom: a faint smell of incense and sound of live acoustic music performed over the noise of brewing tea. The store opened in 1982 and still serves the Ann Arbor community with events and their community journal featuring local writers. They’re also the only local bookstore offering a specific, holistic approach, making organic living more available to the local community. Although its a far walk for students living on campus, eager visitors still wait at the doors until the shop opens at noon, welcoming customers into their natural, serene atmosphere. One of the newest bookstores in town, Literati, has already seen great success in the six years they’ve been operating. They’ve earned the 2019 title of “Bookstore of the Year” by Publishers Weekly and published a book, “Notes From a Public Typewriter,” which includes blurbs from customers who’ve left notes on the shop’s typewriter. Unlike Dawn Treader or Crazy Wisdom, Literati possesses a more modern feel while still maintaining the coziness of a traditional bookshop. The wooden floors softly creak as customers stroll past the shelves of colorful titles, and hidden among the large array of books are handwritten staff reviews of favorite books in each section.
Literati’s welcoming atmosphere extends beyond its physical attributes: the locally owned shop also gets the community involved in reading with author visits, book clubs and writing workshops. One of their goals as a business is to give to local charities, schools and nonprofits while also creating well-paying jobs for local employees. Although these local businesses are loved and cherished by students and Ann Arbor residents, their success relies heavily on the dedication of the community to their missions. For these local booksellers, the future of their businesses can seem uncertain as more people gravitate towards quick and easy means of obtaining their reading materials. The responsibility relies on us, the consumers, to support our community booksellers and boost the local economy. Stopping by a local bookstore, whether to purchase an assigned reading or simply take a look at what the shop has to offer, is participation in a sense of community that an online purchase just can’t replicate. A special uniting factor exists within a bookshop, one that sparks conversation among strangers and draws people in from all backgrounds and experiences. There’s a very specific
The wooden floors softly creak as customers stroll past the shelves of colorful titles, and hidden among the large array of books are handwritten staff reviews of favorite books in each section.
kind of fiery passion felt from reader to reader, and while it’s hard to put a name to, it’s a feeling understood by all bookstore-goers. Even though the future of online bookstores and e-books looms overhead, there’s a stronger element of community found amidst the uncertainty of paper, and this collective hope will be enough to sustain our beloved bookshops. — Kaitlyn Fox, Daily Arts Writer I first fell in love with bookstores at age seven in a Barnes and Noble. In our dingy Monmouth County New Jersey mall, we have — at least, for a seven year old — a kingdom-sized Barnes and Noble. My mother would often have to lay out ground rules before we went inside when I was little: Only one hour, no straying too far into the YA section before you turn ten, you’re allotted three books or whatever $50 can get you. These rules and those rainy Sundays in Barnes and Noble made me fall in love with physical copies of books — holding them, paging through them and, most importantly (and perhaps most strangely), smelling them. Going to a new place for me always means visiting a new bookstore. Every good town has a good independent bookstore. It is the beating heart in the
center of a place, it is the community gathering spot, it is the lifeline to which towns operate and thrive. I have hunted down the bookstore in every single place I have ever visited. It’s because I deeply care about paper. It’s because I deeply care about stories. It’s because with my tiny contribution to an independent bookstore, I can ensure that I’m supporting a concerted effort to keep print alive. To keep books alive. When the Kindle and Nook fad began, I was devastated. I understand the comfort and ease with which we can tote around our electronic devices, but what about the romance and the infatuation that comes along with annotating the margins of a worn copy of your favorite novel? Or reading and rereading a paragraph of an excellent short story, flipping back and forth through the same pages? The first independent bookstore I can remember falling in love with is in Manchester, Vermont. It is called Northshire Books and is the only reason I will ever go on a ski trip with my family. The promise of this bookstore, about three stories high, with an appropriately placed coffee bar and the most genuine booksellers I’ve ever met, make the six-hour drive north worth it. It was here I completed my collection of all the “Harry Potter” books and purchased my first ever collection of R.H. Sin poetry. When I visited Ann Arbor for my first time, my father bought me a classic bound Walt Whitman book at Literati before I’d even been there. He was wandering downtown by himself while I was on a tour, and I remember how excited he was to take me there and watch me discover Literati myself when the tour was over. Four years later, whenever I’m having a bad day or something difficult happens to me, I go to Literati. It has become the cavern of words and stories that soothes and coaxes my worst of days. I’ve been there so often that sometimes my past self leaves a surprise for my future self with the store credit that racks up from every purchase I make. I’d also like to disclose that the coffee at Literati is the best coffee in Ann Arbor. My house is on River Road in Fair Haven, New Jersey. Half a mile walk up River Road is one of my favorite places in the world: River Road Books. It’s the place that instilled in me the love for independent bookstores and booksellers. I spent a great deal of weekends in my childhood leaning up against the counter asking the booksellers, women from my tiny one square mile hometown, to recommend me books. After my sophomore year of college, I moved to St. Louis by myself for an internship. I knew nobody in Missouri and was incredibly lonely. When I needed someone and nobody was there, Left Bank Books was there. I rode my bike to the corner bookstore at least twice a week, and next to it was a Jeni’s, meaning I always left with words and ice cream. Recently, I took my mother to Crazy Wisdom for the first time. We were standing in the first floor and I was going on and on about a book display that featured a few new releases I’d recently read and adored. I was also gushing over the gluten free treats in their tea room up the stairs. She looked at me and said, “I don’t know, something in me thinks you’ll aspire to opening your own bookstore.” I thought about it for a second: How simple yet how happy I’d be with my very own bookstore where I’d turn on the lights every morning, prescribe people books all day, and lock up at night. It’s because I care about stories. It’s because I care about words. — Eli Rallo, Daily Arts Writer
b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, October 3, 2019 — 3B
B-SIDE: TV NOTEBOOK
B-SIDE: STYLE NOTEBOOK
Be brave enough to never Paper cuts with Paper Mag forget ‘Ned’s Declassified’ EMMA CHANG Senior Arts Editor
ALLY OWENS Daily TV Editor
Does anyone else remember an online rumor that claimed Devon Werkheiser, most famous for playing Ned on “Ned’s Declassif ied School Sur vival Guide,” was 6’ 3’’? No? Well I do, and turns out it’s false. He’s 5’ 9’’, and his voice has not gotten any deeper since 2007. And he wears neckerchiefs unironically now. What does this have to do with any thing? Something! Because this week, we’re talking paper over at The Michigan Daily Arts section! And what is the most famous collection of paper on television? No, not Joel Osteen’s Bible — it’s Ned’s sick camouf lage composition notebook. Although I would have liked to bring you the kind of content you deser ve today (Top 10 James “Cookie” Cook Moments or a deeper analysis into what the blonde basketball kid did for white players in the NBA), I must redirect to investigate. Why is “Ned’s Declassif ied School Sur vival Guide” impossible to f ind online? Of all of the shows to be pirated online, I thought that for sure “Ned’s” would be an easy f ind. It ran nearly t wo decades ago for three short seasons and never racked up that many Kids’ Choice Awards. It wasn’t a net work darling like “iCarly” or “Spongebob Squarepants,” so I could not imag ine why protecting its distribution online would be a top priorit y. But, af ter looking through almost ever y streaming platform and through several misleading YouTube playlists, I could only f ind the pilot episode on Dailymotion, the Yahoo of video-sharing websites. In keeping with the theme, there’s just no paper trail. Get it? Please applaud me. Hear me out on this, but I think Nickelodeon might be tr ying to bur y the show. It wouldn’t be the f irst time they tried to wipe good shows from our memor y. Remember “ChalkZone?” Your subconscious does. “Ned’s Declassif ied School Sur vival Guide” was created by showrunner Scott Fellows, a man with a storied histor y at Nickelodeon. In addition to ser ving as the head writer on “The Fairly OddParents” for a number of years, he also created “Big Time Rush.” Direct your hate mail to him. I bring up the B-list boyband specif ically because their show, in its entiret y, is currently available on Hulu. “Big Time Rush” was never that successf ul before the dawn of One Direction, and especially not af ter, so I have to wonder, why did executives at Nickelodeon choose that show to be streamed and remembered and not the show that gave us Coconut Head and Backpack Boy? In a lot of ways the shows are ver y similar, despite one being about a boy-band of hockey players from
Hear me out on this, but I think Nickelodeon might be trying to bury the show. It wouldn’t be the first time they tried to wipe good shows from our memory: Remember “ChalkZone”?
What is Paper Magazine? The simplistic covers leave everything to the imagination. There are no headlines, simply a celebrity’s brooding face and a title for the issue, and that’s it, that’s the cover. Given the industry convention of catchy titles hinting at how to have an orgasm, why does Paper still manage to capture our attention? Obviously, the magazine’s covers grab attention, but beyond that, what makes them different from other fashion magazines? Among the typical coverage of celebrities and pop culture, the magazine has highlighted Colin Kaepernick’s “Know Your Rights Camp” in a series of 10 interviews curated by Kaepernick himself. Though the set of articles was released in August, the magazine still highlights all ten through a tab on their homepage. Rather than letting Kaepernick’s conversation lapse, like most outlets tend to do, Paper has made sure their readers are reminded of these issues every time they’re looking for the latest fashion trends.
Obviously, the magazine’s covers grab attention, but beyond that, what makes them different from other fashion magazines?
Or maybe it’s the people behind the magazine that keep us hooked. Kim Hastreiter and Drew Elliott started the New York-based publication in 1984 and for the past 35 years it has managed to stay relevant. Hastreiter, according to a profile by The New York Times, is an editor like no other. She’s one of the most influential people in the city, but that doesn’t stop her from eating dinner with her intern, or whoever she senses might be the next big thing in art. She’s a flexible personality spanning all aspects of culture in the city, a persona that manifests itself in the magazine. But she’s not alone. Drew Elliott, her co-founder, was the one who wanted to create the Kim Kardashian cover that would eventually bring 50 million views to the website in one day. Elliott has been quoted as saying he’d sooner look at Disney than Vogue when looking for ways to expand the brand (a sharp observation, considering the media event that was Spider-Man having to leave the MCU this past summer). Even as the magazine intends to remain cuttingedge, Paper is still a fashion and contemporary media outlet. As such, coverage of Kylie Jenner’s latest illness and Bella Thorne’s new porn award are mixed in with West Coast artists exploring the importance of accepting our bodies. Striking this balance between the “pop” and “culture” of a pop culture publication is what sets Paper apart from magazines like Cosmopolitan or even Vogue. With a separate tab simply labeled “Art,” Paper doesn’t force its readers to sift through mounds of articles and graphics. Instead, it’s an easy grab straight from the homepage. Whatever your thoughts are about Paper Magazine, there’s no doubt that the publication knows how to captivate an audience. From their enigmatic editors to a diverse level of content, the role Paper plays in the world of fashion is pivotal — it puts activists, celebrities and brand-new artists on the same level. Paper endeavors to tear down whatever arbitrary walls we encounter in most pop culture publications, instead opting to create a world where everyone is anyone and an assistant can rub elbows with the likes of Rihanna.
B-SIDE: PERSONAL NOTEBOOK
I love you, here’s some paper Minnesota and the other following the ever yday lives of middle schoolers. Both shows share the same farcical humor, and both shows’ rapid-f ire sound effects contributed to my short attention span. So why the preference? In a lot of ways the streaming world could benef it from a show like “Ned’s Declassif ied School Sur vival Guide.” Kids these days need substance, and Ned delivered good, clean f un that the whole family could enjoy. Maybe, just maybe, if Ned Bigby was available to Generation Z, TikTok wouldn’t be getting so big. Just a thought. If this ref lection on paper has done any thing for you, I hope it inspires you to write your local cong ressman and demand that “Ned’s Declassif ied School Sur vival Guide” be resurrected for online consumption. P.S. Did you know Moze and Ned totally dated in real life?
In keeping with the theme, there’s just no paper trail. Get it? Please applaud me.
SAMANTHA DELLA FERA Senior Arts Editor
It is easy to view love as materialistic. A day meant to celebrate it is associated with outlandish gifts and gaudy chocolate boxes. The proposal that starts the rest of your life is linked forever to an expensive gem, and the wedding that proceeds that proposal can rack up a pretty hefty price tag. When romance is portrayed on TV or in movies, it is accompanied by expensive dinner dates with fading candle light or Tiffany boxes stuffed secretly in a loved one’s jacket pocket. Given all of this, it may seem to the cynical eye that the meaning of love is to buy, to indulge, to show off. Perhaps I am an optimist, but I believe it’s quite the opposite. There is a long list of gifts that traditionally coincide with a wedding anniversary. The fifth year is wood, 10th is tin, 15th is crystal and so on. Among this list, there is one material that sticks out the most to me — paper. That is the medium suggested for a first anniversary wedding gift. Plain old, traditional paper. Upon further investigation, paper as a first anniversary present is meant to represent the fragility of the young relationship. Well, no offense to whatever Old English town crier declared that, but they made some glaring mistakes. Who dares to suggest the first year is when the couple is at their most fragile? I would have to argue that it’s the fifth, when a routine has been established, or maybe the 20th, when the kids have moved away and there is nothing but empty silence to fill the house anymore. But the first? Waking up on my first-ever first anniversary was like being a child at Christmas again. In the time the Earth completed her long orbit around the sun, I had found my own source of warmth — nothing about it felt breakable. Paper does not constitute fragility, but strength. Strength to put your feelings and thoughts down on a page. Strength to be vulnerable and to share that with someone else. It is inherently romantic. Whether it’s the way a new book smells the first time you crack the spine or the feeling of a new pen gliding over crisp parchment, there is love in every detail. As I sit in my bedroom writing this piece, I am surrounded by little slips of adoration. Taped onto my wall above me are cards from someone I love
Who dares to suggest the first year is when the couple is at their most fragile?
— silly designs printed on folds that open to reveal affection scrawled in ballpoint pen. On my bedside table is an impromptu poem given to my mother about her children, written out by a typewriter. “No contract attached / Signed my name on your sweet bones / Vowed to love always.” To my side are rows of pictures. Moments frozen in time, printed on a glossy piece of paper to reflect on and remember. Posters of my favorite lyrics, a business card of a restaurant that reminds me of my grandparents, photostrips catching me at my most candid. I am surrounded by paper, and in turn, surrounded by love. Will paper ever be eradicated? Maybe in production, but never in meaning. Paper connects us to loves lost and loves found and loves soon to be. I can hold in my hands the wedding invitation for my grandparents. I can flip through a scrapbook documenting my childhood. I can open a book yellowed with age and see the markings of a hundred that read it before me. So is paper really the most mediocre of materials? Is it really only a gift to give with someone you may not be with the next year? Paper can burn, but the feelings it gave us don’t turn to ash that easily. Honor true love by rejecting materialism — who needs diamonds anyway?
Paper can burn, but the feelings it gave us don’t turn to ash that easily. Honor true love by rejecting materialism — who needs diamonds anyway?
NICKELODEON
b-side
4B —Thursday, October 3, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
B-SIDE: STYLE NOTEBOOK
B-SIDE: FILM NOTEBOOK
The paper-bound legacy of the great Pierre et Gilles SAM KREMKE Daily Arts Wrtier
“It’s one of those things that gets better with time. These books are passed between artists as gifts, and getting one from someone you look up to means that you’ve really made it.” Having been shown their work on a somewhat peculiar date with a somewhat immodest poet/ artist/editor person, my introduction to the couple and surrealist photography duo known as Pierre et Gilles was loaded to say the least. He ended up using the book in our conversation as a strategic means to an end, one that I sort of fell for, before succumbing to the moat of inebriation and overall failure to hoist myself back onto the drawbridge. With regret, I must inform that my self-important and multifaceted fantasy man is no longer in the picture. Despite that night’s tile placement in the collective mosaic of uneasy semi-romantic encounters, however, its memory holds a lot of water for me — it served as a keystone exposure to really great queer art. The kind that needs to be experienced in person, on a page. Pierre Comoy and Gilles Blanchard are well into their fifth decade of doing what they do: marrying fashion photography, portraiture, painting and a sensibility steeped heavily in camp and magical realism to build worlds, concepts taken to the highest extreme, befitting whoever is in front of the camera. They have several photo books, the most recent of which celebrates their 40th anniversary and compiles some of the work they are most well known for. Their several magazine covers include Out, Numero and Fucking Young!. They’ve worked with models, muses, artists, friends and larger than life figures (a particular favorite is an overblossomed vignette of Marilyn Manson and Dita von Teese), all while manipulating each image to bend in line with their overarching viewpoint. Pierre et Gilles create drama. They are immersive. They are jouissance distilled in an image, in a single expression that is at once complicated and crystal clear, then cast throughout like speckled debris. They democratize the Venus, an art historical trope that positions the depicted figure as an aesthetic celebration, in such a way that women are exalted and men become objects of desire. They are feminized. Hairy-chested masculinity is given its day in the sun, make no mistake, but the men in the photographs are not men in the traditional sense. Strength and gravitas are undermined by their placement on a dinner tray, while the feminine looks you in the eye, pulling you through the fourth wall as though the barrier is nothing but a flimsy partition. And then there’s the ambiguous soup of flesh that resides somewhere in between those two poles. Religious iconography, phallic weaponry, political affiliations, Greek mythology and other cultural cliches are mobilized to subvert the more implicit markers of identity. They give breathtaking scenes, each threaded with teases and a touch of humour, creating a space for the viewer to look into themselves without raising the stakes to those of life and death. It can be
They are joissance distilled in an image, in a single expresion that is at once complicated and crystal clear, then cast throughout like speckled debris.
MOVIECILPS
A dive into ‘Love Actually’ ELISE GODFRYD Daily Arts Writer
fun to look at, or it can be something else. It doesn’t quite come alive through a computer screen. Not like it does in print. Even as a reproduction of the original work, most of which are expanded photographs painted over to achieve their full effect, the textural interplay, the vividness of some elements contrasting with the smooth grain of film, make sense. The feeling of immediacy that comes with holding a bound photo book or a magazine with nice, thick paper cannot be replicated, nor can the experience of being able to flip through one and get completely lost in it — coming back up for air with a perfectly coherent understanding of what the artists and everyone involved in its publication meant to communicate, even if that understanding is unique to you. Print media has been “dying” for a long time, but in that death, or at least relegation to niche markets, there is a great deal of personal value placed on what we choose to fill our shelves with. In the information age and the apparent mass exodus of trees, the only things we can afford to keep around are those that move us, challenge us and inspire us to create and be better people. Pierre et Gilles, to me, is joy. Their work represents the ability to weave through the world with all of its weight and create something worth looking at. If homoerotic portraits of communists adorned with wreaths of red roses and crystal tears aren’t your thing, OK. I hear that. And yet the point remains. Regardless of what ill-fated endeavors lead to its discovery, when something that carries real weight makes itself known, it’s important to hold on to it.
Print media has been “dying” for a long time, but in that death, or at least relegation to niche markets, there is a great deal of personal value placed on what we choose to fill our shelves with.
This is it, the writing opportunity I’ve been waiting for my whole life: the chance to wax poetic about a Colin Firth movie. When asked to think about the representation of paper in film, the immediate thought that comes to mind for most romantic comedy fanatics is this scene from “Love Actually.” I know it did for me. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know exactly which scene I’m talking about. In the scene, Jamie (Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech”) is working diligently on his novel, which he tellingly chooses to write with a typewriter. Why use a typewriter? He could have easily used a laptop — 2003 is not as ancient a time as we believe it to be. There is something inherently romantic about a typewriter, though, and people who use them are unquestionably engaging in a kind of performance when they do so. The use of a typewriter, or any method of writing that doesn’t involve a screen for that matter, implies seriousness, traditionalism and poise. Some may even call it pretentious,
though I’m not sure I agree. Regardless, whatever kind of person Jamie presents himself as through his writing setup is instantly deconstructed when his finished pages are blown out of his grasp by the wind and into the dirty, freezing cold pond right behind his cottage. Jamie’s housekeeper, the Portuguese-speaking and beautiful Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz, “Red Nose Day Actually”), immediately strips down to her underwear and dives into the pond, believing she is saving something that might be of significant literary value. Jamie knows what he’s written is not worth getting into that water for, and is thus shocked by Aurélia’s commitment to the cause. Regardless of whatever value Jamie’s writing might have, it seems to be that trying to save it is a futile gesture — I imagine the ink-printed words on the page would bleed to the point of unreadability. But Aurélia doesn’t have time to think of these logistics: She jumps right in, and Jamie is clearly moved by her behavior, by how much she believes in him. He follows her into the water. Jamie and Aurélia engage in both a literal and figurative
stripping of layers, taking off their cardigans and plunging into uncertain terrain. Their individual ways of going about this are brilliantly revealing of them as people — while Aurélia takes off nearly all of her clothing and dives into the pond as though she’s a professional swimmer, Jamie leaves on everything but his sweater and clumsily falls into the pond instead of jumping. She is confident and determined, he is insecure and apprehensive, and they’re just now learning this about each other. Having come to understand the pointlessness of trying to save the paper, they laugh, and the rest of their love story is history. The paper itself means nothing, of course. What matters is what the paper represents, what the thing printed on its surface signifies. In the case of “Love Actually,” what’s printed on Jamie’s pages probably isn’t even what matters — after all, he even says, “It’s not worth it, it isn’t bloody Shakespeare.” What does matter about this paper is that its plunge into the pond’s murky waters is what drags Jamie and Aurélia into the pond, allowing their romance to advance to new and uncharted territories.
B-SIDE: COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK
On comfort and journaling SAMANTHA NELSON Daily Arts Writer
I used to despise journaling. Every summer throughout middle school, my parents required my sister and I to keep a journal, hoping to cultivate our writing skills and keep us sharp for the upcoming school year. No matter how many aesthetically-pleasing incentives presented to us — worn, leather-bound covered journals or neon jelly roll pens — I protested. Out of teenage spite, I sloppily composed my entries, triple and quadruple spacing my sentences to meet the minimum page requirement and scribbling in near-illegible scrawl. My vocabulary was bland and disjointed, detailing the most mundane daily activities I could conjure up, like “woke up at 8:32 a.m.” or “brushed my teeth for 46 seconds.” Melodramatic and petty? Yes and yes. Once I reached high school, my parents loosened their summer requirements, and I gleefully vowed that I would never journal again. Then something changed. It was the fall of my senior year and I was bumbling through the
Common App and frantically completing last-minute college visits. Nestled on the plane en route to Washington University in St. Louis for an interview, my nerves were buzzing. Whether it was an introversion-induced terror or a need to proactively process my anxieties, I felt an unfamiliar impulse to write. As if by fate, I’d packed a “college journal” at my mother’s request to take notes and look engaged during the informational session and campus tour. Hesitantly, I pulled a pale blue book from my backpack, pinching it like an alien object. I awkwardly brushed the pages and aimed to focus my thoughts. Pen in hand, I began to write. At first my words were concentrated, restricted even, limited to the topics of college and leaving the bubble of home. Then, suddenly, a barrier broke and everything poured out. Memories of insecurities, friendships lost and heartbreaks of the past f looded to the surface, spilling out of me like water. My hands failed to keep up with my thoughts, jerking from line to line as though possessed. Before I knew it, page after page was covered in black ink and the plane was close to landing. Emerging from
my trance, I re-entered reality, hands shaking slightly and eyes wide and alert. I felt electric and refreshed, as though processing the words from my mind to the blank sheets had lifted a physical burden from my body. I felt weightless. It would be a lie to claim that my plane ride f lirtation with journaling turned into a full-blown love affair. I did not become a daily journaler, nor did I find inner peace every time jotted down an entry, but I did discover the value in self ref lection. Growing up in a technology-saturated world, I’ve had the privilege of access to endless piles of information at the touch of a screen. But just as this information overload is a blessing, it is also a curse. In the maze of posts and likes, it is easy to get lost in the lives of others and inadvertently position ourselves on the backburner. More than anything, journaling has morphed into an outlet, a crutch and a therapeutic tool for reconnection. Though it kills the thirteen-year-old drama queen inside me to admit it, my parents were right all along. Their simple, sincere message to me all those years ago is one that I’ve finally decided to heed. Just write.
More than anything, journaling has morphed into an outlet, a crutch and a therapeutic tool for reconnection.
FLICKR
b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, October 3, 2019 — 5B
B-SIDE: LEAD
Truth-telling and devil-shaming: Profiling The Daily ISABELLE HASSLUND
Daily Community Culture Editor
DIANA YASSIN Daily Arts Writer
NATALIE KASTNER Daily Arts Writer
This week, The Daily celebrated 129 years of publication. Since that first day in 1890, The Daily has produced Pulitzer Prize winners, famous authors, national activists and world-renowned journalists. Every person that steps into this newsroom feels its impact, and when they leave they carry that influence into the world. For the Paper B-Side, we felt there was no more appropriate way to honor paper than to talk about our very own. Below is a timeline of interviews with Daily staffers of the past. Among them are American sports writer Adam Schefter and publisher Philip Power, familiar names that were once scrappy student reporters like the rest of us. As journalists come under fire for daring to search for answers, we look back and remember that it was never the popular choice to tell the truth. But someone’s got to do it. — Samantha Della Fera, Senior Arts Editor David Kessel — Class of 1958, Medical faculty at Wayne State University David Kessel was a graduate student studying biochemistry at U-M when he discovered the magic of The Michigan Daily’s newsroom. Having completed his undergraduate degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kessel was looking for something more to do on the University campus outside of academic obligations. “I quickly discovered that the typical graduate students were not the most interesting people on Earth, but The Daily was full of interesting people, so that’s the place I tended to gravitate toward,” Kessel said in a phone interview with The Daily. Much like The Daily today, students in the ‘50s dedicated significant amounts of time and energy to produce the paper. “I wondered if they were really taking courses because they seemed to be there all the time,” Kessel said. The culture of The Daily and the University during the 1950s was significantly different than what we know today. “There was a high degree of repression in those days. Women had to be in their dorms by 9 o’ clock. If they got in after 9 o’clock, they sent a note to their mothers,” Kessel explained. It was a time where the Board for Student Publications made editorial appointments and had an influence in articles that ran for The Daily — they even had the power to censor.” Despite apparent subjugation at times, many incredible stories ran during Kessel’s time in the newsroom, including the testing of the Salk vaccine, a mild scare when people at the pharmacology and mathematics departments were accused of being Communists and the death of Stalin. “When Stalin died, they got out this headline that said ‘STALIN DEAD,’ and the guy was in charge of the publication … came in the next day — he was furious. He said,‘I was saving that font for the end of the world!’” Kessel exclaimed. Kessel is in the medical faculty at Wayne State University. He says that although his life is filled with scientific writing, The Daily is where he really learned to write. To Kessel, a college newspaper like The Daily is not only valuable to the people who write for it and the student body, but to society as a whole. “Our room was always sort of a protected area — it was always a center of culture and knowledge. And I hate to see all of this disappear. But when newspapers disappear, it’s going to go with it, I’m afraid.” Harry Perlstadt — Class of 1963/Public Health Class of 1979, award-winning sociologist and Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Michigan State University Harry Perlstadt wrote for The Daily during a time when Tom Hayden was editor and sat in the newsroom in the presence of future worldrenowned academics and journalists. Perlstadt went on to become a distinguished sociologist and academic himself, currently teaching at Michigan State University (but still repping his U-M pride when our sports team beat State). He was the recipient of the Distinguished Career Award from American Sociological Association in 2014. Before Perlstadt was a renowned sociologist, he was a news reporter for The Daily, eventually working as the Sunday Magazine co-editor from 1962 - 1963. “It was an exciting time on The Daily. I couldn’t stay up late enough when J.F.K. came and made his famous speech on the Union steps,” Perlstadt said in an interview with The Daily. Perlstadt said The Daily played a major part in shaping his college career. He scheduled his classes earlier in the day so that he could be at The Daily from four or five o’ clock in the afternoon until one in the morning. How did he do it? He and the rest of the newsroom survived off of the Cottage Inn that was always ready for editors and writers to pick up during Daily production. “I wanted to call myself the 10 o’clock scholar,” Perlstadt joked. Perlstadt remarked that he only skipped class once for The Daily, and that was to interview a member of the United Kingdom Parliament — a fine excuse for a political science major. A lot of campus climate issues came to light with the help of The Daily during his time at the paper, Perlstadt said. “You can now look back at it and say it was the beginning of women’s liberation on campus,” Perlstadt said. During his time in the newsroom, there was a Dean of Women, who worked to make sure that women at the University were following specific rules laid out for them, including curfews. “There is this story of when Mary Markley was only a dorm for women, as all the dorms in the Hill area on campus were. One of my friends when coming back from The Daily in her sophomore year … had to throw stones up to her roommate at the second or third floor so her roommate would come down and let her in,” Perlstadt chuckled. Perlstadt most notably wrote about the GRE exam, calling it an “insult to intelligence.” The story ended up being picked up by other college publications all across the country and eventually into the hands of the powers that be who write the GRE. A couple months later, James A. Lewis, then the Dean of Student Affairs at Michigan, sent Perlstadt over to Dean of LSA Roger Heyns’s office. In the Dean’s office, he was read aloud a letter which stated: “Please be assured that the opinions of Harry Perlstadt expressed in The Michigan Daily do not represent those of the administration or the faculty of the University of Michigan,” Perlstadt recalled. He ended up winning an award for courageous editorial writing. Perlstadt formed strong bonds with those in the newsroom, which he continues to cherish to this day. “My wife and I just had our 50th wedding anniversary a year ago in the summer, and we had a Michigan Daily table,” Perlstadt exclaimed. Philip Power — Class of 1960, Founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan It was an easy choice for Harvard University transfer Philip Power to join The Daily. “Because family friends had been on The Daily, and I’d heard about The Daily, it seemed clear to me that The Daily and the people on it were the most interesting, most involved, most informed and most exciting place in the University,” Philip Power said in an interview with The Daily. Power became night editor for The Daily two months into his junior year. He eventually became editorial director, managing columns and editorials on the paper. The Daily newsroom itself was set-up very differently than it is today, with on-site hot type printing, set by typographical machines and all. Power remembers all of this vividly.
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The editing process was also a labor intensive task. The night editor would move into the “slot,” a gap in the middle of a circular desk, at about eight o’clock at night, to read through, edit and write the headlines for all the pieces to run the next day. The stories were then sent down to the dumbwaiter, a contraption that served as an outbox for pieces that lead to the composing room where they would go to the letter press to print. “It was a rather more labor intensive and complicated way of getting a paper ready,” Power explained, “but the fundamentals were the same; namely, good reporting, good writing accuracy and a commitment to what I consider then, and consider now, serious student journalism.” Power became very close with his peers at The Daily, spending entire days and nights working on the paper with people like Tom Hayden. “Our job was to do what The Daily does today. Keep an eye on malfeasance and student concerns, and when the Administrative screws up to do our job as journalists,” Power explained. Even though there was a journalism department at University at the time, there was no place like The Daily to get hands-on training in journalism. The Daily played a large part in getting rid of Deborah Bacon, the Dean of Women during the time Perlstadt attended the University, through exposing her practice of sending letters to the parents of women who were dating Black men on campus. Power grew to love local journalism, running many local newspapers. Now, he publishes and distributes Bridge Magazine, a Michigan newspaper read by 2.2 million people in Michigan and named the best newspaper in Michigan for the fourth year. He also served on the Board of Regents for 11 years here in Ann Arbor. Dan Okrent — Class of 1969, Pulitzer Prize Nominee and first public editor of the New York Times Fresh from editing the sports section of his high school newspaper, Dan Okrent quickly found his niche at The Michigan Daily. A tried and true fan but no athlete, he pursued the next best thing in the sports world: working as a Daily sports staff writer. The ’60s political and Daily scene, however, quickly got a hold of him, lending his talents over to the news section by his sophomore year. “I saw that, particularly, given the time … ’65 to ’69, the real action was on the news side.” Just as much a product of its time as it was its students, Daily news coverage at the late ’60s spanned historic political events from the ongoing Vietnam War opposition to enduring civil rights movements. These very events embed themselves in the undergraduate career of Okrent. “In April 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. I wrote the obituary that appeared in the paper the next day. I had about an hour to write and I was pretty proud of that.” It’s moments current Daily writers envision as history, from the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. to the 1968 presidential campaign and election, that Dan Okrent paints across the Michigan Daily he knew as a college student. The news section more or less embodied Okrent’s identity those formative years as a burgeoning journalist. The hustle and bustle of 420 Maynard enveloped his entire college existence beyond the words he wrote half a century ago. It was the rumble and chug of the printing press at 2 a.m., in-andout flow of Cottage Inn pizza boxes and everlasting bridge games that embodied the writing sphere of these journalists. “It was just such an exciting place to be. You know, we socialize with each other, but there were no formal events. It’s just that we were very much involved in one another’s lives because the institution brought us together.” It’s this world that amplifies the “quest for truth, fairness and honesty” that embodied Okrent’s undergraduate ambitions with more sophisticated packaging. Just as much as he shifted across newspaper sections, his style and voice evolved with every interview and article that wrote his Daily experience. Nowadays a prolific editor and author, he traces his strides and accomplishments to one obvious source. “That’s where I learned how to chase things down that I felt that the world needed to know… I don’t know what I would have done had I not worked at The Daily. Sara Fitzgerald — Class of 1973, author and former Washington Post editor Sara Fitzgerald joined The Daily per the recommendation of a friend. Taking off as a staff reporter second semester of her freshman year, she quickly found herself engrossed in the habit of taking on news assignments by day and writing headlines by night. She eventually rose through the ranks to Editor-In-Chief two years later. “People have told me I’m the first woman Editor-in-Chief. I’m always a little but wary, because I know that there were some women, particularly in the… World War II years, and I know another woman who was the Top Editorial Official but didn’t apparently have that title. So I’m always careful. I don’t want to claim too much.” Fitzgerald’s tenure coincided with the surge of second wave feminism. Her papers produced themselves in a pre-title IX world emerging from the political protest scene of the late ’60s. And right before her very eyes, Fitzgerald watched as the political sphere transcended legislation into her social space, women taking on more leadership roles than ever before. “It was challenging because the only models you had were the older guys you had seen in those roles.” This backdrop permeates throughout her work as a Daily writer. The articles of Fitzgerald’s time span significant political hallmarks from the Vietnam War opposition to the 1972 US presidential election. However, a feminist underbelly reigned apparent in this time period, more so than ever before. This glares prominently from articles that detail neglected sex discrimination claims and the gender wage gap, to a playful jeering at the concept of a “Playgirl” calendar. “And so I think The Daily provides an important function both in giving students an opportunity to express themselves in an organized format, whether it’s, you know, friends or online. And the flip side of that, I think it’s important for students to have their voices represented on campus.” These very ideas ring true throughout Fitzgerald’s contemporary work. Crediting The Daily for her internships and jobs in the news industry, the writing topics she embraced at the time still follow her. Her upcoming 2020 novel centers itself on a group of Ann Arbor women she wrote about in The Daily in the ’70s who stood up against sexual discimination. “I think, just being at the University in the years of 1972, ’69 to ’73, those were the years it turned out to be a very empowering time for women.” John Papanek — Class of 1973, former Editor-in-Chief of Sports Illustrated, founding editor for Sports Illustrated for Kids, founding Editor-in-Chief of ESPN The Magazine and Editor-inChief of ESPN.com “Those were the wild, wild days,” former Daily Sports writer and editor John Papanek said in an interview with The Daily of his time at U-M. Before Papanek began his extensive career in sports journalism when he was a freshman at the University. “The first week was non-stop protests … yelling and screaming and ultimately occupying the registration building, culminating in police riot busloads of police swinging clubs and getting guys and gals over the head. That pretty much was my indoctrination to college life,” Papanek explained about anti-war sentiments of the time. This made for a riveting time to be a journalist at The Daily. What fascinated Papanek the most, however, was not the politics of the protests, but that all the chaos came to a complete halt during football Saturdays.
“I quickly discovered that the typical graduate students were not the most interesting people on Earth, but The Daily was full of interesting people, so that’s the place I tended to gravitate toward.”
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6B — Thursday, October 3, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
B-SIDE: LEAD, CONTINUED
A profile on the past 129 years of The Daily, continued ISABELLE HASSLUND
Daily Community Culture Editor
DIANA YASSIN Daily Arts Writer
NATALIE KASTNER Daily Arts Writer
“At the game, you have all the radical students, the hippies, the long hair, people with smoke coming out of their nostrils all week, sitting side by side with the teachers, the professors, the alumni, the establishment, and they were all yelling and screaming together to kill Ohio State,” Papanek said. All the excitement in the air transferred to the sports world at the University, making it a very fun section to write for. Papanek recalls a particularly humorous story that was written by Bill Alterman, a Sports writer at the time, where Frank Lauterbur, then coach of the Iowa football team, was so distraught by his loss to the University football team that he delivered an aggressive string of profanities when asked about how felt about the game, which no one but the Daily published. To avoid another argument over publishing a string of profanity right now, I will link the article here for you all to see. Ironically, Papanek used his experience in a paper journalism to help Sports Illustrated and ESPN transfer from paper to the digital landscape, far ahead of most publications. He prophesied the changing digital landscape as outcompeting print media in the future. “Magazines on paper and newspapers on paper are a very endangered species, and they’re disappearing fast,” Papanek explained. This significant transition comes with implications. Papanek believes that there is still a value to print journalism — a value that is lost when you switch to digital platforms. “Without even reading a word of what you’ve written, someone could pick this up and say there’s quality here. There’s good work that’s been done here,” Papanek said. The challenge presented to young journalists and The Daily today is now that anyone can publish their thoughts on the web, how are we to establish ourselves as credible and truthful, when there is so much propaganda being published? “I hope and pray that Michigan Daily continues to stand for editorial freedoms, accuracy, truth and fearlessness,” Papanek stated. Tony Schwartz — Class of 1974, Former New York Times reporter and staff writer for New York Magazine and Esquire Tony Schwartz joined the News section as a freshman eager to write about shoplifting, of all things. When his work appeared on the front page of the paper below The Daily logo, he was hooked on writing. “Here I was, 18 years old and walking around the campus, and everywhere I walk there was my piece with my name on it. That was intoxicating to me … And so I continued to write,” Schwartz said in an interview with The Daily. Schwartz also pitched and successfully launched the Sunday Magazine, a magazine that ran inside The Daily. The Sunday Magazine would be published for years after he left, and it went on to win awards as the best college magazine.
“To the people who were out there reporting news stories every day ... The Daily was their life and academics were purely secondary,” Schwartz explained. The Daily was in the midst of Watergate, challenging the journalists in the newsroom. And it showed. The Daily produced incredible journalists of high caliber, such as Pulitzer Prize-winner Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post. The Daily was a launching pad for Schwartz’s own journalism career. He got the opportunity to interview many high-profile people such as Arthur Miller (“The Crucible”) and Joseph Heller (“Catch 22”). Heller happened to have a friend who was a managing editor at the New York Times, who vouched for Schwartz to get an interview. This worked, and Schwartz ended up getting a job at The New York Times. Many of the skills he used during his time as an esteemed journalist and novelist he learned at The Daily. “I learned how to be a reporter there. The standard to which we were all held was very high, and the respect that the paper got in the University community was high,” Schwartz said. The Daily is more than just a breeding ground for trained journalists. It is valuable to Schwartz to continue the tradition of highly respected journalism, writers who are accountable for their work and writers who hold the administration accountable for their actions. But could the changing landscape from paper to digital journalism change this accountability factor? To Schwartz, the mere physicality of a newspaper changes the way he consumes news. “It’s this sort of joy of discovery that when I read the whole paper, you’re leafing through the pages, and you’re seeing stories in every section. Now it’s curated for me in a way that leads me to read what’s visible from scrolling down a certain distance,” Schwartz explained. The implication of this? Shrinking perspectives and worldviews. And this switch, although more convenient and efficient, can be dangerous to those on the back end. “I left journalism, partly because it was dying. In my mind, because I had made my living for a number of years writing books,” Schwartz said. As it gets more and more difficult for young journalists to join the workforce, Schwartz hopes that publications like The Daily can keep the world of top-quality journalism alive. David Blomquist — Class of 1976, Editor and publisher at the New Jersey Journal Before becoming editor and publisher at the New Jersey Journal, David Blomquist was a writer and editor for the Arts section of The Daily. “For as lively an art scene that Ann Arbor had in the 1970s, the Daily Arts desk was not as hot. Perhaps because the news of the era was just so consuming,” Blomquist said in an interview with The Daily. A smaller Arts section, however, bought him the opportunity to quickly ascend the ranks at The Daily. During his time writing for Arts, Blomquist got the opportunity to interview classical pianist Vladimir Horowitz. At the time, the University Musical Society was wary of student journalists. The director at the time warned Blomquist that when he met Horowitz, he was not to touch his sacred hands, not even to shake them. “Horowitz walks in the room,
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grabs my hand, squeezes the bejesus out of it and just says,‘Horowitz.’ One word of introduction. The director (of UMS) looks at me like the world has just coupled. But we had a lovely conversation,” Blomquist said. Blomquist eventually found himself at the newsdesk of The Daily during a particularly exciting morning. He was one of the first to catch wind of former President Richard Nixon’s resignation after the Watergate Scandal broke. “I was sitting alone as the morning news editor. The phone rings, and it was a guy who was one of our regular news editors, who was on a summer internship at the News Bureau in Washington who called us and said, ‘It’s all over. (Nixon)’s going to give a speech tonight,’” Blomquist recounted. “We were determined to produce a great product. There were certainly University scars. Universities, then as now, were grappling with creating fair opportunities for women, and fair opportunities for people of color. Some of the first struggles over that happened in the ’70s,” Blomquist said. The fast pace of the newsroom was endearing to Blomquist. “I today fall back on the experiences I got at 420 Maynard Street,” Blomquist said. One particular person who had an influence over Blomquist in the newsroom (or rather underneath it) was Lucius Doyle, for whom the bench in the entrance of the Student Publications Building is dedicated to. “Lucius and his colleagues taught us things about the gravity of the printed word, about the necessity as a manager to get things right to communicate clearly and to respect the needs of others. 40 years later, Lucius is in this office with me every day, reminding me what it takes to do the job right … of all the people I was exposed to on the staff at Michigan, no one had a greater influence on me,” Blomquist said. Gary Kicinski — Class of 1979, spent 33 years with Gannett newspapers, 22 at USA Today, now managing editor for Transport Topics Gary Kicinski joined The Daily writing for the Sports section, covering minor sports and eventually making his way up the ranks to editorial work. “Everything that I learned at The Daily turned out to be much more valuable for my career than anything I learned in the classroom,” Kicinski said in an interview with The Daily. The Sports section had a special set-up to train their journalists. “We had this really good process in Sports of posting a daily critique of that morning’s paper … It would be an examination of the page layout for sports and the writing that everyone produced for that paper. It was often written in a very entertaining fashion …. everyone would stroll in between classes to read it,” explained Kicinski.
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OUR MICHIGAN 2019 DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION SUMMIT
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SINGLE REVIEW: ‘CLEMENTINE’
OCTOBER 7 Community Assembly & Discussion featuring CNN’s
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10–11:30 AM | HILL AUDITORIUM PLUS MORE EVENTS THROUGHOUT OCTOBER, INCLUDING: OCTOBER 1 — 6–8 PM | TROTTER MULTICULTURAL CENTER
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Halsey has established herself as a powerful force in the music industry, taking her career beyond music and diving into the metaphors and artistry to make her sound come to life. The music video for her single, “Clementine,” which is the second release from her upcoming album Manic, is a testament to her profound emotions and artistic style. Halsey dropped the video on her birthday — Sept. 29 — and its artistic approach closely resembles her live performance for the Billboard Music Awards back in May. The video takes place in the viewing area of an aquarium and features Halsey and her brother, Servian, dancing among the tanks of aquatic animals. Like her BBMA
performance, the two siblings perform in-sync movements and interact with each other in a manner that symbolically gives off the feel of the push and pull of conflicting personalities. As someone who has bipolar
‘Clementine’ Halsey Capitol Records
disorder, Halsey likes to play with the symbolism in dual identities, and “Clementine,” along with her previously released “Graveyard” give a glimpse into what that looks and feels like to her.
The video follows the sibling duo through the aquarium where they exude a passionate energy up until the end when they reach a tunnel and suddenly start to slow down. Halsey walks away from her brother in a hazy manner, staring at the fish surrounding her before slumping to the ground, seemingly exhausted. The video ends on the most repeated line of the song “I don’t need anyone / I just need everyone and then some.” Both the song and the video feel symbolic in many ways, and the title of her new album suggests the theme of internalized struggles will be prominent in the remaining songs of her collection. — Kaitlyn Fox, Daily Arts Writer