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Wednesday, October 30, 2019

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University athletes support NCAA motion on name, image & likeness ETHAN SEARS

Managing Sports Editor

JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily Members of the Michigan Animal Respect Society (MARS) protest animal cruelty outside of the McDonald’s located on PLymouth Rd. Tuesday afternoon.

Students, community members protest animal abuse at McDonald’s LIAT WEINSTEIN Daily Staff Reporter

A group of seven students and community members gathered silently outside of McDonald’s on Plymouth Rd. Tuesday in protest against the fast-food chain’s history of cruelty to chickens. The protest was hosted by the University of Michigan’s Michigan Animal Respect Society

as part of The Humane League’s Student Alliance for Animals. This week, The Humane League is holding a national Halloween week of action to put pressure on fast-food chains and other companies to adopt more sustainable and ethical practices. MARS joined student groups across the country in the “I’m Not Lovin’ It” campaign aimed at McDonald’s and the mistreatment of chickens in their supply chain.

Art & Design senior Sam Plouff, president of MARS, helped organize Tuesday’s protest. Plouff said MARS worked in conjunction with The Humane League to urge McDonald’s to implement more ethical animal treatment methods, especially since other fast-food chains have begun to listen to consumer demand on the topic. “We’re just looking for (McDonald’s) to improve on their

standards, because they are a leader in the food industry and usually things that they improve on are usually pushed in other aspects of the industry,” Plouff said. “They’re actually behind a lot of other big food services right now. Wendy’s, Starbucks, Subway, all of them have adopted better animal welfare standards in the last few years and McDonald’s has really been lagging.” See PROTEST, Page 3A

Earlier this month, when California passed its Fair Pay to Play Act, allowing college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness starting in 2023, mum was the word among Michigan’s football players. The would-be beneficiaries generally claimed ignorance. Some, like senior left tackle Jon Runyan Jr., were more forthcoming, saying they understand why some would benefit from the extra money that would come with the bill. On Tuesday night, hours after the NCAA’s Board of Directors voted to start moving its rules towards becoming consistent with the California law, there was little ambiguity in the response. “Everybody’s getting richer,” said senior cornerback Lavert Hill. “We need a piece of the pie, too, I guess. That’s

Sheriff Center for the Education of Women+ declares hosts third advocacy symposium support CEW+ announces launch of online training module COUNTS Toolkit for DACA GOVERNMENT

FRANCESCA DUONG

Local law enforcement releases joint statement on U.S. immigration FRANCESCA DUONG Daily Staff Reporter

Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton released a joint statement along with Texas District Attorney Mark Gonzalez and Miriam Aroni Krinsky, executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution, in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Oct. 17. Clayton spoke about a conference the three of them attended discussing the effects of policy on public safety. “When we say ‘public safety,’ people just throw that word out,” Clayton said. “But we have to think about what ‘public safety’ means — how we define it. It’s not just ‘free from crime,’ it’s ‘all your basic needs are met.’ There’s a level of comfort and serenity to be in your community and know that you’re supported. All of those things I think factor into this sense of public safety, and DACA and what it delivers to individuals factor into that.” The statement notes the use of “community policing,” or the approach of collaborating with communities to reduce crime and promote public safety. See DACA, Page 3A

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Daily Staff Reporter

The Center for the Education of Women + hosted its annual CEW+ Advocacy Symposium on Tuesday. This year, the theme centered around “Redefining Leadership,” and the symposium schedule comprised keynote speakers, development

workshops and a roundtable discussion. The center supports the University of Michigan community by providing events, workshops, counseling, as well as scholarships and emergency funding to help individuals finance their degrees. The goal of CEW+ is to empower women and underserved individuals to help them reach their full

potential. According to CEW+ Director Tiffany Marra, CEW+ first launched the symposium to empower students, staff and community members to advocate for themselves when faced with a lack of resources, training, and supportive community. During her opening speech, Marra highlighted the

different leadership styles the symposium explores. “There’s no single definition of leadership — there’s no one way to lead,” Marra said. “Today’s symposium will challenge normative ideas of leadership, and our presenters will provide alternative models of leadership that you can look towards for inspiration.” See SYMPOSIUM, Page 3A

KELSEY PEASE/Daily Natalie Sampson, a recipient of the Carol Hollenshead Inspire Awards, delivers her lightning talk during the CEW + Advocacy Symposium: Redefining Leadership in the Michigan League Tuesday.

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about it.” The NCAA’s vote shouldn’t be mistaken for actual legislation or action. The organization, which threatened to sue over the California law when it was passed, merely signaled more openness to the idea. That’s not nothing, but it’s not paying athletes. In a statement released Tuesday, the NCAA said that rule changes could occur immediately, but with guidelines that include keeping much of the current system intact. “I don’t really know what the NCAA is really proposing,” said fifth-year senior linebacker Jordan Glasgow. “Just saying that we’re gonna get money based off of our likeness is pretty ambiguous. Do I feel like some people need more, possibly, to sustain a good lifestyle? Probably, yeah. But it’s difficult for me to say at this moment.” See NCAA, Page 3A

ADMINISTRATION

‘U,’ Speech First settle lawsuit on 1st Amend.

Legal dispute over Bias Reponse Team settled in agreement LIAT WEINSTEIN Daily Staff Reporter

The University of Michigan and Speech First, an organization dedicated to promoting and upholding freedom of speech on college campuses, agreed to settle an ongoing lawsuit related to freedom of speech and the University’s Bias Response Team. The agreement to settle, which effectively dismissed the lawsuit, was reached between Oct. 24 and 25. Since May 8, 2018, the University and Speech First have been engaged in a dispute over whether the University’s Bias Response Team stifled freedom of speech on campus and violated the First Amendment. The University created the Bias Response Team during the 20102011 academic year to investigate claims of racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination put forth anonymously by students, faculty and staff. Speech First declared the team unconstitutional. According to the settlement agreement, the University replaced the Bias Response Team with Campus Climate Support beginning in the 20192020 school year with no plans to reinstate the Bias Response Team in the future. See LAWSUIT, Page 3A

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News

2A — Wednesday, October 30, 2019

MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers

TUESDAY: By Design

WEDNESDAY: This Week in History

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THURSDAY: Twitter Talk

FRIDAY: Behind the Story

Spooky festivities brew on Halloween October 31, 1990 Ghastly ghouls and spooky sights are sure to attract scary souls tonight.That is if you’re not too old for Halloween. Unfortunately for horrific-minded but responsible students, Halloween falls on a midweek evening amidst midterm anxiety. As a result, some of the fun has to wait until the weekend. “Halloween comes at a bad time this year,” said LSA sophomore Jonathon Marx. “I haven’t even thought of going out,

especially since I have a midterm. Besides, most people either celebrated it last weekend or will this weekend.” Last weekend did not lack activities. East Quad did the “Halloween Thang ” and R.O.T.C. sponsored its annual Haunted House before hundreds of scary souls. In spite of midterms, a multitude of parties have worked their way into students’ calendars this week. Among the Halloween personalities

appearing this week are Phantom of the Opera, Medussa and the New Kids on the Block. Fantasy Attic, a popular customer in Ann Arbor, is not surprised by their excellent sales this season. Lindsay James, a sales assistant, said “Dick Tracy, Breathless Mahoney and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are the hot in demand this year. Pirates are always a favorite, too.” Big kids aren’t holding a monopoly on fun in Ann Arbor this week. Residence

halls, such as Mary Markley, East Quad and Stockwell, are taking part in Trick-orTreating activities for local children. Student residents who signed up are visited by area kids making the candy rounds. First-year LSA student and East Quad resident Jun Pangilinan is taking part in the festivities. He said “I thought it’d be nice to watch the kids Trick-or-Treating since I’m no longer doing it myself.” His intentions are less than noble, however, as he added, “Besides, I get to

keep the candy left-overs.” Music enthusiasts eagerly await the School of Music’s annual Halloween Concert tonight. The fun is slated to begin at 9 p.m. as the University Philharmonic Orchestra performs skits and ensembles before a sold-out audience at Hill Auditorium. Free tickets were distributed within two hours of availability weeks ago. “It should be really fun,” said School of Music sophomore Jennifer Fari Ansel. “Everyone,

including some of the audience, comes dressed in costumes. Some of the sections are coming as a group. I’m excited to see the f lutes in their ZZ Top skit.” Yet, amidst the fun, the environmental concerns of the 1990’s are not forgotten. LSA senior Elizabeth Steel said “the weirdest costume At East Quad’s Halloween Thang would have to be the g uy who came dressed in non-recyclable plastic.” It must have been a scary sight to behold.

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Editorial Staff FINNTAN STORER CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily Japanese artist Mari Katayama’s art combines structure, photography and textile in an exhibit at the University of Michigan Museum of Art Tuesday afternoon.

CSG discusses Union renovations, replacement for VP of Student Life Director of Michigan Unions gives presentation to representatives on status of 2-year project JASMIN LEE

Daily Staff Reporter

On Tuesday night, the University of Michigan’s Central Student Government met to discuss candidate criteria for the new vice president of Student Life and updates on the renovation of the Michigan Union. Members of the Vice President for Student Life Search Advisory Committee attended the 12th CSG of the year meeting to hear comments and concerns about replacement candidates for E. Royster Harper, who will be retiring in January. Robert Sellers, vice provost for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, sat in place of Committee Chair Alec Gallimore. Presidential Mark Schissel launched the search on Oct. 10,

GOLDFISH NACHOS

to find a new vice president of Student Life. The committee has already held two town halls to gather student input for the search and plans to meet with Harper’s student advisory board next week and eventually, Harper herself. Sellers shared the committee has decided to make the candidates’ identities confidential in order to find the most qualified person and protect them from retaliation at their current career positions. “The reason for confidentiality is to really make sure that we get the very best candidates to apply and participate in the process,” Sellers said. “Many of the candidates that we will be looking at are currently employed in very important, interesting positions, and the idea of a public search that

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they may actually not end up as the number one case could potentially jeopardize their standing in their current institution.” Assembly members shared concerns regarding what they wanted the new vice president to be aware of once they take over. Ben Gerstein, Public Policy junior and CSG president, told the search committee he wanted the new vice president to be prepared to handle the political climate on campus, especially in light of the University hosting the presidential debate in October 2020. “I think that’s important to keep in mind that, given we are entering an election year, that there are going to be controversial discussions on campus, and to make sure that they have an understanding of that and have prior experience dealing with issues in a political campus climate,” Gerstein said. “Understanding the importance of involving students in issues about the election when they come up, especially around security, and the fact that we are holding a presidential debate next year will add to that issue as well.” Taylor Lansey, LSA junior and CSG treasurer, told the search committee the candidate should focus on improving Counseling and Psychological Services, as well as students’ awareness of campus resources. “In terms of CAPS, I think that someone who values the integration of that into our general community might be beneficial,” Lansey said. “Somebody who values the integration of that because we are saying we don’t want students to be afraid to go to CAPS, but I would say a large number of students actually haven’t met anyone

from CAPS.” In addition, Director of the Michigan Union Amy White spoke to CSG about the new renovations and goals of the Michigan Union. The Michigan Union has been closed for renovation since April 2018 and will reopen in January 2020. She gave a presentation about the history of the union and its renovation plans. Student organizations will be housed on the second floor of the Union, along with the IdeaHub, an open space for student organization meetings. Previously, there were only 80 offices for student organizations, but the new building will provide enough space for all the student organizations on campus. Student Life’s office will be located on the third floor. CAPS and SAPAC will be on the fourth floor, allowing more private space for counselors to meet with students. White said feedback from students has been essential in renovating the Union, and many of those concerns were addressed in the renovations, including creating more space for student organizations. “Those of you who experienced the Union before we closed might remember that the student organization office in the building were tucked in former hotel rooms on the fourth floor,” White said. “... What we heard was that we need to look at a different model for that. The other thing that we heard was there are 1,600 student organizations on this campus. We have 80 office spaces on the fourth floor, that doesn’t even begin to look at the equity across organizations and the needs that exist. So what we’ve looked to do is really design a new space.”

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assault have become more difficult to investigate,” the statement reads. In his interview, Clayton reaffirmed the danger that unreported crimes pose to the community. “Crime doesn’t know boundaries,” Clayton said. “We run the risk of having that behavior expanding beyond the immigrant community into the larger community. We should all be concerned and we should all know we have the responsibility to make every community in Washtenaw County safe.” Ann Arbor resident Sue Shink is vice president of Pilar’s Foundation, an organization that recently held a gala to stand with refugees and immigrants. Shink said she has seen the effects of DACA on the community. “My daughter, one of her best friend’s mom got deported,” Shink said. “It created an untenable situation. Her family has gone under a tremendous amount of stress, even though her parents have been contributing members of our society. The fear is wellgrounded.” Ann Arbor resident Sylvia Nolasco-Rivers, president of Pilar’s Foundation, said she was excited to hear about Clayton’s statement.

“It’s nice to see someone in the community making sure that people feel safe,” Nolasco-Rivers said. “At the end of the day that’s what people need to do. We need to go beyond ourselves and expand our hearts out to others and find ways to bring the healing … and make it right.” Yet, while some members of the community are thankful for the sheriff’s step, they don’t believe it is enough. In an email to The Daily, LSA senior Barbara Diaz, Student Community of Progressive Empowerment member, said DACA isn’t a cure-all solution. “While it’s nice to see people supporting DACA program, I think it becomes easy to dehumanize the issue of immigration as a whole when we only focus on how immigrants benefit us,” Diaz wrote. “Perhaps trust between immigrant communities and the police help make neighborhoods safer, but I think people (with or without citizenship status) having access to life-saving resources is important on its own regard. Also I understand that sometimes things need to be said in a certain way to persuade people, but at the same time we shouldn’t advocate for others only because there’s some benefit in return.”

The Daily Tuesday afternoon that athletic director Warde Manuel had no comment on the situation at the time. Men’s basketball coach Juwan Howard has pled ignorance on the issue when asked and football coach Jim Harbaugh pivoted — diverting the conversation towards allowing players to declare for the NFL Draft early. Harbaugh’s proposal was to allow players to turn professional at any point in their college careers while keeping their amateur status intact. “That’s something I think would be fair and beneficial to everybody,” Harbaugh said on Oct. 7. “We must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes,” said Ohio State president and NCAA Board of Directors chair Michael Drake in a press release. “Additional f lexibility in this area can and must continue to support college sports as part of higher education.” Gene Smith, Ohio State’s athletic director, said earlier this month that he opposed California’s legislation, emphasizing the need for a

federal framework. Though players may not have been aware of the specifics of the legislation, their stances became clear on Tuesday. “The amount of time and work we put in, just how big the football industry is, how much it’s increasing, I think, yeah, give back to us a little bit,” said redshirt freshman tight end Luke Schoonmaker. “We’re the ones (playing).” Schoonmaker also pointed to financial troubles that many players face, saying he had to look for a job over the summer for extra money. At the same time, the Big Ten is in the midst of a sixyear TV rights deal with ESPN and Fox Sports worth $2.64 billion, while Harbaugh, the third-highest paid coach in college football, is set to make $7.5 million this season. “I’d say food-wise, I think most of the guys, too, are always hungry,” Schoonmaker said. “And it’d just help during the week with being able to eat some more and have more money for that. And any daily needs and stuff, just could help us, week to week.”

LAWSUIT From Page 1A The CCS serves a similar purpose, but does not reach out to the subjects of the anonymous reports directly. According to the University Record, the settlement does not bar staff members from speaking to individual students or student groups about any incidents that may have occurred. The new CCS will continue to address issues of discrimination on campus and support those who choose to report, University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald wrote in an email to The Daily. The goal of the CCS is to make University resources available to students, faculty and staff when instances of discrimination arise. “The focus of this work is providing support, which has been the long-standing primary (focus) of this work,” Fitzgerald wrote. LSA junior Lincoln Ballew, chairman of the University’s chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, said the CCS will benefit the University in ways the Bias Response Team did not. “I think that’s a much better system than the BRT because it doesn’t make anyone afraid to speak what they would like to,” Ballew said. “But also, it provides support for people who may be offended by comments. So, it’s a good system to replace the BRT.”

PROTEST From Page 1A According to Statista, McDonald’s currently leads in total fast-food sales. In 2018, McDonald’s generated $38.52 billion in sales, while Starbucks, the second most profitable chain in the U.S., made $19.66 billion. Yet McDonald’s has come under frequent criticism for the treatment of animals in their supply chain, especially concerning the housing conditions of their chickens and the slaughtering of their animals. Students at the University have been protesting against unethical fast food practices for a number of months. In January, when the renovation of the Michigan Union

SYMPOSIUM From Page 1A Marra and the Assistant Director of the Barger Leadership Institute, Carmeda Stokes, a Strategic Initiatives & Organizational Learning Consultant at U-M, announced the launch of the COUNTS Toolkit for Students Success in partnership with the Council for Nontraditional Students and University Human Resources Organizational Learning. The Toolkit is an online module that provides training and resources to help participants become more aware of the different experiences and challenges students face on campus. “It’s designed for studentfacing staff to provide them with resources and tools to enhance how they support students on campus,” Marra said. “We’ve defined 19 different groups that we are promoting that need a little more attention and visibility to break down the ‘Leaders and the Best’ kind of model that everyone has in their mind about what it is to be a student here.” Counselor and Program Coordinator of CEW+ Morgan Hull spearheaded the development of the Toolkit. “The focus of the topics that we select for the Toolkit are based off of the trends that we hear from the COUNTS group, from nontraditional students that we see at CEW+ and others that we hear across campus,” Hull said. For this rollout, the topics include the imposter syndrome, as well as basic needs on college and wayfinding on a decentralized campus. The COUNTS Toolkit is live on Canvas and is open to all University staff and

Wednesday, October 30, 2019 — 3A In August 2018, U.S District Court Judge, Linda V. Parker, sided with the University and rejected Speech First’s request for a preliminary injunction against the Bias Response Team. According to Parker, in September of this year, a federal appeals court reversed Parker’s decision and voided the ruling on the basis the Bias Response Team infringed upon the First Amendment rights by allowing students to report discrimination anonymously. According to the settlement agreement, the University removed certain definitions of “harassment” and “bullying” from its Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities on June 11, 2018, after the lawsuit was filed by Speech First. The change was meant to clarify the definitions of these terms for students, faculty and staff. Fitzgerald told the University Record the decision to settle will reaffirm the University’s commitment to freedom of speech and prevent against similar claims against the University in the future. “Vigorous debate on all sides of an issue has been a hallmark of this campus before and during the lawsuit,” Fitzgerald said. “We have confidence that true diversity of thought will continue to flourish on our campus.” The decision to settle is a victory for the organization and for free speech rights on college campuses, University

prompted questions about what restaurants should open in the new space, students led protests against Wendy’s employee labor conditions. Students have also spoken out against Wendy’s unwillingness to sign onto the Fair Food Program. When the Union’s restaurant lineup was announced in mid-October, Wendy’s was not included in the list of companies that will serve students when the Union reopens in January 2020 after the franchise owner declined to renew the lease. LSA senior Zina Abourjeily, a member of MARS, said the University’s student organizations can play a large role in the prevention of animal abuse. “We tried to leverage MARS members to come out as a way to

students. The symposium included a keynote panel featuring Shannon Cohen, founder of Shannon Cohen, Inc., and Stephanie Land, author of “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive.” Cohen spoke about her experience with a lack of racial diversity in communities and professional environments. Cohen emphasized the importance of discussing diversity in the employment practices of companies. “One of the ways my advocacy plays out is that organizations are recognizing that those brands and organizations that will be visual, valuable and vocal in the future must reconcile this space of how they engage and build authentic relationships with one another,” Cohen said. Stephanie Land read excerpts from her book, which detailed her accounts of being a single mother living in poverty. In the past, she worked as a housekeeper for the wealthy and was on welfare to cover necessary expenses. In response to a question asking the pair what inspired them to keep pushing forward, Cohen called on the strength of advocates of the past and expressed her gratitude for the progress past women have made. “I know that I am my ancestor’s wildest dream,” Cohen said. “I literally know that I am because of the resilience of other women, specifically for me, my mother and my great grandmother … I know that I could walk on this campus today because someone did the uncomfortable.” Land answered the question by first noting the implications of low socioeconomic status.

spokesman Rick Fitzgerald wrote in an email to The Daily. Neily wrote that Speech First is satisfied with this decision but will continue to watch the University for any actions that may violate First Amendment rights. “The settlement gives us the relief we initially requested: the University agrees to never return to the unconstitutional definitions of ‘bullying’ and ‘harassing,’ and to never return to the Bias Response Team,” Neily wrote. “We have reserved our rights to challenge the Campus Climate Support program in the future should the program ever be used to chill students’ speech. This victory paves the way for college students who may have been too fearful or intimidated to express their opinions to finally embrace their free speech rights and engage in true academic discourse.” When contacted by The Daily, College Democrats and College Republicans declined to comment on the outcome of the lawsuit. Ballew said she hopes the settlement, and the lawsuit in general, allows students to speak freely with each other and voice their opinions in ways they may have not been able to previously. “I hope it provides an environment for students to be able to have honest and open conversations without fear of problems from the University because of what they’re saying,” Ballew said.

build community around animal activism and also (show that) we care,” Abourjeily said. During the protest, students and community members held signs reading “stop this abuse,” “animals deserve better” and “the sad truth.” Trevor Bechtel, a pastor at Shalom Community Church and student engagement coordinator at the Ford School of Public Policy, said he attended the protest because he believes McDonald’s should be meeting much higher standards of ethical food preparation. “The protest is about silently opposing how McDonald’s prepares its food — from the fields, to the farm, to the processing, packaging,” Bechtel said. “We can do a lot better than what McDonald’s is doing.”

“I ended up falling into a niche of poverty and social economic justice,” Land said. “It was incredibly unnerving to admit that I was in that situation because society made me feel like a complete failure in the last decade, just because we often look at people who aren’t ‘making it’ as people that aren’t working as hard.” She said once she started writing online, she began to see a community form around her, urging her to continue sharing her story. “I realized that there wasn’t really a niche for first-person narratives that came from impoverished situations, because poor people can’t afford to write about their lives, and they can’t afford to find mentorship or access to publish,” Land said. Today, she said she is motivated to help people in low income households speak up about their experiences. Rackham student Andrew Gilroy said he was inspired by Land’s perspective. He said he attended the symposium on behalf of the Coalition on Temporary Shelter in Detroit, where he interacts with a lot of women, children and people of color. By attending the symposium, Gilroy said he hoped to learn better ways to support them in the homeless shelter. “I think hearing the stories that they provide really provide a different perspective that people often don’t hear,” Gilroy said. “I’ve never been in poverty, and I’m not from a marginalized population, so being able to hear that perspective changes the way people think. I really think it’s helpful to hear that, because you can make better decisions when interacting with people from those populations.”

Opinion

4A — Wednesday, October 30, 2019

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SAM FOGEL | COLUMN

What the Chicago teachers strike can teach Michigan

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EVAN STERN | COLUMN

We need to fix our aging infrastructure

hether you think Trump, who has expressed about our rusting deep interest in fixing our has fallen bridges, pothole- infrastructure, short. In his victory riddled roads or speech in 2016, antiquated water he stated that his and electrical administration systems, you have would work surely noticed the to “rebuild alarming state of our highways, our old and decaying bridges, tunnels, infrastructure. You airports, schools, should be alarmed. hospitals.” But A recent report his infrastructure card from the EVAN proposal, American Society STERN announced in of Civil Engineers confirmed what most February 2018, sadly made Americans already suspected: limited progress amid the The U.S.’s neglected complexity of partisan politics. Ultimately, our elected infrastructure is in the middle officials have failed to of a serious crisis. These reports, released every realize that solid, modern in good few years, rank these essential infrastructure systems at an embarrassing working order is essential D+ overall. Breaking our to a successful economy, infrastructure down into over especially one as advanced a dozen categories, the marks as ours. Failing to allocate become downright disturbing: the money and resources to Bridges earned a C+, energy a our infrastructure will surely D+, wastewater a D+, drinking send shock waves throughout water a D and transit a D-, to our entire economic system. name a few. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Millions of Americans are aware of the startling condition of these vital systems that keep our nation up and running. The decrepit water systems across this nation have been exposed by events like the Flint water crisis, almost 190 million trips are made across “structurally deficient” bridges each day and it is becoming increasingly difficult for our power grid to With our infrastructure in support the complex needs of poor condition, our roads and highways will be more our 21st century economy. and harder Unfortunately, according congested navigate, our public to the ASCE, our government to would need to come up with transportation systems will $4.5 trillion by 2027 in order to be less reliable for employees bring our infrastructure back trying to get to work, up to speed — something that communities will be more in this divisive political age isolated from each other and it will be more difficult to seems highly unlikely. While it seems that some address climate change. As stated by Robert Puentes, proposals have gained a bit of traction — such as a $2 trillion a nonresident senior fellow plan to address this deepening in the Metropolitan Policy problem reported by The New Program at the Brookings “Infrastructure York Times — Washington as Institution, trade, powers a whole has miserably failed enables connects to address this crisis. Year businesses, after year, Republicans and workers to their jobs, creates Democrats have been unable opportunities for struggling to part ways with politics communities and protects the and address this dangerous nation from an increasingly natural situation, instead preoccupied unpredictable with how to pay for these environment.” Take the interstate highway much-needed improvements. Even President Donald system as an example: As

Republicans and Democrats have been unable to part way with politics

one of the greatest advances in American infrastructure of the 20th century, this complex network of roads that stretches across the entire nation provides for extremely efficient travel of both people and goods. According to the Highway and Motorway Fact Book, “The interstate highway system has had a profound effect upon the American economy and contributed significantly to improved economic efficiency and productivity.” Without the construction of this system — much of which is now in need of drastic repairs — our way of life would be dramatically different. “People would be crowded into more densely packed inner cities, intercity travel would occur less often and be more cumbersome; freight charges would be higher and, as a consequence, so would prices. Vacation travel would be more restricted,” the fact book states. Beyond the direct economic benefits of strong infrastructure, generating the resources and jobs to actually rebuild these crumbling systems is also a significant economic stimulant. The Center for American Progress reports that “upgrading roads, bridges, and other basic infrastructure creates jobs now by putting people to work earning good, middle-class incomes, which expands the consumer base for businesses.” Worthwhile investments into these vital systems is a surefire way to truly reduce unemployment nationwide while simultaneously providing a stronger base for our nation to operate upon. In the end, fixing our decaying infrastructure is not something that we can choose to debate. Regardless of political identity, we all greatly benefit from secure energy systems, strong communication networks and safe highways, railroads and airports. We cannot sit back and ignore the steady deterioration of our infrastructure while counting on it to fill our needs. If we don’t serve it through common sense action, it will inevitably be too broken to serve us. Evan Stern can be reached at erstern@umich.edu.

MADISON COPLEY | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT MICOPLEY@UMICH.EDU

t the time of publication, the teachers of Chicago Public Schools have decided to strike and walk out indefinitely until their demands regarding problems like funding and pay have been met. Other demands from the strikers include smaller class sizes, more paid time to prepare lessons and hiring more supplementary staff, like nurses and counselors. This isn’t the first time the Chicago Teachers Union has organized a strike. The same thing happened back in 2012, with similar claims of paltry pay and understaffing of schools. But the woes of the CTU are awfully familiar. Many urban school districts around the country are reportedly understaffed and underfunded, including many here in Michigan. The same issues that plague Chicago’s schools affects us here in Michigan. In many communities around the state, educators and parents bring up the same concerns. According to some reports, six in 10 schools started the school year understaffed in 2019. This usually leads to a reliance on long-term substitute teachers, who to qualify in Michigan only need 90 college credits. With dwindling pay and fading benefits, qualified teachers are growing ever harder to come by. In Michigan, teacher salaries have gone down by over 11 percent since 2000. It’s much harder to convince people to come into education if they know the salaries are declining. There’s also the issue with studentfaculty ratios, which can

greatly impact the quality of education students receive. In fact, a smaller student-faculty ratio is a great indicator of future academic achievement. To continue to pay teachers poorly is to deprive children of the education they deserve. The awful truth of the matter is that many of the schools most affected by underfunding and understaffing are the districts that need the most support. Sixty teachers left Flint Community Schools in 2019 alone. In Detroit, only 15,000 of the city’s 85,000 students attended schools that made the mark for the state’s criteria of “performance.” Those statistics are frankly appalling and pathetic. Michigan has some unique problems concerning school funding. According to a study at Michigan State University, Michigan ranks “dead last” in funding growth, with the amount adjusted for inf lation only being 85 percent of what it was in 1995. Predictably, Michigan’s schools have only ranked lower and lower on rankings for indicators of progress like standardized tests over time. Recently, however, the state budget might be increased on a perstudent basis by $240 dollars, at least for charter school students. But overall, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s budget is a mixed bag and might be insufficient to close the achievement gap. It’s not up for debate that Michigan’s schools are inadequate in serving our children, but the way to solve the problem is often contested. Many cite charter schools as

the answer, with claims that school choice is an effective way to address failing public schools, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. As of 2016, 70 percent of the time charter schools were in the lowerhalf of state school rankings. Charter school closures are also common, with Michigan’s rate being 31 percent between 2000 and 2016. 87 percent of the students affected by said statistic were African Americans. Charter schools aren’t solving the inequality and troubles in Michigan schools and may be more trouble than they’re worth. Solving these problems is going to take a lot of thought, and unfortunately, it’s something that’s also going to take a substantial amount of time. But one thing’s for sure: Our schools need more money. Salaries and conditions for teachers need to be better, considering the atrocious student-to-teacher ratio and retention rate. School spending in poorer school districts is directly correlated with rising test scores over time, and it’s undeniable that many districts are underfunded. In Michigan’s pursuit of evening out the gap between wealthier districts and poorer districts, it must recognize that money must be spent. Unfortunately, this means increasing expenditures, but there are ways of raising the funds. Though education is an expensive endeavor, it makes all the difference in maintaining a prosperous society. Sam Fogel can be reached at samfogel@umich.edu.

ANDREW MEKHAIL | OP-ED

Where is the urgency?

n Oct. 4, I was fortunate to see former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speak at a “Master Class” given to a select group of University of Michigan undergraduate and graduate students. Guided by her vast experience, Rice spoke clearly and compellingly on issues like democracy, identity and international affairs. As the Master Class came to a close, however, my admiration gave way to dissatisfaction. The class was structured so that some participants had to watch her on a projector in a separate room, leaving half of us unable to ask her questions. Walking out of those adjacent classrooms, the air felt like that of opera-goers having exited an excellent show. Let me be clear that Rice is brilliant and she fought in her official capacity with sincerity in her beliefs. I am guided in my writing by gratitude at the opportunity to learn, rather than bitterness — though I am mad I didn’t get out of my seat, walk for about 20 seconds to the next class over, and try to ask a question myself. As she spoke about complicated realities overseas, I was left to ponder the crisis our own country is wrestling with at home. Speaking with poise and grace that seemed impossible to faze, she made it feel as if we had won something, that our troubles as a country were distant either in time or in proximity. In our discussion, many countries who had succeeded or failed at democracy were put under the microscope as if they were cute or flawed little experiments that the United States could study in a sanitized, removed manner. How can we talk about the failed revolutions of the Arab Spring as if our government is not currently engulfed in flames? As an Egyptian-American, I sat and watched as she discussed the “Middle Eastern exception,” the question of why democracy hasn’t taken to this region as it has around the world. We poked and prodded at all the particularities, and she adorned the conversation with anecdotes of her shining moments as Secretary of State. She spoke at length about instances in which she coached other democracies and helped navigate the chaotic world that we, as a great power,

have helped steep further into chaos. Meanwhile, I see my American president describing the investigation against him as a coup, dispelling criticism as a “witch hunt” and “bullshit,” raging against every element of the world that is not obsequious and adulating toward him and calling for the arrest of key actors in the opposition party and the impeachment inquiry. Our decrepit executive wields extraordinary power in military capabilities and legislative authority, but even “good” presidents have mobilized the equal or lesser power of the office to catastrophic ends. Am I supposed to laugh him off as impotent after Rice extolled the values of strong institutions? Am I supposed to ignore the damage he can do after she warned of the growing divide between those affected by policy realities and those protected through education and affluence? Where is the urgency? I’m careful not to mistake her composure for complacency. When it comes to the answers of her students, she said in an earlier talk that morning that she dislikes a response that starts with, “I feel like,” because more likely than not, she doesn’t care about that student’s feelings in an academic context. I internalized her wisdom that feelings can easily get in the way of an effective argument. But when it comes to my country’s fate and the outcomes of my neighbors around the world, I’d rather risk the passion that comes with urgency than the resignation risked by indifference. Warned by Rice not to weaponize our identities lest others do the same against us, I couldn’t help but think of those whose identities have been weaponized against themselves: immigrants, refugees and women whose autonomy is robbed by a government nonrepresentative of their identity, let alone their interests. As Rice largely criticized democracies abroad, she celebrated the strength of our civil society here in America. Conflict in this country, she reassured, is settled in court, not by shooting each other. For her to choose gun violence as an analogy was emblematic of the divide I felt between her ease

and my unrest. Our indifference loses precious American lives every day. The suffering to which I am a bystander is beyond calculation and comprehension. A classmate finally asked her a question about the state of our country’s pluralistic democracy. Rice chose to focus on how far we’ve come and the progress we’ve achieved. Certainly, giving history too much power can disempower us in the present, but I wonder if Rice is too far removed in experience and success to feel the danger that I feel. In her answer, she argued that voting shouldn’t be easy. Maybe so, if it was equally hard for everyone, but arguments like those have allowed those with power to construct mazes of varying difficulty on the path to the ballot box. She mobilized the example of Roy Moore’s narrow defeat in an Alabama Senate race as an example of our democracy’s strength when it matters. For a man accused by nine women of sexual misconduct — several of whom were teenagers at the time of incident — to lose by only 1.7 percentage points is a sign of fatal structural weakness to me. In his new election bid this upcoming year, every vote will matter. It is a moral travesty that so many Americans, including in the state of Alabama, continue to see their right to vote threatened and even removed. Whether by erecting new hurdles or declaring arbitrary qualifications, some bureaucrats love to define what a “God-given right” should look like, and who God has given it to. Rice can argue that voting shouldn’t be easy, but arguing that it should be difficult to varying degrees is untenable. I don’t think we can measure our progress on how far we’ve come. To ensure that voting access is equally easy for all members of this democracy, we have to measure it by how far we have yet to go — by setting goals. Secretary Rice: For fear of failing others and failing this moment, I cannot take solace in the ways our democracy is doing well. Our shaking democracy bears grave consequences for others, and before we can hope to stabilize it, we can expect more chaos. Andrew Mekhail is a senior studying Public Policy and can be reached at mekhail@umich.edu.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Arts

Wednesday, October 30, 2019 — 5A

CONCERT REVIEW

Three odes to real love at last week’s Big Thief concert JULIANNA MORANO Daily Arts Writer

I’d never really seen a woman roar until I saw Big Thief in concert. It happened when the band performed “Not,” the fifth song of their set at Detroit’s Majestic Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 17. “Not” was the first single from their second release of 2019, Two Hands, which came out less than a week before the show. At that point in the set, the members of Big Thief were still in the jackets they were wearing when they arrived on stage. There had been a genuine autumn coldness outside, and it was not much warmer inside the venue. With the hood of her gray, oversized sweatshirt pulled up, you could see Big Thief frontwoman Adrianne Lenker’s face just peeking through. She joked about it later, exclaiming in her gentle voice that she didn’t realize how full the audience was until she removed the hood. But in the moment, this glimpse of her face was like a vanishing point, all our horizons of thought and attention drawn toward it. “Not” is structured as endlessly mounting anaphora of what it, unsurprisingly, is not (never, in fact, revealing what it is). By the time of the final chorus, the pent-up energy of the song is bursting at the seams. At that point completely mesmerized, I watched Lenker’s face as she wailed, “NOT DYING.” Screamed it. Made it thunder through everything that theater had to offer. Unsteadied our feet. Her voice tore through something that night — whether it was internal or external, physical or metaphysical, I still can’t tell you. What I can tell you is that this moment and a collection of soul-stirring moments from the show will probably never leave my mind. In the mere weeks that have passed, it has inspired three odes: to Big Thief, of course, to Adrianne Lenker and also to the people with whom I shared this experience. The First Ode: To the band Big Thief swiftly took to the stage after a half-hour opening set from Boston-based, Ellen Kempner-fronted alt-rock outfit Palehound. The latter proved a surprisingly fitting complement to the main act, with their musical agility (their setlist completing full circuits from mystical lullabies to lively rock ‘n’ roll) alongside pensive, humane lyrics, when before I wasn’t sure if any band could open well for Big Thief. Lenker, alongside Buck Meek on guitar, Max Oleartchik on bass and James Krivchenia on the drums, armed themselves with their instruments and without further ado, launched right into “Terminal Paradise,” followed by “Toy,” each drawn from their 2019 releases. Two slower, cosmic lead-ins for a band that has a way of creeping up on you — in other words, they could have lured us in no better way. The more upbeat Two Hands track “Forgotten Eyes” came third, for a well-timed change of pace and tone. Not everyone was bobbing their heads to “Eyes,” but my friend and I were, unabashedly. Both of our signature moves also materialized at this time: He does something with his hands, like he’s pointing and tracing the trajectories of notes as they travel through his limbs, while I twirl my wrist like I’m conducting an invisible orchestra. Our responses to Big Thief were not entirely voluntary, my knees not always needing conscious effort to keep bending, his gestures also seeming unchoreographed. We were responding to musical reflex, instinct. “Detroit’s got energy,” Meek said at some point, in the twang to match his cowboyish shirt with the two topmost buttons unbuttoned. In the packed venue, my friend and I both hoped that was directed at us.

She writes about “real love,” the examples our parents set that make us think it should “make our lungs black,” the bliss we find when we name it for ourselves.

Over the course of the roughly hourlong set, they went on to grace us with nascent classics, like “Shark Smile,” “Masterpiece” and, in closing, an electric-guitar rendition of “Mary.” But they also surprised us with more new music — as in, songs that exceeded U.F.O.F.’s and even Two Hands’ tracklists, three songs Lenker introduced as “brand new,” but not without the disclaimer, “New or old, what difference does it make?” One was quiet and meditative, and sounded like it could have fit well on Lenker and Meek’s side collaboration a-sides. The other two were acoustic, and the second in particular gestured toward new developments in Lenker’s rich songwriting. It capitalized on wit in a way that I’d never heard before, and blended in social and existential commentary with echoes of Bob Dylan and the American folk tradition it’s easy to forget Big Thief, for all their wonderfully distinct qualities, is a part of. Performing songs new or old, talking or playing, Big Thief always looked like they were doing what they love with people they love. In the way they marched on stage in matching cold-weather gear. In the way they would face each other in the instrumental interludes. In the way they look at one another in photographs as well as on stage, like friends, too interconnected to be described as new or old — what difference does it make? The Second Ode: To the frontwoman Adrianne Lenker writes songs in the form of what you might call constellations. The intimate scenes and objects she conjures in her lyrics are usually loosely linked but, when taken as a whole, emerge in breathtakingly ethereal arrangements. This approach to songwriting lends itself to impressive representations of ineffable things like memories, and the people we know and love, at the same time that it never feigns to capture them entirely — being the galaxies’ worth of components they are unto themselves. “Mary,” off Big Thief’s second LP Capacity, is the prime illustration of this. The verses dart from intimate image to intimate image, placing you in the center of a solar system of objects enchanted with the titular character’s memory. “Mom and dad and violins / Somber country silence / The needle stopped the kicking / The clothespins on the floor,” Lenker sings in the second of these verses; the chorus, over a minute long, is even more spellbinding, flipping relentlessly through the scrapbook of enchanted still lifes of her time with the real-life friend Mary. (Some of these objects you can almost hear creaking and tapping in the studio version, and make tangible appearances in other performances, like this one with 89.3 The Current.) When Lenker launched into this chorus for the final song of the set at the Majestic, it was the third time in that show that I watched, frozen, as everyone around me likewise stood still in awe. Adrianne Lenker also writes about being in love in ways that are refreshing to encounter. She writes about “real love,” the examples our parents set that make us think it should “make our lungs black,” the bliss we find when we name it for ourselves. She titles songs after male and female lovers alike, and characterizes her relationships with refreshing earnesty, in the mess that love and imbalances of power make of them all. When Adrianne Lenker sings about her mother, specifically, she can hush and still an entire room, like a mother’s lullaby, in fact, but more convincing in content than just form. And she did that night, when the band played “Real Love”: “Looking up to her / Watching her do her / makeup and hair.” My voice caught when I sang that lyric back to her; somehow, I didn’t see it coming. And even before Lenker removed her hoodie midway through their set at the Majestic, I could tell her hair was short again. Maybe I should’ve seen that coming; Two Hands closes with the slow-burning “Cut My Hair.” It reminded me of how I used to feel when I would see Taylor Swift’s wild curls on album covers, would hear her lament about loving foolishly, and then took a little bit more pride in my wild curls and foolish heart — except it was a more complicated and mature experience this time. Short hair comes with a lot of baggage for me. My mother is a breast cancer survivor, and when she lost her hair to chemotherapy, what she got in return were damaging comments about her appearance from the people who were supposed to love her unconditionally. I will always flinch when I anticipate the same disease, when I picture myself losing my hair one day, and can only see loss in that image — I can’t see strength in it. Not yet. I know Lenker does not shave her hair because of breast cancer. But I can’t help thinking, when I stare up at her, that if I do inherit the disease and lose my hair to chemo maybe that’s not the same as losing my identity, or femininity.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

And I realized as these thoughts raced through my head and this empowerment pulsed through me that it’s this: Big Thief is a band you can believe in. Adrianne Lenker is a person I don’t know, but can also believe in. I haven’t really believed in any musical artists since feeling personally betrayed by Taylor Swift’s 1989 in high school, but I closed my eyes in 2019 and listened to the woman on the stage in front of me, singing about imperfect families and real love being “a heart attack,” and I believed in her. The Third Ode: To those with whom I share this band, this experience I did not know what kind of crowd to expect the night of the concert, and found myself pleasantly surprised. I ran into a short story writer I knew. She asked me what Big Thief song I would choose, given all others would disappear, and seemed content with my knee-jerk answer, Capacity’s “Watering.” I saw one of my teachers, who gave me a hug with a beer in their hand and inquired how I found out about Big Thief, before benevolently shooing me with a promise to see me in class on Tuesday. I saw a boy I had a crush on in a creative writing class freshman year, who introduced me to his partner and shared his plans to get a music degree at another college. I was happy to see a number of friends and acquaintances who identify as queer, looking happy and safe. I was happy to see a lot of nose rings — to see young people who looked like they were dressing the way they wanted to dress. I felt like I could have been in the living room of a co-op on my college campus, just with expanded dimensions and technical upgrades to rise to the occasion of Big Thief’s largeness, their majesty. The people with whom I shared that space got me thinking about how it astonishes me: how much our love for other people becomes entangled with art. My unrestrained love for my mother. My forevertested love for my father. My fierce but well-meaning love for my brother. My inarticulate love for my friend who I know is responsible for changing my life, who I love and look up to in a kid-sister kind of way. I endow a variety of artists with these loves, but Big Thief is the only band with the strength and capacity to hold them all. Actually, I went to the concert with one of these friends. The day before the concert, both of us independently googled the setlists for their tour thus far, then immediately closed the tab after doing so. Another friend let us borrow his car to get there — magnanimity that day knew no bounds — and we tested ourselves on Big Thief lyrics the entire way there. We made our predictions, but decided the band could not possibly go wrong. At the concert, after almost every song, we’d turn to each other, usually exchanging a nod or a grin or words we couldn’t hear, but still understood. That was the greatest part: sharing it, without having to say anything. On the way there, we talked about Big Thief lyrics and potential setlists, yes, but we talked about life things, too. Naturally, then, my romantic (anti-)developments of the last year came up. At one point in that conversation, we revisited one of the theories that arose from one of these failed pursuits, that relationships founded solely on the basis of shared musical interest always seem shakier. “Like us with Big Thief,” he quickly interrupted. I laughed hard, and if I were someone who jokingly punched people’s arms, I would’ve done so, but I thought about it more, and, to a certain extent, he was right. I can meditate all I want on what this experience means to me, but the fact that I share its memory with someone I love is the whole thing, the biggest thing. The most it could possibly mean. *** “Not to die, not dying,” she sang, and I didn’t think any of us were, but maybe Lenker felt like she had been before that moment, and maybe I have at times, too, and maybe we always are, but maybe I also believe she conquered that reality in that moment, with her voice and her music alone, and she carried me away with her. I wish you could have seen it and believed it. She would carry you, too.

ALBUM REVIEW

The nostalgic glow of ‘Pony’ is Rex at his most relatable

his girlfriend. Opener “10/10” and closer “It’s Not The Same Anymore” are the biggest meditations on this theme, and it’s probably no Daily Arts Writer coincidence that he chose the two to sandwich the rest of the album. Rex’s voice is infused with melancholy as he sings, “I lost the joy in my Sometimes it’s hard to believe that Rex Orange County is only face / My life was simple before.” 21 years old — he’s been singing so maturely on the strength of his Love may be a universal language, but Rex is even more relatable in love since he was barely 18. In the three short years since the stellar the ways he tackles nostalgia. His longing for the days of old feels even bcos u will never b free, Rex has become indie pop’s darling, stealing more personal, more intimate, yet so wide-reaching. The intimacy of listeners’ hearts with his impassioned (and catchy) songwriting. A his writing is reinforced by warm instrumentation. On “10/10,” the lot has happened in those three years. 18 is a crazy age to rocket into synth keys, snappy percussion and lush vocal harmonies give a veneer stardom, and once you’ve become a star, there’s no going back. Rex of ’80s energy while still sounding fresh. Pony’s production is all the hasn’t shied away from singing about that pressure. But as the saying more impressive when you look at the credits: Rex is a known multigoes, pressure makes diamonds — and Pony is a diamond. instrument virtuoso, and almost all the central instruments are selfThere’s one solemn theme that drives the writing on Pony: Rex performed. missing his old life. It’s a message that runs deep throughout the Creating a musical mood is an art for Rex, using every sound to its album, maybe even deeper than his usual warm expressions of love for fullest. “Laser Lights” is tinged with noir, featuring groovy saxophone and flute performances. The lyrics embody Rex’s songwriting style that is best described as “effortless.” His lines all have an innate rhythm, and he never has to stretch his delivery to say what he wants to say. He accomplishes this with lines that are at once simple and clever: “Arm to the face, when we have to speak I usually shoegaze / And if I saw you in public, I would pretend to tie my shoelace.” Much like the innate rhythm in his writing, the tracks on Pony are expertly composed to build momentum, every song continuously expanding into something greater and greater. “It Gets Better” is a song that literally gets better as the instrumentation builds and builds. Starting with highly danceable percussion and piano chords, the song eventually explodes into an orchestral climax. There’s only one lengthy song on Pony at six minutes and 26 seconds, but Rex is poised to FACEBOOK / SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT make magnificent and evolving music in the vein DYLAN YONO

Pony Rex Orange County Sony Music Entertainment

of Frank Ocean’s ten-minute masterpiece “Pyramids.” Woven between the mellow writing on Pony is high-spirited celebration. “Never Had The Balls” is full of warmth and happiness. The sound of birds chirping pads the music, conjuring an image of a beautiful spring day. It feels like the sun shining down when the hook hits — if someone asked for an example of a chorus that blossoms, I would point them to “Never Had The Balls.” The emotional high point of Pony is undoubtedly “Pluto Projector” — after first listen, it immediately made it onto my shortlist of songs to play at my wedding. It is laced in drama, starting with just a soft guitar and eventually introducing a sublime chamber orchestra. The angelic background vocals are even performed together by Rex and his girlfriend. Could it be any more romantic? Pony is Rex in his element. For being so strongly tied to Rex in the present, the record’s songwriting is timeless. The song structures are familiar to pop listeners, but the ever-evolving nature of each track makes it feel more free-form. A sense of meticulous craftwork is in the bones of the music, making Pony a refined record for listeners of soft and delicate e-boy indie. Rex Orange County is quickly moving from indie-pop prince to king, and the crown looks damn good on him.

Arts

6A — Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

FILM NOTEBOOK

ALBUM REVIEW

Disney has been very busy, and the future looks bright SABRIYA IMAMI For The Daily

Earlier this week, I was talking to an old friend, and I told her that I had bought tickets to “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” for me and my whole family the instant they went on sale. She wasn’t surprised; I had done the same thing for many movies in the past, like “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Avengers: Endgame.” I am what you would call a little bit obsessed with movie franchises, and my family — especially my sister — shares my love of Disney movies in particular. However, during our conversation, she made an off hand remark asking me if I could remember the last Disney movie that I had seen that wasn’t part of a franchise or a reboot. I told her of course I could name one, and then I sat there in shock realizing that I couldn’t. I have since realized that, as far as I can remember, it was back in 2016 with Disney’s “Moana.” By the end of 2019, Disney will have released 11 movies in theaters (not including those of which are Fox properties, or Disney’s Fox releases): “Captain Marvel,” “Dumbo,” “Penguins” (a Disneynature film), “Avengers: Endgame,” “Aladdin,” “Toy Story 4,” “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” “The Lion King,” “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” “Frozen 2” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” The wide variety of movies looks impressive, but with the exception of “Penguins” (a documentary), there is not a single original movie in that list. Every single one of them is either part of a series or a reboot of a classic. I personally love Disney films. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s a reboot or a sequel, if it’s animated or live-action: I love them all. But it is staggering to realize how many box-office hits in this day and age lack originality. All the Disney “Star Wars” movies are part of a larger franchise that began in the ’70s, and all the Disney Marvel movies are based on comic books dating back to 1939. All the live-action, remade classic movies are based on old Disney cartoons. Even Disney, arguably one of the most imaginative and creative film companies, seems to be grasping at straws when it comes to moviemaking. They are sticking to franchises and reboots because they know that those are the kinds of movies that will

get them a return on investment. And to be fair, those movies are successful. Disney dominated the box-office in 2019; as of this week, the top six movies in the domestic boxoffice charts this year are all Disney properties. They know what works to make money, and right now, it’s franchises and reboots. Disney announced a number of upcoming films from 2019 to 2023 at its D23 expo earlier this year, and a majority of them fall under the franchise and reboot category. For instance, from 2020 to 2022, there are at least seven Marvel movies slated to come out, complete with release dates and everything. There are a few original movies sprinkled in, but not many. And with the addition of Disney+ (release date Nov. 12, 2019), even more franchise and reboot movies and television shows are to be released outside of theaters. Disney is really banking on the nostalgia factor and the franchise frenzy with a lot of the Disney+ content: a new “Lizzie McGuire” TV show, a “Star Wars” universe TV show “The Mandalorian,” a live-action “Lady and the Tramp” movie and a number of lowercaliber Marvel heroes’ TV shows are just some of the new content to be added, not to mention the “oldie but goldie” Disney TV shows and movies that haven’t been on air or in theaters for years. Disney is f lourishing right now — that much is clear. But what will happen when the era of franchise and reboots finally ends? While they will probably always be a successful company, (how can they not be with entire theme parks based on their films?), they will have to understand their audience’s interests and make hasty adjustments based on what people want to see sooner or later. Eventually, they’ll have to stop churning out sequels and remakes and finally create something new, something never-before seen. They’ve done it before: Back in 1950 when “Cinderella” came out, the scene where her ripped-up dress was transformed into her iconic ballroom dress amazed viewers, who had never seen animation like that. But that was 70 years ago. They’ll have to up their game a little, though I’m pretty sure they’ll catch up when the franchise era dies down. In the meantime, I’ll still happily hop on the franchise train and see “The Rise of Skywalker” the night it comes out.

Disney is flourishing right now — that much is clear. But what will happen when the era of franchise and reboots finally ends?

Classifieds

Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com

Release Date: Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

FOR RENT

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Gets misty, with “up” 5 Salon treatment, briefly 9 Benjamins 15 Curly coif 16 Popular river name from the Welsh for “river” 17 They’re exchanged in Hawaii 18 Nonstick cookware product 19 Religious season 20 “Don’t take the blame” 21 Risked it big-time 24 Cooler filler 25 Chinese zodiac critter 26 Approximate nos. 27 MN and NM 30 Puts (in) tentatively 32 Bad-mouth 33 Word before bug or ant 34 Prov. bordering four Great Lakes 35 Hairpiece 36 Hazardous gas 37 Risked it big-time 42 Parrots geese 43 Fill up on 44 Nero’s 91 45 Exclusive 46 Part of UNLV 47 Wore 51 BB-shaped veggie 52 Coll. Board exams 53 “I’m sorry, Dave” film computer 54 “__ you serious?” 55 Risked it big-time 59 Compensate for 61 Short hoppers? 62 Hall of Fame pitcher Randy “The Big __” Johnson 63 Hairpiece 64 Pennsylvania county 65 5 for B or 6 for C 66 Coffee and wine 67 Lairs 68 One logging on

DOWN 1 Fistfight souvenir 2 __ hours 3 Second Commandment adjective 4 Footprint maker 5 Silicon Valley city 6 Pentathlon’s five 7 “That’s a no-no!” 8 Where losers of a race may be left 9 West Point students 10 Gravity-powered vehicles 11 Classic video game 12 Reaffirming rebuttal 13 __ chi 14 Boomer that no longer booms 22 Screwdrivers, e.g. 23 Give approval online, in a way 28 Slacks, briefly 29 Email status 31 Far from selfeffacing

33 Mystic on a bed of nails 35 Comforted 36 Soda since 1905 37 Explore OfferUp 38 Hue 39 Prohibited 40 “Awesome!” 41 Wide-open spaces 46 Coffeehouse orders

47 Sure winner 48 Contaminates 49 White-coated weasel 50 One with bills to pay 52 Look of disdain 56 Hockey’s Phil, to fans 57 Sped 58 Waikiki bash 59 Needing no Rx 60 Egg __ yung

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

10/30/19

COLUMBIA RECORDS

King Princess has arrived SAMANTHA CANTIE Daily Arts Writer

King Princess’s album promo video for Cheap Queen is pure satire. King Princess is in drag as she goes off into crisp banter with comedian Kate Berlant. The promo masterfully captures the intersection between women being clever and being sexy, the perfect introduction to the focal points of King Princess’s debut album. The album promo, along with cover art that features King Princess in a burlesqueinspired outfit, immerses fans in the wonderful, underrepresented space of women being exceedingly funny without being labeled as annoying or trying to get in your bed. Burlesque, according to Wikipedia, is work “intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works. ” It has always been controversial, especially with its connection to strip clubs. With one quick Google search you can find an article titled, “Is Burlesque empowering or demeaning for women?” King Princess takes any notion of this condescension to those involved with burlesque and reverts it with Cheap Queen. The debut album is literally a vintage-inspired, empowering strip tease that sits at the intersection of comedy, sexiness and class. Among the satire in the album promo, King Princess weaves in small, quotable odes to the energy that guided this break-up album. At one moment she stares stone-cold at Kate Berlant to say, “Do you like my leg hair through the fish nets?” The next moment she acknowledges the liberating space she creates for her fans: “To see that my concerts like provide this space for young queer kids. Especially for dykes, it’s like, there has to be some sort of kind of haven to fucking rage. There’s something church-like about it.” Sexiness through mockery is completely authentic to Mikaela Straus (the real name behind King Princess). Watch any interview and you feel your panties drop while she mocks herself or boring music. In this way, her debut Cheap Queen feels completely authentic. She’s vulnerable in her authenticity and sadness, and that’s at the forefront of this debut. With Cheap Queen, King Princess takes the pressure away from being a hyper-feminine Instagram baddie and instead grasps the sexiness that lies in comedy and humility. It’s a lesbian heart-break album that crushes and empowers its listeners simultaneously. This retro, going-backwards-to-moveforward sort of female empowerment is woven throughout the listening experience of each

10/30/19

King Princess Columbia Records

Looking back at ‘Silicon’ SAYAN GHOSH

Twenty years ago, Mike Judge created “Office Space,” the perfect distillation of the nine to five ennui that can sometimes veer into the surreal, all borne out of being trapped in a cubicle for most of the day. It was an unglamorous era for the humble programmer, before the excesses of the following decade set in. Years later, Judge returned to a similar theme after the successes of his following projects with the HBO series “Silicon Valley.” The bleak dystopia is (seemingly) flipped on its head in the show’s titular location, with the bleak gray interiors of Initech replaced by the colorful, open office layouts, all-you-can-eat lunches of Hooli. Characters like Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch, “Tag”) are trying to escape their jobs not out of extreme boredom, but rather the possibility of becoming the next iterations of the CEOs of the companies they work at. “Passion” and “energy” become the buzzwords of the day, with the “worthy” deservedly capturing the fruits that capitalism can endow. Reading between the lines, however, one

Cheap Queen

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track. Most notably, the title track “Cheap Queen” incorporates audio from an old-timey female movie, woefully spilling lyrics in the background like: “Smiling for the audience” or “cheap queen.” One of my favorite tracks is “Hit The Back,” a dance track that’s clear and direct about exactly what her lover is missing now that they’re no longer together: “Ain’t I the best you had, and I let you throw it down, hit the back.” The Playboy School of Pop video that’s set to the tune of “Hit The Back” is even better; it displays King Princess dressing as a hot version of every high school trope, from cheerleader to basketball player. She’s anything she wants to be. She liberates her fans to feel the same. King Princess’s journey started when she exploded onto the scene after Harry Styles tweeted about her hit single “1950.” Now only 20 years old, she’s on the rise, making music for “the queer kids in the front,” as she says. In the music video for “1950,” she rocked a small drawn-on mustache. Now, for Cheap Queen, she draws on fully arched eyebrows in full glam. She’s exactly what pop needs — she exists in a space that’s undefined and sexy as hell. King Princess writes catchy love struck tunes to female lovers. She’s always specific, always daring and never holds back. Fall on your knees, the reign of King Princess is here.

can come to realize that the world portrayed by “Silicon Valley” is its own type of dystopia, with the real-life effects of the real-life equivalents of the personalities of the show becoming a larger part of the national conversation. The brash, uncontainable ego of characters like Hooli CEO Gavin Belson (Matt Ross, “American Horror Story: Hotel”) are some of the best bits of the series, but when we see some of those elements in the Zuckerbergs and Bezoses of the world that Belson is presumably a caricature of, the consequences are a bit more dire. Or when the cartoonish greed of Russ Hanneman (Chris Diamantopoulos) is reflected in the Adam Neumanns of the world (who get billion dollar payouts to leave their companies while their employees lose their jobs), the utopianism that many companies, venture capital firms and other cogs of the tech ecosystem try to spread seems more and more like the front to ever-growing grifts. Yet it is always difficult to not cheer for the protagonists of the series, however flanderized they’ve become. Maybe in their early days, this was itself the attitude towards the now despised Facebooks and Amazons of the world. One of the frustrating parts of the show is that since Pied Piper (the startup in the center of it all) never really passes the startup stage, we never see how the transition into potential global behemoth affects the attitudes and relationships of the characters (a la “The Social Network”). “Silicon Valley” returns for its sixth and final season this week, and despite the relative downturn in quality of the previous two seasons, it is set up with a lot of promise for a final season to match the high bar set by its first few. Even between when it started five years ago and now, perceptions within and without “The Valley” about the societal impact (mostly negative ones) and responsibilities of the behemoths in the Bay Area have changed drastically, and the quirks of the characters that made them so endearing are not as funny anymore. There is a lot of room to explore these ideas as well as analyze the changing landscape in the tech world with the trademark wit and precision which Judge has shown time and time again.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Sports

Wednesday, October 30, 2019 — 7

With legs, Patterson aids offense Errors crucial in failed upset bid ARTHUR POTTER

ARIA GERSON

Daily Sports Editor

For The Daily

As Tru Wilson took the handoff and cut through the teeth of Notre Dame’s defense, Shea Patterson sprinted downfield ahead of his running back. When Wilson approached the end zone, Patterson threw a block on the last remaining defender. Wilson coasted in for a touchdown. Early in the season, Patterson seemed reluctant to put his body on the line. He was hesitant to keep the ball even on read-options that appeared to be open for a keep. He certainly didn’t block for touchdowns like he did on Saturday or risk an eye-gouging ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily on a quarterback sneak, like Senior quarterback Shea Patterson had double-digit carries on Saturday. all year he was at 100 percent. last week at Penn State. has) done an unbelievable Regardless of whether job of watching that film and But now, Michigan’s senior quarterback is back to his fast the early absence of the picking up on the things he did and physical ways, and it’s been quarterback run was due wrong early in the season. And nothing but a boon to his team. to injury, missed reads or for him being the big leader “I think (the quarterback something else entirely, there’s that he is in the locker room ... run) was especially important no question that aspect of just asserting himself like that in this game and something Patterson’s game is back. is gonna be a big part of our we’d talked about and Shea Against the Nittany Lions and success.” embraced, and he read the Fighting Irish, he rushed for The presence of a dualball,” said Michigan coach Jim 41 and 28 sack-adjusted yards, threat signal-caller gives Harbaugh on Monday. “If both respectively. And on Saturday, the defense another thing sides know that you’re running, in a throwback to last year, to worry about and can Patterson kept confuse opposing teams with having that the ball on a looks they haven’t seen. The quarterback read-option as a potential re-addition of that element of in the second Patterson’s game has opened threat for a quarter for a up the Wolverines’ rushing runner is key. … 22-yard gain. attack after a few lackluster I thought it was The run set early-season games. And it’s his fastest game the Wolverines been beneficial for Patterson, he’s played as a up with first- too. As he’s increasingly made runner and he’s and-goal at the the right reads and found moving around, 2-yard line, success, his confidence has scrambles. You eventually could tell when only grown. leading to a he got the block “I feel like he’s the best that it was at least a distraction touchdown that put Michigan there is,” Wilson said. “He’s on Tru’s touchdown. He was up, 17-0. the man. But physically, “The quarterback run game mentally, his confidence is at a really moving.” Some of Patterson’s early is a pretty big part of what we high, he’s throwing the ball as hesitance may have been due do,” said redshirt freshman good as could be, I thought he tackle Jalen threw the ball really well for to an oblique injury sustained offensive in the season opener against Mayfield. “And we missed a being as rainy as it was. That’s Middle Tennessee. Last week, couple opportunities early really bad conditions. So yeah, Patterson said that the game in in the season, weren’t able to I think he’s the man and he can State College was the first time hold the ball, but (Patterson do it all.”

The Michigan volleyball team followed the example of its kills leader, sophomore outside hitter Paige Jones, on Sunday. Against No. 5 Wisconsin, the Wolverines’ upset hopes were dashed by a slew of errors and dominant play by the Badgers’ All-American junior middle blocker Dana Rettke. Jones had a game-high 21 kills for the Wolverines, showing some impressive spurts of genius against the heavily-favored Badgers en route to her second straight match with 20-plus kills. But she also led the team with nine errors in what ended up being a sloppy loss for Michigan. “I think we as a team were a little high-air,” said Michigan coach Mark Rosen. “... And that’s where I thought Paige could have been a little bit better.” “High-air” was a nice way of putting the Wolverines’ struggles. They totaled 29 attack errors to the Badgers’

nine. Michigan also had only one service ace and 12 service errors, giving away too many free points to a Wisconsin team that certainly didn’t need the help. The Wolverines were outhit by the Badgers, .372-.176, as well. And despite some solid runs throughout the game, Michigan’s passing was poor at times — a sin the Wolverines could ill-afford to commit against the sound and skilled Badgers. “A lot of teams don’t always capitalize in those situations,” Rosen said. “... We’re in trouble and we can kind of bang out of it and be OK. (Wisconsin) is a team where it’s hard to bang out of trouble.” But even in the desperation of a fourth loss in five games, the Wolverines were able to take solace in the bright spots that Jones and the rest of Michigan’s young stars exhibited. Even though Jones had difficulty with controlling the ball, she marked the fourth 20-kill match of her young career.

“She’s scoring a lot for us right now,” Rosen said. “She’s carrying a big load for us.” Two other youngsters, freshman outside hitter May Pertofsky and freshman middle blocker Jess Robinson also had solid performances. Pertofsky and Robinson had eight kills apiece, but they combined for nine errors of their own. Even so, this front-court trio for the Wolverines has been learning and progressing at a strong rate. The difference in skill between the current iterations of both Michigan and Wisconsin is obvious; the Wolverines just aren’t on the Badgers’ level. But Jones and the other young players showed enough in the loss to give the Wolverines a positive outlook on the future, even if there are some growing pains along the way. “We’re very excited about what they’re doing,” Rosen said. “... I like how this team is progressing. I like how this team is approaching things, I like how they’re approaching losses.”

...having that quarterback as a potential threat... is key.

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Sophomore outside hitter Paige Jones had a game-high 21 kills Sunday, her second straight matchup with 20-plus kills.

Quick Hits The hockey beat is back with Quick Hits, this time leaning into spooky season to unearth the team’s fears and frights MOLLY SHEA

Daily Sports Writer

The Daily hockey beat used to run a video series during the 2011-12 season called “Quick Hits.” It was a series of one-on-one interviews with players that covered everyday life and all of its funny moments. But now, for budget reasons, it’s in written format. And for the first season in three years — despite the pleas of the editors — Quick Hits are back. For the second edition, The Daily sat down with three members of the sophomore class, goaltender Strauss Mann, forward Nolan Moyle and defenseman Nick Blankenburg — based on the frequency of their photos together on Instagram — to talk about some pretty spooky stuff. *** Tien was feeling really festive for Halloween and brought a cowboy hat and crown to interview the players. When they walked in, they noticed immediately. Blankenburg: Ooooh, a crown. Is that for one of us to wear? Mann: That crown is for you, Moyle. Moyle: No, that’s for you lad. Feeling that these first-time Quick Hits victims didn’t know what was going on, Tien Le and Molly “Michigan” Shea offered up a quick explanation of Quick Hits before getting into it. *** Molly: If the team was trapped in a horror movie who would be the first person to get killed/go missing? Blankenburg: Jack Olmstead. Moyle: Jack Leavy, for sure. Mann: Yeah, either one of those guys. Blankenburg: I think Olmstead and Leavy are definitely the main two.

Moyle: Maybe Strauss. Mann: I feel like they’d think they had a smart idea to get out of there or something, and it would just go completely wrong. Tien: Okay, who on the team would be most likely to cry in a haunted house? Moyle: Jack Leavy. Again. Tien: Is he really easy to scare? Mann: Uhhhh... Moyle: He just wouldn’t know what to expect, and then he’d probably get terrified. Blankenburg: I feel like any being scared questions, or crying questions relate to Jack Leavy and Jack Olmstead. Moyle: Oh yeah. Tien: Molly had to get dragged out of a haunted house one time because she was so scared she was on the floor crying. Blankenburg: Oh. Mann: Nice, nice. Molly: Hey! I was really young! Molly: Do you guys believe in any conspiracy theories? Like is the moon landing fake? Is the Earth flat? Blankenburg: Uhh, I don’t know. I try not to get into that stuff. It’s not my cup of tea. Moyle: The Titanic was fake, I think. Molly: Woah. Mann: Yeah, that’s not up my alley. Blankenburg: I know Jake Gingell is a big, big, big conspiracy theory guy, so I think that’d be the guy you would ask. He watches alien documentaries and always talks about aliens and stuff like that. Tien: What’s the worst Halloween candy? Blankenburg: I don’t like candy corn. Mann: Really? You don’t? Blankenburg: Yeah, I’m just not a big fan of candy corn. Mann: Black licorice. A key fact left out is that Mann follows a very strict diet that

doesn’t include any food otherwise touched by humans besides to cook it, so, in other words, no candy. Molly: Well that’s just the worst candy in general. Mann: Well, that’s any candy so… Moyle: I don’t know, those Rolo things are pretty heinous. Blankenburg *clearly offended by Moyle’s suggestion*: Wait, fruit roll-ups?? Fruit roll-ups are unbelievable. Mann: Tootsie Rolls?? Moyle: No, no, no. Blankenburg: Tootsie Rolls are sooooo bad too, though. Mann: They’re so good, sooo good. Tien: They’re a classic. Blankenburg: Tootsie Rolls are ... I don’t even know. Molly: What are you guys going to be for Halloween this year? Blankenburg: White Goodman. Molly: Who’s that? Blankenburg: He’s on the Purple Cobras from the movie ‘Dodgeball’. Mann: I’m going to be the Love Guru. Mariska Hargitay…. Mariska Hargitay. Blankenburg: I don’t know. We won’t really have the chance to go out here, I mean, Halloween is, Thursday? Yeah we’re going to leave for Ohio State. Oh! Maybe I’ll wear a nice costume on the bus or something. Maybe we should all do that. Mann: For Halloween, you (Blankenburg) can just be yourself. That’d be pretty scary. Head athletic trainer Brian Brewster walks into the room. Blankenburg: Hey! Should we do that, wear Halloween costumes on the bus? Brewster: I’d like to see you lead the charge on that. Blankenburg: I might, I might. Molly: Strauss, what did you honestly think of when Tien

asked to race you at the meet the players skate? Mann: Ummm, I was just like ‘Uhh I really don’t wanna do this, but...’ Blankenburg: Actually, he got nervous. Afraid he was going to lose. Mann: Well, I did lose. I was just like, ‘I don’t know, I can be a nice guy and do it.’ It’s tough with all the goalie gear on. After the game, you (Tien), had me at my worst moment. Tien: In my story I said, ‘To be fair, you were in pads and stuff.’ Tien: What’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to you? Mann: Scariest moment…. Blankenburg: I think I thought someone was trying to break into my house. One time, when I was home alone, I was down in my basement, and someone rang the doorbell. And when you’re a kid, and you’re home alone, you automatically think someone’s trying to break into your house. But … it was just the mailman or something. Tien: Someone actually broke into my house two years ago. Blankenburg: Oh really? Tien: Two years ago in Ann Arbor, yeah. Blankenburg: Other than that

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

Sophomore defenseman Nick Blankenburg will be dressing up as White Goodman for Halloween this week.

fake break-in, I haven’t really had too much scary stuff. Moyle: I can’t think of anything like really scary. Mann: Uhhh ... I’m thinking. Maybe anytime my junior hockey coach talked to me. I was afraid I’d get traded or something. *long pause* But he was a good guy. Make sure you put that in there, please. Molly: Blankenburg and Moyle, if you had to be goalie for the day, who would you least

want to face a shot from? Moyle: Johnny Beecher. Mann: Oh, for sure. Moyle: His shot split open Hayden’s head last week. Tien: Oh right, he had to get six stitches by his eye. Blankenburg: Slaker or Will. Moyle: Oh, or Becker. Molly: Alright, that’s all we have for you guys. Mann *shakes his head*: Good luck writing this story. We didn’t give you anything good.

June 1, 19,2017 2016

Sports

8A— Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

THENEW#2 How Phil Martelli can impact the Michigan men’s basketball team JACOB KOPNICK Daily Sports Writer

It’s year one under coach Juwan Howard, and the question on everyone’s mind seems to be what on Earth is this new team going to look like? Will it be characterized by deliberate possessions on offense with complex schemes that only a few of basketball’s elite may understand or will it be more up-tempo, emphasizing the 3-point shot? Will the team run man-to-man defensive coverage or will it play a zone? For crying out loud, who’s even going to be starting? In the weeks leading up to the season, one figure on Michigan’s staff may provide some early answers. And that’s associate coach Phil Martelli. Having spent the last 24 years as the head coach at St. Joseph’s, a mid-major program in Philadelphia, Martelli has seen it all. He coached one of only 25 teams to finish the regular season undefeated with his 2003-04 squad and has led many players to the next level. While it’s still too early to tell, this perhaps made the hiring of Martelli such a great move for Juwan’s rookie campaign as a coach. In addition to contributing sage wisdom, as a man whose name is synonymous with veteran coaching ability, Martelli may have a hand in designing this season’s offense and defense. To figure out what that may look like, The Daily broke down some old St. Joe’s game footage between the Hawks and Saint Louis in 2018 because, well, it was one of the only ones available on YouTube. It’s not a game of any particular significance, just a regular season game where St. Joe’s lost, 68-57. The analysis will include what Martelli could bring to both sides of the ball this season as well as how his system would have potentially worked with Michigan’s 2018-19 roster.

Offense We’ll start with offense, because, while defense is great, it surely is not going to keep you hooked on this article. And Martelli agrees. On Friday, speaking to The Daily, Martelli dropped this nugget. “Coaches might scream that you don’t deserve to coach when I make this next statement,” Martelli said, “but that old statement of, ‘Defense wins championships,’ I’m not dead-sold on that. I’ve never seen a championship won 6-4. You have to score.” Right he is. And one of the primary ways he did that at St. Joe’s was through staggered ball screen processions, frequent ball movement and a ball-dominant point guard. Martelli did not always have the most size or strength with his players, but the guards he did recruit could often times flat-out play. This is evident in his ‘03 squad that ran with four guards on the floor most of the time. Here, let’s look at a passing play that led to a pick-and-roll play with an easy basket (see top right of page). First, the point guard dribbles down to the wing, handing the ball off to the ‘2’ who takes it to the key and passes to the ‘3.’ The ‘3’ then hands it back to the point guard who is coming back up to the key, then plays around a pick set by the ‘5.’ The big then rolls to the basket where he’s greeted by the name “Spalding,” hurling at him. As the style of play in college basketball has changed over the years, the pick-and-roll has become an instrumental tool in any offense due to its hard-to-guard nature and versatility. Nobody understands that better than Phil Martelli and, so it seems, Juwan Howard. “The offense that we’re running now is really from Juwan’s and (assistant coach) Howard Eisley’s background,” Martelli said. “Conceptually, though, it’s what you’re saying. The ball screen is a big part. The ball screen is a big part of the NBA, big part of college basketball. Hard to guard. The double away action that you speak about is hard to guard.” Now working with a balldominant, experienced guard in senior Zavier Simpson, Martelli is surely excited at the thought of coaching a player like Simpson who would surely be a fixture of St. Joe’s

scheme. An additional aspect of the offense that Martelli has witnessed in his brief time with the Wolverines but failed to fully implement himself is the after-timeout (ATO) play. ATO plays have become a crucial part of the college and professional game, and with all the old NBA talent now at the helm of the program, seem to be queued up for a big release. Defense On the defensive side of the ball, Martelli maintains that his schemes were often dictated by the skill level and size of his players. So he knows exactly what he’d do if he were in charge of implementing the defense at Michigan. “I would build my defense, manto-man,” Martelli said. “As we’re looking at some multiple defenses, I would be a man-to-man team with a kind-of zone to take the other team out of rhythm.” And Martelli has and will have the chance to defend these schemes, seeing as all of the coaches draw on their individual experiences in order to pitch Howard on how to best run the team. One aspect of St. Joes’ defense that may make its way into Crisler Center this season is the act of trapping the baseline. A prominent feature of Martelli’s defense, trapping the baseline took the Saint Louis offense out of rhythm and forced it into making riskier passes (see top left of page). In this play, once the ball is passed to the big man, the Hawks’ guard comes down to trap the ball. In the Saint Louis game, this forced the Billikens’ ball-handler to dribble to the outside and pass to the open man who then missed a deep three. So if you see the Wolverines trapping the baseline this season, you know who to thank. How Martelli’s System Could Improve When seeing how last year’s St. Joe’s team compares to last year’s Michigan team, the differences are glaring and largely explain the disparity in success. For starters, the Hawks lacked skill at the point guard position. To be fair, most teams trail the Wolverines in this regard with Simpson emerging as one of the nation’s best. But once the film is pulled up, the evidence is damning. In the game, there’s a play where St. Joe’s point guard Jared Bynum drives to the basket. His shot selection

is poor due to an awkward angle towards the hoop, forcing an offbalance shot. In a similar situation, Simpson’s attempts offer a different solution — his high-percentage hook shot. Clearly outmatched and offbalance, Bynum’s shot had a ghost of a chance to connect. Simpson, on the other hand, knowingly outsized, has mastered his move. While yes, this is just a series of cherry-picked shots, last year’s stats tell the whole story. Simpson led Bynum in nearly all advanced statistics including win shares and player efficiency rating. While Bynum edged out Simpson in points per game, Simpson dominated in nearly every aspect of the offense particularly in assists where he averaged 6.6 per game. One additional difference between Martelli’s teams and Michigan currently is the lack of size. In the matchup, there was one instance where the Billikens collected three straight offensive boards, easily grabbing boards over their opponents. Just imagine you’re a lifelong Hawks fan, you’re watching your players compete down low and just try not to get frustrated. Pretty hard, right? The player at the ‘5’ here, Lorenzo Edwards, is only 6-foot-7. Jon Teske, on the other hand, is 7-foot-1. It’s hard to imagine the Billikens get so many chances with an additional four inches crashing the glass on every play. And just for fun, there was another play of an attempted alley-oop where the intended recipient, guard Charlie Brown Jr., whiffs on the attempt. Replace Brown with junior forward Isaiah Livers or last year’s standout Ignas Brazdeikis or even Teske and tell me the play doesn’t go down a little differently. It’s just harder to get the athleticism seen night-in and nightout on Michigan’s roster at mid-major programs. Not to say there isn’t talent at this level, but a more athletic duo completes that play. And no one knows this better than Martelli. So this season, when Martelli is sitting on the bench for the first time in 24 years instead of standing and screaming on the sidelines, it’s important to acknowledge what contributions he will be making to this team. And when he says, “If I had Michigan’s players at St. Joe’s, I’d still be the coach at St. Joe’s,” just know he’s probably telling the truth.

Alec Cohen / Daily

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My ex boyfriend’s sweatpants don’t spark joy

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A shaky flutist

BY IVY CAI, STATEMENT COLUMNIST

hough I write “flutist” on my resume, “professional scaredycat” might be more accurate. I’m sure any musician remembers their first performance vividly. My memory, however, is a bit too vivid and not in a good way. After weeks of hesitation, I mustered up my courage and asked my teacher for a performance opportunity at a local church. As the director of music there, he happily put my name down on the Sunday program and I received the music score right away. I was self-conscious about my lack of performance experience, so I practiced endlessly (Apologies to the girl who lived right above the music room — she was definitely sick of the melody). Beginning Saturday night after dinner, I started to feel a bit uneasy. But somehow, I managed to calm myself and slip into a good night’s sleep. I hoped everything would be just dandy the next morning. “I got this!” I said to my reflection in the mirror before wrapping myself with the

was hoping to blend into the background, which may have been possible if I weren’t wearing a colorful phoenix dress. “There you are, Ivy!” With the whole choir staring at me, my teacher asked me to play the note “A” to tune with the piano. To anyone who plays an orchestral instrument, the “A” note must be familiar — this tuning note signifies the start of a performance or a rehearsal. I, however, did not know such a thing as the “tuning note.” So my first reaction was to produce a frowning, confused face. Fair enough. But I was surely capable of playing a single note, wasn’t I? No. And here’s why. On the piano, you can produce a sound, maybe even a good one by simply pressing down a key. However, the flute requires mastery of breathing. A slight change in the air stream may result in a catastrophic sound. Learning how to properly breathe was already difficult enough durILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN WALSH ing practice. How did I think my delicate breath would react when blanket. it was being chased by the giant, Sadly, as soon as I woke up the next spooky monster of nervousness? morning, the Freudian unconsciousness Shake was all I did. I had a shaky brain, revealed its ugliness. I wasn’t thinking 10 shaky fingers, two shaky lips and a shaky about the performance while chewing my stream of air. I played that A note (sort of) breakfast eggs and toast, but my heart was in a pitiful way. The flowy melody that beating at an unusual pace. As 10 o’clock I was capable of producing during pracapproached, its rhythm increased. Linearly. tice sessions fell into pieces. Oh, if only I Oh boy. could’ve hid behind the piano! I shook so I decided to make myself look pretty violently that the slur became staccato. first. I put on my favorite dress from Free The 20 seconds of my solo felt like an eterPeople and gave myself a final mirror- nity. Thankfully, the choir sang so loud check. Strangely, the phoenix pattern on and enthusiastic that their voice drowned the dress seemed a bit less glorious than it my fragmented notes. I have never felt so was two days ago on the hanger. I did not grateful for a singing voice before. have the choice to back out and be a cowAnyone would guess after that experiard, so I grunted and headed toward the ence, I’d avoid public performance whenchurch. The uphill route did not help. If I ever possible. Wrong. I forgot about my had graphed my heart rate, the function pain too quickly. Only after a few weeks, would have transformed from a linear one I signed up for my high school graduation to an exponential one. performance to play “Variations For Flute The choir was already there in their and Piano”, a challenging piece by Chopin. I robes, chatting and giggling. I quietly was determined I would conquer my adrenassembled my flute and sat at the bench. I aline this time. Chopin may have liked my

courage, but he definitely would have yelled at me: “Girl, not my piece. Play something simpler!” As if my last performance wasn’t traumatic enough, this time, I took my shakiness to a stage with an audience of 400. All of them were students, faculty and parents of the graduating class, and they were all watching the girl who stood under the brightest spotlight. But instead of rocking the stage, she went completely catatonic and lost her rhythm. Chopin and I left an eternal mark in the program pamphlet. I sincerely hope he won’t be angry at me. It was far beyond embarrassing. I, the so-called performance musician, am utterly crippled by stage fright. But I am not alone. The famed tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, threw up backstage before his performances. Ozzy Osbourne wrote in his biography: “to say that I suffer from pre-show nerves is like saying that when you get hit by an atom bomb it hurts a bit.” I suppose that’s why stage fright is kind of a cliché. Knowing how these masters suffered does offer me a little relief. Unfortunately, understanding that fear is common isn’t exactly a remedy for fear itself. I can’t help but wonder if it was magic, or maybe performance-enhancement drugs, that allowed them to ultimately put on such magnificent shows. The answer, I believe, is neither. How these introverted artists pushed themselves onstage, despite shaky muscles, ice-cold hands, and racing hearts, is miraculous. It’s also the most human thing I can imagine. They set their finger to the keys, or the fretboard, and draw a deep breath. It’s terrifying, but they push through. The notes will only linger for a moment, but the music will outlive them for hundreds of years. That is the paradox of creativity — despite great fear, something fragile within us demands to be created. That desire is strong enough to conquer adrenaline. That’s why, despite the judgmental eyes of the audience, and despite my ice-cold fingertips, I continue to perform. That’s why I raise my flute in the spotlight — to imitate so many scaredy-cats before me, each of whom chose to be brave, for one moment, and leave beautiful music behind.

The not-so-quiet place S

Wednesday, October 30, 2019 // The Statement 3B 3B

BY MEGHANN NORDEN-BRIGHT, STATEMENT COLUMNIST

ilence is hard to find as a college student. Days pass by to a soundtrack of lecturing professor voices, giggling cliques in coffee shops and the deep bass of a song pumping through the floorboards from the upstairs neighbors. Even the library, where we would normally go to seek out silence, is steeped in the constant murmur of tapping keyboards and muted coughs. Though on further consideration, it’s hard to think of a situation where anyone can truly experience real, absolute silence. There’s always the distant roar of traffic, or birds chirping, or the whir of air conditioning. Complete silence simply cannot be achieved in the modern world, at least in any sector of the modern world I’m familiar with, without deliberately shutting oneself in a soundproof chamber engineered with walls to filter out any and all noise interference. So why is it, then, that the noise of college feels so particularly loud? For the most part, the noise feels like a good thing. If I were to craft a map of the various sounds that pass through my ears while I am in Ann Arbor on any given day, a large part of that map would be dedicated to friends’ voices and real genuine laughter, a catchy new song on my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist and professors lecturing on how to change the world. But the noise that surrounds us in college isn’t always the kind that comes in through our ears. It is the noise of deadlines for papers on American race relations in the post-Civil War era. The noise of Facebook events for policy talks, networking opportunities and Rick’s pregames. The noise of unanswered texts and the noise of unfinished job applications. And this noise can be overwhelming — crippling, even. As a relatively anxious person, it often feels like all this stimuli prevents me from accomplishing even the simplest task — there is always so much going on, so much to process. Recently, the noise of a coding project, calls about organizing meetings and messages from my adviser about my thesis cumulated to the point where I sat and stared at a blank page on my laptop for the better part of an hour. And I’m well aware that I’m not the only one that feels this way — I imagine that it’s not a stretch to say that most, if not all, University of Michigan students find this atmosphere overwhelming at times. And yet, despite the anxietyinducing aspect of all this noise, I actively seek it out. I queue up the latest episode of “This American Life” before opening the front door of my house to walk to class. I avoid

the quietest place on campus —the Law Library — preferring instead coffee shops and friends’ living rooms to do my assignments. Even while studying with friends, I’m notorious for starting conversations mid-work flow to bridge any silence that lasts longer than a few minutes. If I’m in my room, I almost always have music playing in the background — something instrumental if I’m trying to be productive, maybe some old school hip-hop if I’m in the mood for spice. Why do I so relentlessly pursue this noise, the noise that also persistently wears me down? It’s the quiet parts of college that are the most terrifying — the nights sitting alone in my room, knowing that people are out connecting and laughing and drinking in a world that I’m not part of. When I’m sitting alone in the library and the silence becomes so oppressive that all I can hear is the sound of deadlines stacking up. It’s harder to get lost in my own head when there’s so much noise to process on the outside. But that wasn’t always the case. Before coming to college, my life was significantly less noisy. I didn’t have a ton of close friends, but I also didn’t have the same quantity of deadlines or applications or extracurriculars. I didn’t go to a single party in high school, at least the kind with alcohol and dancing and loud music. The silence was peaceful, but it was also

fundamentally lonely. Silence can feel confining, isolating. And then I came to Ann Arbor, to college, and the volume knob turned up 20 notches. By embracing the noise of this stage of my life, bad parts and all, I keep reminding myself that this is where I am now — surrounded by people and opportunities and things. I’m a part of a community and now have real friends and real connections with people. I’m trying to become more comfortable with silence — letting myself walk to class without headphones, studying for a test by myself rather than with others. After a few recent experiences where the noise just got too loud and I didn’t finish assignments, or let friends down, I’m realizing that I need to tune it out sometimes, for my own sanity. Turn the volume knob down a couple notches. But for the most part, I’m comfortable with keeping the volume where it is. This is my senior year at the University, and I don’t know what the next stage is going to sound like — if it will be quieter, or perhaps worse, louder and unfamiliar. So for the moment, I’m embracing the noise. In moderation. College is loud and crazy and stressful, but it also feels right. And maybe someday it will feel right to turn that volume knob down some more, but today it doesn’t — so I’m keeping the sound on.

PHOTO BY DANYEL THARAKAN

4B Wednesday, October 30, 2019 // The Statement

My ex-boyfriend’s sweatpants don’t spark joy BY ELI RALLO, ASSOCIATE STATEMENT EDITOR

watched Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix for all of three minutes before shutting it off. The selfawareness crept like heat onto my neck — I knew I’d never be that tidy. I’d never be “minimal.” Marie Kondo and I are polar opposites. She is a known advocate for getting rid of things that don’t “spark joy” and led the social media millennial boom of minimalism and organization. I, on the other hand, could make a case for each and every pointless item in my attic bedroom, arguing that they all spark some form of joy. I have trouble letting go of things. I still have a palm sized, plastic Japanese Mankei-Neko — those small plastic golden cats that wave their arm — that my friend brought me back from China when we were 13. It’s sat atop every single one of my desks, always next to a flamingo jewelry holder for my single pair of earrings, four boob-shaped mugs that I don’t use for drinking, a collection of bookmarks, a collection of colored pens from my coloring phase and a lip mask I’ll never put on. I couldn’t imagine ever ridding myself of the golden cat or the bookmarks. They feel like a part of me, in a strange way. The things I’ve stored under my bed at home are even more unnecessary. In the bursting clear tub I’ve tried my best to contain and forget about, you’ll find a stuck together napkin from a first date with a person I haven’t seen in a year. There’s a flashlight on a tattered black rope from an eighth-grade birthday party, and New Year’s Eve glasses from the years 2012-

2017, all ultimately dysfunctional, as they’re missing lenses. I’ve kept every notebook I’ve ever written in, an instructional pamphlet — written in Dutch — describing a dollhouse that I found in the remains of a fire in my hometown, the ribbon from a gift someone I sort of know gave me for my birthday, along with every birthday card I’ve ever received, every friendship bracelet I’ve ever made or taken off, photo booth pictures from a mall that no longer exists with a person I haven’t spoken to since 2008 and so much damn paper. You’ll find invitations, take-out menus, a half-written poem, coupons from a place I’ve only been to once, handwritten notes from my sixth-grade crush, a movie ticket from the midnight showing of Hunger Games, a 2010 Halloween card from my grandmother, tickets to the American Idol World Tour in 2007 –– part of me wants to just recycle it all, but part of me could never approach that blue trash bin and let go. My aversion to throwing away useless monuments becomes emotionally destructive in my inability to discard ex-boyfriend’s sweatshirts, written notes, dead flower stems and teddy bears. During my freshman year of college, my mother texted me, “Is it okay to get rid of the Christian Brothers Academy sweatshirt and teddy bear from boyfriend #2?” The relationship lasted five passionless months at age 16, and yet, at 19, I had some far-off feeling that these objects, in fact, sparked enough joy to collect dust in the back of my closet. I had dated other boys since that lanky 16-year-old. All those things really did was take up space. When I’m home, I covertly sit on my floor in my bedroom and go through the boxes under my bed, peering through the windows of my past. Rooting through a box of yearbooks from middle school this summer, I came across a grammatically incorrect “52 things I love about you” deck of cards from my 13-year-old first kiss. This happened over eight years ago, and I don’t even have that kid’s phone number anymore. The “you’re smile” as one of the 52 reasons seemed too wonderfully romantic to throw away, but now, as I come across them as a young adult, the sheer naivete and painful innocence of the gesture is something I can’t part with. Senior year of high school I tried to convince my 18-year-old fling to give me a Clemson sweatshirt. He said no, which is for the best because I’d probably still have it, rolled in a ball in the back of a drawer, and I hate the color orange anyway. Even when I move on, when months and years and feelings pass, I can’t seem to part ways with all the insignificant trinkets embedded in the gifted and borrowed objects from my old flames. It’s almost as though I fear my memory will fail me and I need reminders to dredge my mind and recover all the sweetest things. That’s how half of me feels. But the other half wonders. Was sloppily making out with someone on a basement couch on Saturday nights when you were 16 one of the sweetest things? I hope not. Does a fraternity T-shirt evoke such passionate memories? No. The common sense advice is that when you breakup you immediately throw away or return their stuff and the gifts they gave you. That’s what my best friend and mother have always told me. So, why do I refuse to listen? Why do I leave myself a reminder of an ex every time I look at my wrist, search my closet for a shirt to wear or walk into my bedroom? And while I’ve made the walk of shame to the same college boy’s house in the afterglow of a breakup with a Trader Joe’s bag filled with his T-shirts drenched, sneakily, in my perfume, the things I don’t return I can’t seem to let go of. In recent days, I’ve decided I’d like to know why I want to hold on.

-M psychology professor Stephanie D. Preston has done extensive research regarding hoarding and emotional attachment to objects and said in an interview with The Michigan Daily, “research shows that emotional memory is a reason many people have a lot of trouble discarding things.” Specifically, when it comes to ex significant others, she told me many people “imagine that part of the other person is embodied in the item, therefore, throwing it away would be some kind of violating to that person.” We spoke for a few moments about hoarding disorder, the clinical diagnosis for severe cases of hoarding. I kept thinking about the TLC TV show “Hoarding: Buried Alive” and how so many watch the show to be entertained by individuals suffering from an intense mental illness. I’d be lying if I wasn’t entertained by the show myself at one point or another. The bit of information she shared that really pushed me to think more about my own situation was when she said, “anxiety is greatly correlated to hoarding of items in that it can exacerbate the issue.” She went on to explain that if one suffers from anxiety, they could potentially worry that by discarding something, they’ve made a terrible mistake. And as someone who’s been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder since age seven, I wondered if my attachment to my items stemmed from my fear that I’d be making a mistake by getting rid of them. Perhaps, I’d regret it temporarily, but in the long-run, I know in my head it isn’t a mistake to throw away last year’s shriveled up Valentine’s roses. My heart isn’t quick to catch up with the common sense I know in my head. In fact, if the physical manifestation of relationships gone awry weren’t around and those people not as easy to recall, I’d probably forget about them all together. So, what is it? Why do I feel the need to keep these things? Is it my sentimentality or the strange feeling of a lover turned stranger? Or my desire to keep a physical scrapbook of gifted shot glasses and oversized sweatshirts? Why is it that when I’ve moved on and happy with someone new, or alone (turn up the Lizzo), do I still have old stuff taking up broken heart-shaped holes in my life? I never wear any of their clothes, or use any of the items — I’d be lying if I didn’t take shots out of the Texas shot glass though — and barely think of the people they belong to. I just like to know that it’s all still around. That the parts of me that have grown up and grown past these experiences still exist somewhere, even if it’s in the thread of a Maize Rage T-shirt. That if I’m fighting to move forward, I still know what’s behind. Last year, I struggled through a very hard breakup with someone I loved very much. I’d returned a few of his favorite shirts in the immediate aftermath last February, but he mentioned he didn’t want the vast majority of what I had of his back, save the yellow Bubba Gump T-shirt of course. So here I am –– a pair of well-worn navy sweatpants, a professional Greek life T-shirt of an organization to which I no longer have a connection, a gifted bathrobe I adore, a pair of boxers with a strange pattern I’d had for a year and a half, and a few T-shirts with slogans that recalled moments which were only ours. I also had a picture frame, an autumnal looking bandana, a shoebox of handwritten notes and an apron from Anthropolgie. All of these things are spread out on my small floor as I pack up my apartment in Ann Arbor, before going to New York for the summer. Emotion stung at my face, and though we’d been through since February, we were still talking, and I knew I could ask him what he’d done with the sweaters and coffee shop T-shirts and belts and homemade poems I’d given to him during our relationship. I didn’t.

I had three options: 1. Throw it all out 2. Refuse his month-old declaration that he wants nothing back and drop it all off without warning 3. Pack it in a box and deal with it in September I went with option three. I knew I should’ve gone with option one — saving the bathrobe and apron though, because, c’mon — but I also knew that I was and am a keeper of objects that hold meaning and metaphor and someone’s scent. Into the boxes they went. I forgot about them quickly after the plane touched down in New Jersey days later. Four and a half months later, I arrived in Ann Arbor for my fourth year. The distance and time between myself and my beloved college town treated me well, and I was thrilled to be back. I never say the words “over someone” because, as human beings, we don’t get over anything –– we grow through times in our life with people and places we no longer know. The anxiety and melancholy of winter 2019 was far from me –– both literally and emotionally. I felt newly fulfilled, excited and basking in newness –– a new year, a new course load, new relationships, a new bedroom. My heart was sore but freshly mended. I felt as though the wave of our ending had swelled, crashed and settled like foamy bubbles on the shore upon which I stood, feeling OK. I’d grown through something and would always have more growing to do. I moved into Ann Arbor for the fourth, final time and unpacking commenced. Box by box, my floor cluttered with my winter boots and dusty decor and purple bedding and pillows shaped like sloths. Then suddenly, in the mess of it all — navy blue sweatpants, three T-shirts, and a photograph of herself with another person, both of whom she no longer really knew. I paused in a moment of nostalgia and pushed the items off to the side. I left them in the corner of my room and moved forward in my unpacking. Once I finished with all the boxes, I’d decide what to do with them. These things didn’t really have a place in my bedroom or my life anymore. When I finished, I revisited his pile of things and wondered if I’d ever become less sentimental. I stood, gazing at them, almost afraid to touch them. I thought about writing a poem, I thought about hiding them, I thought about burning them in my nonexistent fireplace, I thought about asking if he wanted them back. I did none of those things, except write the poem. A few days later, I ran into the owner of these items on campus. Neither of us said anything or exchanged any glances. We had no bad blood and no hard feelings, it was just someone I used to know, who used to know me. We acknowledged each other briefly, and kept walking. An odd feeling really, a best friend turned stranger –– a sentiment with an indescribable aftertaste. I walked home from class that late September morning, having passed him in the halls, knowing vaguely what I had to do. It’s one thing to be nostalgic, it’s one thing to be romantic, but it’s another entirely to be holding on to objects that only truly prohibited me from ever living in the now. I beelined for the corner of my room where everything of his was balled in the corner looking like a sad, wilted pile of another life. I scooped it all up and felt oddly at peace as I walked down the sidewalk, the tower of everything that used to be, safe in my arms. As I arrived at my destination, I knew I could turn back, that I didn’t have to go through with this monumental moment. But I didn’t need any of his stuff. I never needed anyone’s stuff –– emotionally or physically. I honestly have plenty of my own. Sometimes, we hold on so tight to something fighting to get away, that our knuckles turn white.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019 // The Statement 5B

PHOTOS BY DANYEL THARAKAN

This is what I thought as I stood adjacent to a dumpster on the side of the road. There was a group of men working at the dumpsters who watched me, standing there, alone, with an armful of borrowed objects, weighing my next move. They were waiting for me to do what we all knew I was going to do. I was thinking about going home when one of them called out “Do it girl! You got this!” and with his declaration, I throttled the items over the side of the dumpster and watched for a half-second as they sailed through the air and landed with a satisfying thud in the midst of halfempty beer cans, discarded mattresses and cardboard. For a moment, it felt like nothing else was happening in the rest of the world, like everything had stopped. And then, the group of men across the gravel parking lot began to cheer. Like actually, cheer. It’s as though they knew. I turned, now, empty handed, and walked the same exact way I came, only this time, I felt lighter. n the Greek myth of Orepheus and Eurydice, Orepheus is told he can lead Eurydice safely out of the underworld, so long as he doesn’t look back to make sure she’s behind him. If Orepheus looks back, Eurydice is stuck in the underworld forever. In the end, Orepheus looks back and could never move on from it. Like him, looking behind me in life, is what’ll keep me rooted there, full of regret and nostalgia and sentimentality and not moving fiercely forward. If it’s a good memory I’ll remember it. If it mattered, I’ll remember it. A pair of oversized sweatpants and an ugly turquoise T-shirt won’t be what I’ll remember. I’ll remember a bike ride to cupcakes in July and the firepit in the backyard of their childhood home. I’ll remember their laugh until I forget it. I’ll remember the way they fiddled with their glasses. I’ll remember the first date and then, one day, I’ll only remember the last one. I’ll remember senior prom. Maybe one day, I’ll recover a photograph of the two of us at a dance in college and

think, “Remember them?” I will. And it won’t be sad or painful or lonely. It’ll be the sweetest things. The objects I couldn’t get rid of weren’t what sparked joy –– the memories that were hanging off their threads did. What I end up remembering of these people, if anything, in ten years down the line, will have nothing to do with their old sweatshirt. Marie Kondo, through her platform, urges us to separate from unnecessary objects of our lives, not from our memories. I must part ways with the things of my past, which formerly hung to my belt loops and shoelaces. I honor what happened and will continue to do the work to make space in my closet and my mind for new stories. One day, there will be someone who’s stuff will be my stuff too. It will all spark joy. And now, I remain, open and cavernous, but not hollow. Ready for the kindling and the flicker of a new fire.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019 // The Statement

The path that grandparents pave for us

BY BRITTANY BOWMAN, STATEMENT CONTRIBUTOR

y grandfather was born on June 6, 1927. He was in the Navy during World War II and he served on a submarine and was stranded for weeks with only coconuts for sustenance. We celebrated his 92nd birthday early this summer, and he remarked, for the second year in a row, how much this celebration meant to him and how he couldn’t wait to eat lemon cake again with us the next time around. He wanted to live to 100 and well past that. I am lucky to have lived close to my family while growing up. We scattered ourselves around a little lake in southern Michigan, where my dad was raised. My little sister and I would run around the neighborhood during the summer playing spy games, building forts, collecting plants and rocks. We would ding-dong ditch neighbors and run into the woods, make trails along the lakefront and commit our fair share of trespassing over soggy lawns and piers. My grandparents had a beautiful garden with wild raspberries and strawberries that we would sneakily harvest and bring home. The past few summers, we spent hours picking wild blackberries from their prickly bushes, avoiding mosquitoes and spider webs before stopping by our grandfather’s house to share. My grandmother used to layer up in the heat of July with socks pulled over long jeans and sweatshirts tucked into waistbands to evade thorns and biting mites, but more importantly, to reach the back of the berry bushes and avoid letting a single berry go to waste. Their garden—now overgrown with grasses and dandelions—no longer produces the delicate fruit it once did.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRITTNAY BOWMAN

As summers passed and high school drew to a close, family members were increasingly curious as to where I planned to continue my education. Not many people in my family, aside from my older cousins, attended college, and their expectations for me were high. I had college applications over halfway done for all sorts of out-of-state schools in October and I planned on having an additional two weeks to complete them with proper edits and teacher revisions. I received a concussion that day and was diagnosed with Post Concussive Syndrome after a month or two of symptoms not letting up. I was recommended for medical leave and was placed under a Section 504 plan which allowed me to be a part-time high school student and miss a significant number of school days. This arrangement allowed me to still graduate with my class. My grandfather wanted to check in and see how I was doing. We connected quickly over our shared head knocks; he had fallen his fair share of times with old age. We discussed mutual symptoms and how these injuries made us feel different, even if we didn’t look different. We talked about how I didn’t know if I would get into any of the schools I applied to because I wasn’t able to finish my college applications. He promised me I would be fine, and I ended up only submitting to in-state schools. Once I got into Michigan, it was hard for me to talk to him as his hearing had started to decline. His stubbornness demanded I shout to convey a message. So, I reverted to writing him letters and sitting with him while he read them and smiled back up at me. I wrote to him about my

new research position, my volunteering at the hospital, the classes I was taking and how much I loved it here at Michigan. He was so enthused when he found out I wanted to be a doctor — it’d be the first in our family and he immediately began calling me Dr. Bowman when I visited. He liked the ring of it and how much responsibility it carried. I could never express enough how his his nearly one hundred years of hard work granted me the opportunity to be in the position I am and be a student at the University of Michigan. Between bonding over mutual head traumas, intently listening to classic American stories from decades prior or shouting “I love you” from three feet away because he was too stubborn to use his hearing aids, my grandfather made everything possible and achievable for my family. Especially as a first-generation college student, the feat of attending a prestigious school is rarely possible without the hard work and sacrifice of respected family members that work to instill in you a drive for integrity and success. I recently got accepted for a position at The Michigan Daily as a columnist and he was so thrilled to read the University’s newspaper and see our last name printed in it. For fall break, I brought home four copies of each paper I was in so far this school year to show him. But on the morning of Oct. 14, my grandfather passed, and I wasn’t able to show him in person. This date was once so important for me as it marked a change in my life post-concussion. Now it signifies another major change and life without my grandfather. This date now holds intrinsic importance and sadness for me in so many interwoven and complex ways, and I know I will be unraveling it for a long time.

7B Wednesday,January October16, 30,2019 2019////The The Statement 7B Wednesday, Statement

Free love in Berlin

BY MARTINA VILLALOBOS, STATEMENT COLUMNIST

ILLUSTRATION BY KATE GLAD

uring my second month in Berlin, one of my good friends from Ann Arbor who also happened to be studying abroad visited me for a week. Kieran has always had a strong adventurous spirit, and our friendship developed from our ease of conversation and search for stories to tell. He had heard from one of his German friends that the cafe “Zuckerbaby”, loosely translated as sugar baby, was the place to go, so we went on his last day in Berlin. We walked in the rain from my apartment to the cafe laughing at the week we had just shared and wondering what our lives would look like once we were back in Ann Arbor. We made it to Zuckerbaby, rather drenched, ready for a warm meal. As we sat at a small table with mismatched chairs, the rain still hitting the rattling window. We said our goodbyes over grilled cheese sandwiches that felt like home. Even with Kieran gone, I made Zuckerbaby one of my go-to spots in Berlin. I think I would go because they made grilled cheese sandwiches with cheese oozing from the sides and frankly the best vegan carrot cake. I understand that having carrot cake as a favorite is rather odd. People will often critique

carrot cake because it has raisins. I don’t understand this hatred of raisins. To me, the case in favor of carrot cake is simple — it is moist and sweet, but not overpowering. And honestly, who can say no to a buttery cream cheese frosting? But beyond the carrot cake, my love for Zuckerbaby is grounded in its ambience and charm, which reminded me of my favorite cafe in Fayetteville, Ark — a little cafe called Arsaga’s located right next to the railroad. Something about the old building housing Zuckerbaby — with exposed brick, old furniture and mood lighting — brought me back home to Fayetteville while studying abroad in the cold Berlin. One of my closests friends in Germany was Tabea, and I made sure to take her to Zuckerbaby. We met on a rainy Saturday afternoon and sat down at a charming wooden table. At the other end was a family — a set of parents, their newborn, and what I imagined were two overjoyed grandparents. Tabea and I spent a couple hours just talking and watching the day go by. Customers would come in and leave. The day was at peace. Right behind Tabea, still within my eyesight, an older couple sat down. As

I listened to Tabea talk, I couldn’t help but observe them. They reminded me of my parents. I wondered if my parents would get to live into their older years like the couple before me, and if they would spend their Saturday afternoons in cafes together just as they once had when they were teenagers. I lost track of the couple for a while. However, when I refocused my attention to their general direction, I noticed that the man had taken a leash out of his bag. In my mind, I imagined two stories. The first, that the couple had just put down a furry companion, and they were now at Zuckerbaby to avoid going back to the home that once housed their dear pet. The other story was also about a dog. Perhaps they had decided to adopt a dog. Neither of these proved to be correct. I remember watching intently, as the man eagerly attached the leash to the choker on the woman’s neck. I was taken aback by this, to me, brazen act. However I noticed that every so often, he would tug the leash and her head would lunge in the direction of his crotch. He did this once or twice mak-

ing eye-contact with me — a held gaze that I broke each time. I remember my brain was trying to process a lot at once as this interaction was unfolding before me. The first thought that came to my mind: only in Berlin. I had a morbid curiosity to keep watching, but I also heard my mom’s voice in the back of my head reminding me that it is rude to stare. But I mostly got caught up in the scene happening all around me: a tranquil Saturday with a friend, the noises of a cooing baby behind me juxtaposed with the image of an older but seemingly kinky couple. I wondered for a while what it is that I found so jarring as I sat and watched that couple in Zuckerbaby. Was I taken aback by the very exposed nature of the behavior? What does that say about my own assumptions of sex? I also considered if I was taken aback because the couple was older and dressed in posh clothes. Not the type of image I associate with kinky behaviour. I recognize that conversations surrounding sexuality are getting easier to have, but still not the norm. We don’t always like to openly talk about how we are sexual beings. We don’t like to talk about fetishes. We hardly talk about how women are also sexual. And we certainly don’t talk about how older people are still doing it. But why? Why do we associate sex with youth? Is our understanding of sex so closely tied to our sight that we can’t think of an older body being attractive. There seems nothing inherent about sex or even love that would be exclusive to younger generations. Sure, the body changes, but does that fundamentally mean that sex and old age are diametrically opposed? How do we overcome our assumptions? I wonder are they living a more honest sexuality than I am — unashamed? I don’t have the answers to any of these questions, but what the overt scene lay bare were my own hasty assumptions and judgments about sex. This couple, inadvertently, planted a seed in my mind that has grown into several questions. As I observed the couple, I tried to overcome my initial prejudice, and tried to see them for what they were in that moment: strangers, with an equal right to express and explore their sexuality. I thought, only in Berlin.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019 // The Statement

VISUAL STATEMENT MY UNCLEâ€™S FARM

BY MILES MACKLIN

COMMUNITY TABLE FARM IN LONGMONT, COLORADO IS A SMALL FARM THAT MY UNCLE OWNS, AND OVER THE SUMMER MY FAMILY AND I GATHERED THERE FOR OUR ANNUAL FAMILY REUNION. IT WAS MY FIRST TIME VISITING. THE FARM IS LOCATED IN A VERY NICE AND PEACEFUL AREA WITH GREAT VIEWS AND SUNSETS ON THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN RANGE. ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS TO DO WAS WATCH DESCENDING SKYDIVERS FROM THE AIRFIELD ACROSS THE STREET. OUTSIDE OF USING THE FARM FOR PERSONAL USE MY UNCLE HOSTS EVENTS AND EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS FOR THE COMMUNITY.