2019-11-08 by The Michigan Daily

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Friday, November 8, 2019

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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The Daily reports on how law enforcement in A2 has changed since fatal police shooting of resident Aura HALEY MCLAUGHLIN /Daily

Oversight Commission provides avenue for reform

Members of review body work to provide accountability for local law enforcement, increase civilian input BEN ROSENFELD Daily Staff Reporter

This article is part of a Michigan Daily series reflecting on the five years since Ann Arbor resident Aura Rosser was fatally shot by police officer David Ried while responding to a call on Nov. 10, 2014. Rosser, a Black woman afflicted by a mental illness, was a 40-yearold mother of three. On Jan. 30, 2015, the Washtenaw County prosecutor’s report justified Ried’s action as “lawful defense.” No charges were brought against him. When Lisa Jackson,

community activist and University of Michigan alum, first applied for a seat on Ann Arbor’s newly formed Independent Community Police Oversight Commission this February, she understood what tensions the city was seeking to fix. According to Jackson, the creation of the Oversight Commission — on which she now serves as chair — was inextricably linked to the death of Aura Rosser, a Black woman with mental illness who was shot and killed by Ann Arbor police responding to a 911 call, five years ago Saturday. In the wake of Rosser’s death and the

investigation that followed, the community demanded increased police accountability and community oversight of police authority. “I think most people could say that perhaps there were many segments of the community that didn’t trust the police very much,” Jackson said. “But after that, I think if you didn’t trust the police, you probably felt that your mistrust was well placed.” Jackson acknowledges the incident caught many in the community off guard, particularly for a city like Ann Arbor, where previous to 2014, a police-involved shooting had not occurred for more than

30 years. But for Jackson, the anomaly of Rosser’s death made it all the more poignant. “I think, because it happened that one time, it was hugely powerful,” Jackson said. “It confirmed what a lot of people felt — that the police don’t value people of color very much, or people with mental psychological disorders much, or people whom they perceive to be less valuable than other people. I’m not saying that’s true. What I’m saying is that there was a perception, and then that incident confirmed that perception.” Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie was

prosecuting attorney on the case. In a 12-page memo released in January 2015, Mackie determined the officer who killed Rosser had acted in selfdefense and labeled the incident as “justifiable homicide.” In the months following Rosser’s death, a concerted effort was made by the police department and the city to reform the policies of local authorities. Body cameras were made standard for all officers. Police instituted new training on de-escalation and implicit bias. In March of this year, 11 local volunteers, including Jackson, were named to the Commission by Ann Arbor City

Council. About a month later, the committee went to work. The members of the commission see clear areas for reform in Ann Arbor. Jackson, who previously served as Board President of Ozone House — a nonprofit that supports and gives shelter to homeless and high-risk youth in the Ann Arbor area — said she felt she had a unique perspective to bring to the commission. In deciding whether to apply to the commission, Jackson recalled her work at Ozone House. “I know that homeless kids

See COMMISSION, Page 3A

Students, faculty weigh in on efforts to improve policing in A2

Campus considers evolution of AAPD procedures KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter

The City of Ann Arbor has undertaken a variety of reforms in the half-decade since an officer shot and killed Ann Arbor resident Aura Rosser in 2014. However, as police brutality remains a widespread issue nationwide, efforts to improve transparency and increase accountability have led students and experts to call for more to be done. LSA junior Jasmine Penny explained that as a resident adviser in Martha Cook Residence Hall, she deals with

police in an official capacity. But as a Black female student, she avoids unnecessary interactions with the police. “As an RA, just about anything that goes wrong, you call the police,” Penny said. “So, you have to have a sense of trust in them. But when I’m out of the building, I feel a little more on guard. It’s not that I’ve personally had a bad interaction with the Ann Arbor police, but just in my history of growing up, you don’t fully trust the police. You stay more on guard and tend to avoid unnecessary interactions.” Penny noted that both

nationwide and at the University, law enforcement has been the subject of complaints about over-policing. “I think it would take a very long time to bridge the gap, because of the distrust in general,” Penny said. “Especially if we live in a lower-income community, we might not trust the police to come out and help, but that’s also on the police to up their standards on how they handle things.” Training in police de-escalation tactics is a reform measure supported by members of the law enforcement See POLICING, Page 2A

Key figures in police accountability evaluate progress of last five years Public leaders look back on changes to policing MADELINE MCLAUGHLIN Daily Staff Reporter

In the five years since the 2014 police shooting death of Ann Arbor resident Aura Rosser, the city’s law enforcement has worked to undertake reform and increase transparency. While certain city leaders and activists have since left town or moved to new positions, work to increase accountability for law enforcement continues, both in Ann Arbor and elsewhere. Ann Arbor Mayor

Christopher Taylor was sworn in less than 24 hours after Rosser was shot. In response to the shooting, he posted on a public statement on Facebook, saying that, while “appalling racial injustice and disparity continue to degrade our society and must be fought at every turn,” he also saw the reaction of Officer Reid, the officer who shot Rosser, as justified because he believed his life was in danger. In a recent interview with The Daily, Mayor Taylor cited

specific programs that have been enhanced in response to Rosser’s death. He specifically discussed Ann Arbor’s renewed emphasis on training and implementing more body cameras among police officers. The city approved upgrades to police in-car and body cameras in December 2014. “The Ann Arbor Police Department takes training very seriously and has always taken training seriously,” Taylor said. See FIGURES, Page 3A

DESIGN BY MICHELLE FAN

Community reflects on past accusations of racial profiling Stakeholders, activists look back on previous claims of discrimination against Ann Arbor Police Department JULIA FANZERES Daily Staff Reporter

Over the past five years, the Ann Arbor Police Department has worked to implement reforms to increase transparency, largely in response to the shooting death of Ann Arbor resident Aura Rosser. However, several instances have incited criticism from residents and local activists who say communities of color feel as if they are disproportionately targeted by AAPD. Blake Transit Center In the fall of 2017, an Ann Arbor police officer took 16-year-old Ciaeem Slaton

into custody while he was waiting at the Blake Transit bus stop. A video taken by one of Slaton’s friends shows the officer pinning Slaton to the ground while pointing a taser toward him. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on Oct. 4, 2017 to protest Slaton’s arrest. The ACLU of Michigan reviewed the police report and video of the incident and called on the AAPD to review its policies on de-escalation and use of force. In response, an AAPD official and Ann Arbor’s city attorney met with the Washtenaw County ACLU Lawyers Committee to review the incident and discuss the city’s plans to implement

new policy and training on de-escalation. In an interview with The Daily, Slaton’s mother Tria Moore said the incident continues to affect her and her family. “I lost so much. I lost the job I had just started … because I was so stressed out,” Moore said. Moore said the instance heavily impacted how she views Ann Arbor’s systems of justice. “I have no trust in the police department,” Moore said. “I have no faith in the police department. If something goes wrong, they are going to be the last people I call.” See PROFILING, Page 3A

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INDEX

NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 CLASSIFIEDS................5

SUDOKU.....................2 ARTS...................5 SPORTS.................1B

News

2A — Friday, November 8, 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

B EHIND THE STORY Every Friday, one Daily staffer will give a behind the scenes look at one of this week’s stories. This week, LSA freshman Nicholas Stoll, reported on Michigan volleyball player Paige Jones and how she became a key asset for the team. “I first got the idea about writing about Paige when I was covering volleyball and just watching the team. I’m impressed by a lot of the players but you can tell, Paige ends almost every game, top of the team, most kills, and she’s just — and her coach described as this too — special and you can tell even when she’s having a bad game, she’s just a force …I didn’t really know what angle I was going to take yet other than I wanted to write about her. And so I was doing some research, looked at the bio on MGoBlue, and figured out she was where she was from, her high school, and I reached out to her high school coach, and that’s kind of where the story really started. I’m really fortunate for that. Diana Kramer got back to me really quick and we set up a phone call, and just the amazing things she told me about who Paige was as a person and what she meant to that town of New Bremen was great because it automatically gave me idea and it made me understand who Paige really was and kind of just direct the rest of that. And so then after that, I went and talked to Paige and coach Mark Rosen from Michigan, and I got a lot of the same amazing stuff and even more just about who she is and what fascinated me in that was how great she looks to to spectators.”

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The University has no idea I’m pledging, they have no record of it. I mean, officially they don’t have my name down. And if I die, now it is harder for them to prove that it’s because of a hazing incident.”

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POLICING From Page 1A community and experts. According to Ann Arbor Police Department Chief Michael Cox, AAPD officers receive training in de-escalation, as well as implicit bias training. A new addition to training, however, is incorporating an awareness of mental health. Cox said AAPD and Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department officers are working with community mental health departments to recognize and de-escalate situations with citizens who have mental health issues. “Not only do we have that for that unit, but we have access to those people 24 hours a day,” Cox said. “So, when officers go to a scene and we run across people that may be challenged with some type of mental health issue, that we have resources to call to help us deal with people.” Students, activists and advocacy groups across campus and the city have called for overarching criminal justice reform, citing police brutality as a reflection of a biased system. Law School professor Eve Primus explained the issues are interconnected and require multiple focuses. “Structural reform in the criminal justice system

NO HALF MEASURES

involves lots of different actors. Obviously, when you have a system that’s as complex as the criminal justice system is, and has as many inherent problems as the criminal justice system does, any reform — to be effective — is going to have to address all the different branches involved,” Primus said. “Police is one component of that. I do think police reform is important, but it’s once piece of a larger puzzle.” Primus said the community plays a large role in any type of police reform. “It absolutely is the case that community trust of the police will affect the police’s ability to do the job that they want to accomplish,” Primus said. “If the community doesn’t trust the police force, that will have adverse impacts on the police force’s ability to investigate and solve crimes.” Public Policy senior Chris Young is an Ann Arbor native and remembers the protests after Rosser’s death. He emphasized community engagement as the key to trustbuilding and said community engagement requires an honest effort from all stakeholders. “I think it comes down to informal communication, and that’s not something that can be required, because if you’re a police chief or a city councilmember and you go

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to your local police force and say, ‘I want you to do X number of hours of community engagement,’ police are going to check-in and check-out,” Young said. “It needs to come from a genuine willingness on both sides to make things better for the community in terms of attitude.” Cox, who was officially sworn in in September, previously worked in Boston for over 30 years. In an interview with The Daily, Cox said a significant part of reform is rectifying the idea that police are only present in emergencies or dangerous situations. “Getting officers out in participating more community policing — I didn’t invent it, but it’s certainly something that Ann Arbor hasn’t done in quite a while,” Cox said. “I don’t know if we call that a reform, but that’s certainly something we’re practicing. One of the first concrete actions taken after Rosser’s death in November 2014 was equipping the city police with body cameras, which passed City Council in a month following pressure from student and community protesters. This September, Ann Arbor signed a $373,000 contract for new police body cameras built by Axon Enterprise, Inc. because of frequent malfunctioning errors of the existing cameras in the past year. Cox commented on the benefits of body cameras, despite their costliness. According to Cox, they are a useful tool to review emotionally-charged situations from a more objective perspective. “Humans’ memories are not as reliable as what we think all the time,” Cox said. “Cameras are just tremendous at helping us resolve a lot of those kind of cases because we have evidence that we normally wouldn’t have.” Young said Ann Arbor was not insulated from the same issues happening across the country, adding that reforms must go beyond equipment. “Even though I’m a policy student, I don’t think policy is the way to go about those things,” Young said. “I remember when body cameras first started

to be used more, and people were thinking that this would be the end of all of these issues, and we can see very clearly, half a decade later, that’s not the case.” Cox said police officers should adapt new methods as the profession develops, comparing it to other fields such as medicine. “You know, just in general, some of our policies and procedures may change in the future, but I’m in the middle of reviewing all of those that we have quite a few,” Cox said. “So it’s going to take some time.” Despite the efforts at reform, Penny said she is still concerned for the future. “I’m not optimistic for the future, because even though there are now the body cams, there are still unnecessary Black shootings,” Penny said. “If that’s still happening in 2019, where are they going to go from here?” Penny emphasized that increasing diversity among law enforcement does not just mean race, but background experience and familiarity with the community. “If you don’t trust the police, you’re not going to want to be a cop. So, it can’t just be a blanket increase of Black officers or people of color, but it would have to be an increase of trust as well,” Penny said “These people need to know what the disparages of those communities are, and not people who are just like, ‘Oh, I lived on the outskirts of the east side of Detroit, so I’m going to be a Detroit cop.’ But you don’t really know what’s going on in the east side, you just know what you hear.” Cox said the perception of police officers nationally impacted the department’s efforts to increase diversity among its ranks and attract high-quality recruits. “One of the things I think I harken back to — you know, good people coming to the police department,” Cox said. “There’s a lot of good people here. Good people, no matter what organization they’re in, they won’t stand by and let a lot of bad things happen. They want to make change; they want to make changes from within.”

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Opinion

4A — Friday, November 8, 2019

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ALANNA BERGER | COLUMN

How pop culture sees mental illness

s I settled in to catch up on HBO’s award-winning series “Barry,” an atypical opening announcement took me by surprise. In a show about a former hit man looking to start anew, pre-show warnings on violence are the norm. However, this disclaimer stated that “the following program contains post-traumatic stress disorder,” quickly followed up by “and it’s ok.” The next announcement was a reminder to call a mental health hotline run by both HBO and the National Institute of Mental Health if the viewer or someone they know is in crisis, with an additional website address for further information. These new mental healthoriented “bumpers” are a part of HBO’s initiative to increase awareness for mental illness. However, as opposed to issuing viewer discretion warnings for depictions of mental illness, as Netflix did with the controversial “13 Reasons Why,” HBO’s alerts serve another purpose. They highlight the reality that living with a mental illness is normal and provide a reminder that there is no shame in seeking help. Rather than advising those who are sensitive away from certain scenes because of their content, these bumpers act as invitations of discussion on specific mental illnesses. These “viewer conversation encouraged” advisories will accompany some of HBO’s most popular programs, such as “Euphoria,” “Girls,” “Succession” and “The Sopranos.” In addition to the use of mental health-oriented bumpers, HBO’s partnership with NIMH includes a series of educational videos with expert commentary on myths surrounding mental health issues as well as discussion on their portrayal in the episode. This initiative by HBO represents the beginning of a larger societal change regarding mental illness. The media has a profound influence on the reinforcement of public perception of a certain population based upon their common portrayal. The American aversion to conversations on mental illness is often augmented by inaccurate portrayals in popular culture. However, current depictions in TV programs and movies demonstrate drastic progress in the understanding of mental health over the past century. In the 1950s, for example, the majority of the U.S. populace equated all mental illness with

psychosis. During this era, issues pertaining to mental health were often avoided, contributing to such inaccurate perceptions. The danger and violence often associated with mental illness is highlighted by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror film “Psycho.” In the film, serial killer Norman Bates develops what is now known as dissociative identity disorder and engages in a series of violent murders. The horror genre’s emphasis on violence and mental illness continues with John Carpenter’s famed 1978 classic, “Halloween.” The storyline of this film involves an escaped mental asylum patient, Michael Myers, and his deranged killing spree of teenagers in his suburban hometown. Breaking away from horror films, mental illness was again in the spotlight in the Academy Awardwinning 1975 film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Based on the popular 1962 novel of the same name, the film stars Jack Nicholson as Randle Patrick McMurphy, a convict who feigns mental illness to avoid a prison sentence. In many senses, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” was a radical, innovative portrayal of mental illness. The oftentimes patronizing and inadequate care experienced by institutionalized patients is at the forefront of the plot. The characters involved are treated as children by their caregivers and have little hope for life after release. As opposed to portraying them as violent killers, the mental health patients here are humans condemned to life in a health care system that cannot properly care for them. However, the movie’s most memorable scenes involve terrifying moments as McMurphy’s character undergoes violent electroconvulsive shock therapy as a punishment for unruly behavior. Eventually, the once-lively McMurphy is lobotomized and left in a zombielike state before being euthanized by his roommate. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” certainly challenged the status quo in terms of typical representations of mental illness. However, the popularity of the film influenced common ideas of mental illness for years to come. A 1983 study finds that college students viewed those with mental illness more negatively after viewing the film. Understandings of mental illness began to change at the end of the 20th century. In contrast to perceptions in the 1950s, Americans in 1996 showed

a deeper understanding of the nonpsychotic symptoms of mental illness. However, these same results also found that U.S. society by the late 1990s still maintained negative attitudes toward those with mental illness. Representation of mental health in pop culture seemed to turn a corner with 2001’s “A Beautiful Mind.” The biographical film about the life of famed mathematician John Nash and his schizophrenia diagnosis demonstrated those with mental illnesses as capable of achieving remarkable goals. “A Beautiful Mind” depicted the vivid, haunting hallucinations that followed Nash throughout his life while also showing his triumphs, including a Nobel Prize for economics and his ability to have a family. The relationship between public perception and pop culture portrayal of mental illness cannot be ignored. All too often, movies and TV shows fail to accurately demonstrate the reality of mental health problems, further stigmatizing an already marginalized population. However, the HBO-NIMH initiative represents changing ideals on popular culture’s handling of mental illness. While films such as “Psycho” and “Halloween” demonized those with mental illnesses, more contemporary depictions represent a different path. NIMH has praised movies such as “Silver Linings Playbook” (2012), “The Skeleton Twins” (2014) and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” (2012) as examples of humanizing, accurate portrayals of mental illness. However, negative and harmful portrayals of mental illness still persist. “13 Reasons Why” received criticism for targeting a vulnerable teenage audience while highlighting a suicide revenge fantasy and failing to mention mental health or mental illness at all in the first season. M. Night Shyamalan’s 2015 thriller “Split” once again features a violent villain with dissociative identity disorder, reviving a trope seen since “Psycho.” Despite these instances, Hollywood seems to be reversing the trend of demonizing mental illness. More and more films released recently have received praise for accurate displays of mental illness. The HBO-NIMH partnership represents a societal trend on opening honest dialogue surrounding mental illness, as Alanna Berger can be reached at balanna@umich.edu.

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The harm in non-organic tampons

ith so many new companies offering organic cotton menstrual products, my housemates and I got to talking one night and wondered why so many people were making the switch. There are the obvious reasons: There’s less waste with silicone cups, and the smaller companies are run by knowledgeable women versus huge corporations. There’s also the glaring concept that, compared to non-organic items, organic products are simply better for you due to the lack of chemicals. My friends and I began to look up the ingredients of commercial and conventional tampons and realized we actually knew nothing of what goes into them. Like many things, the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t thoroughly require toxicity testing for menstrual products or that all ingredients and the manufacturing process be made transparent to consumers. They do recommend that tampons should be free of pesticide residue, but many still contain trace amounts due to the manufacturing procedure. Furthermore, the cotton that constitutes non-organic tampons is commercially produced, meaning it goes through rigorous bleaching and chemical cleaning that exposes the cotton fibers to toxins. More insecticides are used to grow conventional cotton than any other commercial crop. First, let’s consider the area of the body that tampons regularly come into contact with. As many of us know, tampons are inserted directly into the body to absorb blood and stop external leakage. The tampon then resides in the upper two-thirds of the vaginal canal, an area rich in blood vessels and mucous membranes. Additionally, the vaginal epithelium is covered in multiple layers of dead and dying cells, and the vaginal mucous membrane helps to protect against harmful microorganisms and bacteria. However, this tissue is nowhere near as thick as our external skin, and this tissue is efficient at carrying chemical messengers and other materials throughout the body. A report from Women’s Voice for the Earth, a nonprofit organization, states that within menstrual products, there are ingredients used that are known or suspected to be endocrine-disrupting chemicals,

or EDCs. The endocrine system is a complex physiological network of glands and organs that work to produce and secrete hormones. When the endocrine system functions normally, it works brilliantly to regulate healthy development and body function. However, when exposed to EDCs — which can be substances in the environment, food, personal care and/or manufactured products — this system is disrupted. Some EDCs can act as “mimic hormones” and trick our bodies while others can stop natural hormones from doing their job. They can increase or decrease natural hormone levels, change how sensitive our bodies are to hormones and have the ability to ultimately cause various injurious health outcomes. These deviations of healthy processes can include abnormalities in sex organs, endometriosis, early puberty, changed nervous system or immune function, including respiratory, metabolic, cardiovascular issues and more. The breakthrough concerning EDCs came following a time when female researchers realized there was really no scientific research into the development or effects of conventional tampon usage. Vaginal research desperately needed more attention, and women such as Penny Hitchcock and Nancy Alexander took this opportunity to begin research programs on vaginal physiology, microbicides and immunology. These new programs founded by women led to the knowledge that certain chemicals, many of which were conventionally used in or around reproductive organs, could irritate or even damage vaginal epithelial cells. While nearly everyone who menstruates uses some type of tampon or sanitary pad, the chemicals in those create a perfect environment for altering normal vaginal physiology. In a study conducted in 2000 to provide numbers for how many people use which menstrual hygiene product, a range of 50 to 86 percent use tampons, 75 percent use panty liners, 62 to 73 percent use pads and so on. With a rough majority of users opting for the tampon route, many people choosing conventional tampons are directly and unknowingly subjecting their body to microdoses of chemicals and

parabens. Groundbreaking menstrual health research, which has only started in the past few decades, creates greater awareness surrounding chemicals in hygiene products, but there’s still a large data and funding gap. This means people who menstruate really don’t know what is going into their bodies and how those products are affecting their health. This brings us to the upside of organic cotton tampons. To be labeled organic, any product must go through considerably stricter FDA guidelines than their nonorganic counterparts. For this reason, we know exactly what we are getting, and that is often pesticide-free, rayon-free, synthetic fiber-free, all-organic, cotton tampons. The wonderful women who started the organic tampon movement industry, pioneering companies like LOLA and Cora, ensure their consumers that their companies do not contain synthetic fibers, chemical additives, fragrances, dyes, chlorine bleach, GMOs, pesticides, toxins, latex or formaldehyde. We can assume that if a company specifically states those ingredients are not involved in their products, it would be logical to believe those bad ingredients go into the widely purchased, conventional tampons — But we don’t really know, do we? Of course, the FDA does regulate tampons as medical devices and provides many guidelines companies should follow. However, this doesn’t mean the microamounts of chemicals still allowed in non-organic, conventional menstrual products are necessarily safe for you or ideal to put in your body. For the same reason many people made the switch to organic foods to avoid consuming trace amounts of pesticides, fertilizers or carcinogens, many are now making the switch to organic tampons to avoid those same things. For some, including myself and my housemates, organic tampons have anecdotally reduced menstruation time or lessened period cramps. These results could be due to a variety of reasons, but it gives us peace of mind to know what we are putting in our bodies. Brittany Bowman can be reached at babowm@umich.edu.

ZACK BLUMBERG | COLUMN

Has neoliberalism run its course in Chile?

or the past several weeks, Chile has been rocked by massive protests, mainly in the capital city of Santiago. Traditionally, protests of this scale are the result of major political, social or economic decisions made by a government that citizens feel would dramatically impact their lives. However, in Chile’s case, the uprising was caused by a seemingly innocuous change: the city of Santiago’s decision to raise the price of metro tickets by 30 pesos, or about four cents. While this may seem like a strange catalyst for nationwide protests, the increased metro fare cannot be viewed in isolation. For many Chileans, this is representative of systemic problems with their nation’s society and government which have gone on for far too long. Since the mid-1970s, Chile’s socioeconomic identity has centered on neoliberalism, and this freemarket ideology helped spur a period of growth which economist Milton Friedman once called the “Chilean Miracle.” However, while some raw data may point to Chile’s neoliberal period as a time of success, this is misleading. In reality, Chile’s economic growth has almost exclusively benefited the social and political elites, and the country’s neoliberal policies have left most citizens struggling mightily. Ultimately, what Chile and Chilean citizens need is not a return to lower metro fares or a reshuffled government, but rather a systematic shift away from the neoliberal economic policies that have propped up economic growth for decades, but have simultaneously failed to provide for the vast majority of the Chilean people. To begin, it is important to critically evaluate the Chilean economy’s impressive statistical growth of the past 40 years, since on a purely numeric level, some of the numbers are undeniably strong. In 1980, Chile’s GDP per capita sat at $2,577.32 per person, essentially level with the world average of $2,530. However, by 2013 Chile’s GDP per capita had risen to $15,941.40 per person,

substantially higher than the global average of $10,764 per person. In South America specifically, Chile’s economic trajectory has followed a similar path. Around 1980, the nation’s wealth was in line with the regional average, but by 2013, it was one of the wealthiest nations in South America. However, these statistics don’t tell the whole story of Chile’s economic development under neoliberalism. First, overall economic growth has been stagnating in Chile in recent years. Since the nation first introduced its neoliberal economic policies in the 1970s, annual GDP increases of over 5 percent have been common. However, in recent years this growth has tailed off, and since 2014, Chile’s GDP annual growth rate has never surpassed 2.5 percent (the five year period from 2014 to today is the only period in which this has happened). More importantly than the country’s overall economic standing, Chile’s neoliberal policies have created massive inequality within the country, which is at the heart of many protesters’ discontent. Today, Chile is the most economically unequal member of the 36-country Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, with a greater wealth disparity than countries such as Mexico, Turkey and Hungary. Additionally, while the country’s overall poverty rate has declined, much of the urban population is still impoverished. Unsurprisingly, Chile’s focus on privatization and market-based policies has created a societal structure which worsens the difficulties already inherently associated with working-class life. The most prominent inequality in Chile’s current political system is the nation’s tax plan, which has two major problems: It both fails to raise sufficient revenue for federal projects and is highly inequitable, frequently foisting a great deal of the nation’s costs onto the lower class. First, Chile has by far the lowest tax revenue of any OECD nation, which prevents the government from effectively providing public

services to the people, a problem which is particularly pertinent for lower and middle-class Chileans. Intertwined with this is Chile’s second problem, which is the nation’s extremely unprogressive tax system. Today, Chile only has three income brackets taxed at above 20 percent (for comparison, under President Trump’s tax cut, the United States has five). The nature of Chile’s neoliberal tax system means the nation misses out on a chance to actually raise revenue from society’s wealthiest members, leading to limited government spending or disproportionate taxation of the working class, either through increased income taxes or an excessive reliance on regressive policies such as sales tax. Taking all this into account, it’s easy to see why protesters across Chile have taken to the street. Their nation’s economic model has promoted growth overall, but has left the vast majority of the citizenry behind. This is not a protest over a particular leader or corrupt government official, but rather over an entrenched economic system that requires substantial overhauling. So far, Chilean leadership seems unwilling to acquiesce to the protesters demands, with President Sebastían Piñera removing some hardline government officials, but not making any drastic changes. Furthermore, the government has cracked down on protests with violence, something that has a very ugly history in Chile. Unfortunately for Piñera and the government, the endemic problems behind the citizens discontent are omnipresent and are unlikely to simply fade away. In order to truly counter these problems, Chile must finally drop its focus on neoliberalism and make a systematic shift toward raising taxes, nationalizing certain goods and services, and focusing on providing for its working-class citizens — then, and only then, will the problems behind this movement be abated. Zack Blumberg can be reached at zblumber@umich.edu.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Arts

Friday, November 8, 2019 — 5A

FILM REVIEW

‘Parasite’ joins the powerful wave of capitalist critiques JULIANNA MORANO Daily Arts Writer

It was the second distinct time I was lobbied to watch “BoJack Horseman.” This was a few days before I, more willingly, saw Bong Joon-ho’s (“Snowpiercer”) “Parasite.” I had given “BoJack” a chance once before, at another trusted friend’s lobbying, only to be turned off by how on-the-nose the show seemed to be. At the time, I preferred my social commentary to take more allegorical, thought-provoking forms, perhaps in the spirit of Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone” — a favorite from my adolescence. Even though I pretended to work on homework while he queued the third episode of the sixth and final season of “BoJack,” it wasn’t long before I got sucked in. One scene in particular struck me, when one of the characters, Diane (Alison Brie, “GLOW”), interviewed the CEO of an increasingly powerful conglomerate, and he told her on the record that he murdered one of his employees. Diane and I responded with equal shock at first, only for the CEO to clarify that the U.S. House of Representatives just approved a bill legalizing murder for billionaires. She and I both gradually resigned, too, to the CEO’s explanations of how this could be possible. “Really, Diane?” he asked, each time she offered another check or balance that might oppose the passing of this seemingly absurd, but also depressingly not-so-absurd measure. By the final “Really?” I wondered: Is that really so far-fetched, in this country? Afterward, I asked my friend to explain what he liked about the show, offering my initial ambivalence in response to its directness. He said that that was actually the part of the show he appreciated most — its willingness to spell out the things we’re too scared to admit could happen or are happening in the world — which I now realize is what this standout scene delivered. A week later, as I tried to process Bong’s latest feature, I kept revisiting that scene and conversation about the appeal of a show like “BoJack Horseman.” “Parasite” makes a similar appeal in the way it juggles reality and realism. And so do a number of films from recent years — to the extent that they seem to constitute a new wave of contemporary cinema. This wave — consisting of films like Bong’s, as well as the work of directors like Hirokazu Koreeda and Boots Riley — is tidal. It disorients us, destabilizes the forces (often insidious) that give structure to our lives, prevents us from taking the air we breath for granted. And it’s what we need to reckon with the extremes of capitalism in this day and age. *** “Parasite” starts with a scenario for which the title prepares us. The four members of the Kim family — the father and mother, Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho, “A Taxi Driver”) and Chung-sook (Jang Hye-jin), and their young adult children, Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik, “Train to Busan”) and Ki-jeong (Park So-dam, “Ode to the Goose”) — are living in poverty and struggling to find work. At his friend’s suggestion, Ki-woo finds employment by forging a college degree and assuming a position as a private tutor for the wealthy Park family’s young daughter Da-hye (Jung Ziso, “Daughter”). The rest of the Kims then conspire to get employed by the Park family — either getting the Parks’ servants fired, or convincing the Parks they need additional staff, like an art therapist for their son — and do so successfully for some time. But to say “Parasite” is about a poor family’s infiltration of a rich

family’s domestic labor force is like saying, for instance, Boots Riley’s “Sorry to Bother You” is about telemarketing. Both of these capitalist critiques resist the chokehold of synopsis, and are better described in terms of the range of social issues they fearlessly depict and deconstruct. In Riley’s film, this ranges from union organizing to racial discrimination, from violence in the media to corporate violations against human rights. Bong juggles a range of issues as well — the widening gap between rich and poor, class consciousness (or the lack thereof), environmental catastrophe — but all through the lens of class relations. And as these lists may imply, a characteristic of this new wave of films is intersectionality: awareness of how the seemingly incidental are interrelated, of how forms of marginalization converge, by no accident, on the same targets.

But maybe we shouldn’t know what to do with these complexities that Bong juggles, especially the absurdity of living in the extremes of capitalism. “It’s so metaphorical!” Ki-woo memorably exclaims on three separate occasions in the film. It’s hard not to read that as a direct challenge from Bong: Don’t we want to relegate these things to metaphor, when perhaps that’s a coping mechanism? When perhaps we’d do well to accept that we’ve created the conditions for what would seem impossible to be all too possible? As the cockroach sequence probably suggests, dark humor is the prevalent mood in Bong’s work. “Sorry to Bother You” has a similar register (as does “BoJack Horseman”). Instead of feeling inappropriate or tone deaf, it’s often refreshing. The realities these creatives are confronting are tough to swallow, and they recognize that. Instead of softening the blow, they let their audience struggle with them, choke on them. That is not to say, however, that these films preclude emotional sensitivity altogether; rather, these directors wield emotion more carefully (and perhaps, in turn, less manipulatively). Select scenes from “Parasite” point to these more selective, but subsequently more impactful, emotional displays. I’m thinking of the withering look on Ki-taek’s face every time he overhears Mr. Park expressing revulsion to the scent of poor people or recognized the scent on himself. But the prime example here may be the work of another filmmaker: Hirokazu Kore-eda, the director of 2018’s “Shoplifters.” The extraordinary aspect of this film is not how little the forces of capitalism and the widening wealth gap has left the non-biological family at the center of this film, or the life of shoplifting they must sustain in order to sustain themselves. Rather, it is the love and care they show one another, if not show one another more frequently and authentically, with the forced realization that all other forces of society have left them behind. NEON

While that may sound like a recipe for allegory (how better to balance many competing conflicts than to metaphorize, to branch out to both figurative and literal terrain?), directors like Bong resist clearly signaling what we’re supposed to take as realism versus what is metaphorical. On the one hand, that makes for a troubling viewer experience. One sequence in particular comes to mind: when the Kim family thinks they have the Park mansion all to themselves while the Parks are out of town. While they luxuriate in the Parks’ food and

Parasite Neon The State Theatre

drink, Chung-sook makes a dark joke, that in spite of the power they feel themselves to possess in that moment, the four of them would scatter like cockroaches if they were caught. It’s hard to know what to make of the next scene, then, that disturbingly fulfills her prediction, as the Parks come back home unexpectedly and the Kims crawl under and out from tables in order to escape unnoticed.

At the outset of the 2010s, The Guardian published an article titled “Hollywood searches for escapism after the apocalypse.” It tried to make sense of the onslaught of post-apocalyptic films the U.S. was putting out at the time by linking it to wide-scale social change, and people’s anxiety over that. I first encountered this narrative theory at the same time I first encountered Bong’s work. It was in an ecocriticism unit of a course on literary theory, and we watched the beginning of 2013’s “Snowpiercer,” which takes place on a train that hosts the survivors of a climate disaster that brought on another ice age. Critics are describing “Parasite” as another dystopian feature, but I would hesitate to call “Parasite” or its contemporaries “dystopian.” That term assumes a remote future, when I don’t think Bong, Riley or Kore-eda want us to take comfort in the same cushion between us and the people we see on screen. These films are doing something different from the apocalyptic films from a decade ago — something more productive, authentic and useful. They aren’t distracting us with the impossible or improbable; they’re showing us what we’ve made possible, are making possible, in an honest, if disturbing, light. It took me a little while to admit that about these films. It’s not easy to see the world for what we’ve made it. But eventually I’d ask myself, Really? in a tone not unlike the one I’d heard on Season 6, Episode 3 of “BoJack Horseman.” Are these impossible, or do I want them to be? I needed these directors to push me to ask that question and to realize it’s probably the latter. I think a lot of us need to see more clearly where we’re headed before we think about the future.

TV REVIEW

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

‘Queer Eye’ went to Japan cultural context and fits in well with the crew. For the most part, the Fab Five are incredibly respectful Daily Arts Writer with the people they encounter and make sure to clear up some of the finer points of, for example, At this point the “Queer Eye” formula, while still how to address someone in Japanese. In addition, charming, is extremely well-trodden and slightly the featured locales are diverse and provide a breath less engaging than when the 2018 reboot of the series of fresh air from many of the locations presented in “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” first appeared on the United States. Yet the producers did miss several opportunities Netflix. You get the impression that the parts of the show that cry out for some more substance (looking for novelty. For starters, I could’ve done without at you, Karamo and Antoni) than the ones focusing wanting to gag every time one of the Fab Five sputtered out a “kawaii” on style have anything but from their Anime 101 real substance, relying on little more than superficial education. Moreover, (and platitudes and advice that to be honest I don’t really know if this is really just is meant to be simple but a problem with the series is ultimately bafflingly as a whole) I really don’t useless. The fear of that Netflix understand what Antoni’s goes into overdrive when Miniseries Premiere point was here. Cultural the “Fab Five” venture out exchange with apple pie to Japan and try to apply is acceptable I suppose, their “methods” to a vastly different culture. but given that the skills the contestants learn are Nonetheless (thankfully), to their credit, cultural supposed to eventually help in their own day-tosensitivity was pretty high. The subject of the first day life, maybe it would be more useful to bring on episode of this mini-series is an older nurse named a Japanese chef to help cook simple Japanese food? Yoko who works in hospice care and who society In general, I would have loved to have seen more views as having “given up on being a woman” Japanese “counterparts” to the Fab Five, as they due to her lack of extensive grooming. As usual, would have intimate knowledge of the nuances of the interactions between her and the Fab Five do their culture and provide learning opportunities take some time to develop chemistry. But they do for the Fab Five and presumably mostly American eventually, and while it’s something we’ve seen a audience. At this rate, the producers of “Queer Eye” seem million times before, it’s heartwarming nonetheless. The Fab Five are joined intermittently by to know what makes a hit, and they’re content with American-Japanese model Kiko Mizuhara, a recycling it over and over. Luckily for them, even the valuable addition who adds a good amount of recycled formula does produce some comforting TV.

***

SAYAN GHOSH

Queer Eye: We’re in Japan

NETFLIX

PETER SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY

La vie boheme at the opera NATALIE KASTNER Daily Arts Writer

The classic opera “La Boheme,” composed by Giacomo Puccini, is beyond iconic. Not only is the score boundlessly beautiful, but the tragic story still rings true in each era that has followed its conception. The plot of the opera is suspiciously relatable to most college students: young people living a penniless, open minded, unconventional lifestyle, surviving in subpar housing, gossiping about relationship drama and dealing with an array of diseases from late night adventures parading around the city. If librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa’s four act plot is not enough for you, Puccini’s score will be. Puccini is widely known as one of the greatest opera composers of all time. His sweeping score for “La Boheme” is one of his most well known. This SMTD production brings Puccini’s score to life with a full SMTD orchestra as well as twelve members of the Michigan Marching Band playing on stage throughout the production in full costume. “La Boheme” is set in post-war 1947. Regardless of the time period, the premise is universal enough to be situated at any time. SMTD faculty member and director of the production, Matthew Ozawa, decided on the 1947 setting because of the stark contrast between the massive despair of World War II and the young aspiring artists who have faith in the future. This contrast makes the opposition in the story that much more heartbreaking. “The idea of people having just gone through war … they have to find so much through their artistry

and through each other to gain back that sense of humanity that maybe had been lost,” Ozawa said. “‘La Boheme’ is quite possibly the perfect first opera to go to,” said conductor Kenneth Keisler in an interview with The Daily. Even though the opera is technically tragic, there are long moments of comedy, and the heart of the show is pure gold. Each character, especially the main lovers Mimi and Rodolpho, have such strong dreams and aspirations that it’s difficult not to fall in love with them. The idea of turning to each other instead of material things to find happiness is something that I appreciate going into the winter months here at Michigan. Our vice is more along the lines of Netflix instead of jewels from the Paris bourgeoisie, but I believe the thought carries over. “What’s so interesting to me is that the artists really have to struggle to have food and heat … it’s their art that creates the beauty and hope of life.” Ozawa said. Taking Ozawa’s advice, I will happily lean into my last winter here. My art will probably be better for it.

La Boheme Nov. 7-10, 2019 The Power Center Student Tickets: $13 with ID Reserved Seating: $24, $30

Arts

6A — Friday, November 8, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

BOOK REVIEW

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

Insight into the immigrant experience with ‘Bodega’ ANDREW PLUTA Daily Arts Writer

People watching, the search for cultural identity and the subtleties of growing up in the city gracefully intertwine as Su Hwang offers her upbringing to the reader in her poetry collection “Bodega.” Born in Korea shortly before immigrating to New York City, Hwang uses her experiences to develop an expansive collection of memories of partial assimilation that she relays through her collection of poems. Every reader experiences years of growing up in an immigrant household in the mere 94 pages of “Bodega.” Those who have already experienced this phenomenon will find the experience even more vivid as their own flashbacks enhance Hwang’s already robust sentiments. Hwang’s exceptional ability for photographic description is the vehicle through which she shares

excluded from exposure to the experiences typical of growing up in her homeland, yet being equally deprived of the aspects of culture that seem inherent to those who are more historically American. It is the existential battle fought by the children of immigrant households as they endeavor to escape the cultural purgatory between their family and their surroundings. Hwang convincingly highlights this allencompassing lack of belonging: “There’s no place like home / There’s no place like home / There’s no one place.” The moment one begins life in a new land, they begin to lose their heritage — “Family trees reduced / to oral / traditions” — but one never fully assimilates to the new culture. Hwang’s pained awareness on this matter grants her collection the honest and raw nature that makes it so captivating to any audience and relatable to those who have undergone similar experiences. The intersections of Hwang’s meticulous descriptions of her surroundings and her self-aware portrayals of internal conflicts above all connect her distinct talents to give the greatest insight to her immigrant upbringing. In “Fresh Off the Boat | Five Sonnets,” she addresses an interaction in which her family is verbally assaulted and then told to go back to where they came from. The remainder of the sonnet has two focuses: Her family’s reactions (from the fear in everyone’s eyes to her brother’s tearful face in her embrace) and her internal response, which intertwines profound anger and speechlessness with an underlying wish that she can simply escape to a place where she feels actual belonging. Hwang’s ability to echo these themes of racial tension and exclusion in her discussion of seemingly unrelated household memories and casual observances gives her collection a seamless consistency from one poem to another that few authors can maintain over the course of an entire collection. This, then, is Hwang’s secret recipe to an impressive poetry collection. Her technique is deliberate and perfected, implementing hyper-realistic description without getting caught up in the frills of overly elaborate devices. As she adds transparent sentiments regarding her struggle and that of immigrants in her periphery, her vivid descriptions absorb the reader and she sees from her eyes what it means to grow up in an immigrant household. Most MILKWEED EDITIONS works attempting to do so still cause the reader to feel like an outsider looking in, but Hwang’s readers gaze out at an unaccepting world.

Hwang’s ability to echo these themes of racial tension and exclusion in her discussion of seemingly unrealted household memories and casual observances gives her collection a seamless consistency from one poem to another

Bodega Su Hwang Milkweed Editions Oct. 8, 2019 the experience of growing up in a land separated from her heritage. Each vignette incorporates a more creatively accurate degree of detail than one would receive through their own eyesight. In the bodega-set poem “Instant Scratch Off,” Hwang picks up on the slight tensions between interacting members of different racial groups while incorporating unmistakable features of the individuals, like a Nigerian man’s “salt-and-pepper hair gathered into a seahorse.” This meticulous level of physical and social observation juxtaposes the more rushed and self-centered standard protocol of bodega visitors, giving the everyday scene its seemingly more rare quality. The scene epitomizes what makes Hwang’s writing so charming and impactful: She manages to analyze situations and states of mind that many people, especially those of immigrant families, have been through on a more thorough level than most are willing to do — perhaps at times as a self defense mechanism. Hwang’s most chilling works are those that tackle the issue of feeling stuck between cultures — being

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis 57 Lee follower 58 Beach pest 59 “You __ devil!”

28 Want badly 40 Emulate a nightingale 29 See 11-Across 31 Boxer’s boxers 44 “Whoop-de-doo” 32 Gold __ 45 Played a piccoloDOWN 33 Agitated like instrument 1 Visit the engine 35 Many a heist 46 Needle front? room, perhaps 36 E.M. Forster’s 48 “Downton Abbey” 2 Put on a pedestal countess “__ End” 3 Sharp answers 37 Opposite of 49 Deftly 4 Head for the hills momentary 50 StubHub parent 5 Frying medium 38 Reason for a 52 IV units 6 It’s NW of 53 2003 holiday cover-up? QWERTY 39 Less fresh film 7 Allen of Vermont 8 “See the ___ ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: clear’d, and then we will depart”: “King Henry VI” 9 Grandson of Adam 10 __ Arc, Arkansas 11 Require for success 12 Ones from afar 13 It may be hard to keep 18 State hwy., often 22 “Jo’s Boys” author 24 “Storage Wars” network 25 “I speak the truth” 27 Brand munched by E.T. 11/08/19

Gracie Abrams delivers the warm glow of a diary SAMANTHA CANTIE Daily Arts Writer

Scrolling through Gracie Abrams’s Instagram (yes, J.J. Abrams’s daughter) is like flipping through her diary. Her aesthetic is the glow of Christmas lights with polaroid pictures taped to her bedroom walls, Muji pens scribbling journal entries, posts of political activism and snippets of her humming voice amongst the hue of those festive lights. By opening the pages of her diary, so to speak, on Instagram, Abrams consistently lets the viewer step into the warmth of her wistful room. She’s been at this for years: three years ago she posted a snippet of a song called “Minor.” I fell in love with the romantic teenage earnestness she exuded, as if “Minor” was a walk through the movie “Me and Earl and The Dying Girl.” “Minor” is a longing, youthful love letter. She whispers the lyrics: “I’ll put on a show, if you just come over. I’m sorry your house is in Glendale, or somewhere far.” Gracie has built up a cult following on Instagram in the three years since. In these years of fragmented songs, fans consistently voiced their restlessness, begging for her to release something official. On Oct. 24, 2019, she finally debuted her first official single “Mean It,” along with a VEVO verified music video. Accordingly, the song feels like a walk inside the glimmer of Gracie’s room. The music video features her placing objects inside her room, whispering her woes with a pouty face as she sprawls across her bed. The intimacy of this powerhouse teenage femininity I had followed on my feed for years had finally broke onto the official scene. It’s important to note that the term diary particularly stirs up images of femininity, and her Instagram and various media outlets are described as diary-esque. I believe what drew me most to Abrams is this exactly: her capture of the “diary energy” of the teenage girl, and the power she brought to it. The dewy skin and hoodies with her soft spoken voice that’s knifelike, the dreamy bedroom and wistfulness — three years ago she let me feel power in this, as I was 17, figuring out where my power could be. Her instagram launched her into the respects of Lorde, Clairo, FINNEAS and the producers

she formally works with today. Seeing the magic of the teenage bedroom transformed into a palpable power that garnered intense respect of powerful producers felt like watching Clairo rise, but without the rush and with the space to breathe. Growing up with artists like Arianna Grande and Nicki Minaj, I pondered if in order to be empowered as a female, the teenage girl bedroom-centric aesthetic had to be suppressed.

The dewy skin and hoodies with her soft spoken voice that’s knifelike, the dreamy bedroom and wistfulness — three years ago she let me feel power in this, as I was seventeen, figuring out where my power could be Abrams is refreshing in this way — she has an authority that doesn’t need to be menacing or sexy or embody male characteristics to be taken seriously. She’s a soft vocal, and she’s authoritative in being her. Abrams rose and broke in by opening her diary, letting us flip through the pages and showing how this version of the teenage girl is a force to be reckoned with, as is every other version. I’ve been listening to Gracie Abrams in my room, my Christmas lights bouncing off of my poster-filled walls, while I sit criss-crossed on my white comforter. I used to be embarrassed by the term “diary.” Artists like Gracie make me feel powerful in this space, journaling in my bedroom. Gracie’s debut single is this space for me. If you want to feel the power of girls in their bedrooms scribbling up thoughts and dreams, listen to “Mean It.”

ENTERTAINMENT COLUMN

Release Date: Friday, November 8, 2019

ACROSS 1 Long-nosed fish 4 Took to the cleaners 11 With 29-Down, anticipates potential trouble 14 Burns wrote one on a louse 15 “After this, no more questions” 16 Tahiti, to Gauguin 17 Total confusion at the creamery? 19 Actor Cage, casually 20 Avoided a family affair, perhaps 21 Fabled beast 22 Golden __ 23 Carefree adventure 24 Little tunneler 25 “The L Word” co-creator Chaiken 26 Giant among Giants 27 Alicia Keys record label 29 Without markup 30 Foot condition seen in oaters? 34 Checked the latest blog entry, say 35 Comparison of a motor coach to all other travel options? 39 Gershwin classic 41 Ike’s WWII command 42 Prefix with laryngology 43 Throws the game 44 O’er and o’er 46 Thunderstruck 47 Synagogue storage cabinets 48 T’ai __ 49 Compassionate words 51 TX library honoree 52 Barista’s occupational hazards? 54 “Don’t Bring Me Down” gp. 55 Fur-loving de Vil 56 “Who __?”: New Orleans Saints chant

YOUTUBE

11/08/19

Ian Harris: What even is ‘cinema’? IAN HARRIS

Daily Entertainment Columnist

Over the past few weeks, Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”) has made a number of comments in regards to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how he does not believe that it constitutes cinema. This sparked a wave of controversy, with numerous MCU directors such as James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) and Joss Whedon (“The Avengers”) entering the fray to defend their work. Bob Iger, the CEO of the Disney Corporation, invited Scorsese to get dinner with him to discuss his feelings. Twitter was in a full on war against the man, decrying Scorsese as an out of touch auteur. Many across the Internet saw this as a quintessential moment in which to say, “OK, boomer.” However, all of this anger at Scorsese is entirely misplaced. Simply put, the man could not be more right. Since “Iron Man” was released in 2008, there have been almost 25 films released in the MCU. In that time there have also been countless DC flicks, X-Men movies, an attempt to reboot the Fantastic Four, and two different reboots of Spider-Man. Every movie studio has tried their hand at creating their own version of the cash cow franchise of the decade and most have failed. The DC cinematic universe crashed and burned with “Justice League,” the so called “Dark Universe” never made it past the Tom Cruise helmed “The Mummy” and Universal’s “MonsterVerse” has hit rough waters after the mixed reviews and lower box office numbers for “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” If anyone out there in the world today believes that any of the people behind these “cinematic universes” had their eyes on anything other than money, they are sorely mistaken. What constitutes “cinema” can be debated all day long. Yes, the MCU films are moving pictures with audio attached to them that play in movie theaters and are usually seen while eating popcorn. They are ostensibly pieces of cinema in the sense that they exist within what we have come to define as cinema for a century. But as Scorsese points out, these films lack certain characteristics that most good movies

have. They do not attempt to say anything compelling about society or the world at large. And despite what their legions of proponents will tell you, they do nothing to advance film as an artform. They are glorified amusement park rides, and nothing more. Characters in the MCU don’t have “arcs” in the way that most characters do in serialized fiction. While the characters do occasionally change, these changes often occur off-screen and are flip-of-theswitch moments in which a character is completely different than they were before. For most of the series, Bruce Banner/The Hulk’s main storyline is his inability to balance the two halves of his life. Between the two most recent “Avengers” films, that problem is solved off-screen. That is not an arc. Many will point to Iron Man’s sacrifice at the end of “Endgame” as an example of how far the character has grown, but they conveniently leave out the fact that he was ready to make the same sacrifice at the end of the original “Avengers” film that was released seven years ago. If he has grown, he has grown to end up in the exact same place. Certainly, there was a time when people decried other works of popular fiction as being devoid of deeper meaning and existing only to serve the whims of the masses. “Star Wars,” “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” all faced these criticisms in their own time. And yet all three of those franchises exhibit those crucial items that the Marvel movies as of yet have lacked. Those stories are all about something. “Star Wars” is about family, “Harry Potter” is about love and “Lord of the Rings” is about the power of the human will. Are these simple and universal themes? Yes. But nonetheless those stories have beginnings, middles and ends. Characters grow and change and are fundamentally different people at the beginning than they are at the end. Each of these series was not (at first) created simply to fill a tub full of money, but to tell a story that the author wished to tell. Who is the author of the MCU? Is it Kevin Feige, the producer? Is it the Russo brothers? Is it the Disney company? No one knows for sure because the series has no true author. It’s an amalgamation of ideas designed mainly to make as much money as possible. Scorsese says it isn’t cinema, but that’s just semantics. The actual problem is that it isn’t a real story.

Scorsese says it isn’t cinema, but that’s just semantic. The real problem is that it isn’t a real story

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/DAILY

DESIGN BY ALEC COHEN

Friday, November 8, 2019 // TIPOFF 2019

MICHIGAN BASKETBALL

PREVIEW

TIPOFF 2019

SCHEDULE 2019-2020 Nov. 8 Nov. 10 Nov. 15 Nov. 16 Nov. 23 Nov. 27 Dec. 1 Dec. 5 Dec. 8 Dec. 14 Dec. 22 Dec. 28 Dec. 31 Jan. 5 Jan. 9

Western Michigan Bradley Kent State (N) at Akron Notre Dame at Eastern Michigan Morgan State Syracuse Oakland Appalachian State Florida State (N) at Maryland Penn State Michigan State at Ohio State

Jan. 12 Jan. 16 Jan. 19 Jan. 26 Jan. 30 Feb. 2 Feb. 6 Feb. 10 Feb. 13 Feb. 16 Feb. 19 Feb. 23 Feb. 27 Mar. 1 Mar. 4-8

Maryland at Wisconsin at Nebraska Rutgers at Northwestern Iowa Purdue at Minnesota Northwestern at Rutgers Illinois at Michigan State at Penn State Indiana Big Ten Tournament

3 4 6 7

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Michigan is switching to a positionless system. Its bigs will need to adapt. The story behind Naz Hillmon’s gold medal with USA Basketball. Michigan’s roster for 2018-19, broken down position by position. What you need to know about the Big Ten.

STAFF PICKS The Daily women’s basketball writers do their best to predict what will happen in the world of college basketball this season. Michigan regular-season record Big Ten champion Big Ten second place Big Ten third place Big Ten Tournament champion Big Ten MVP Big Ten Coach of the Year Big Ten surprise team Michigan MVP National Player of the Year National Freshman of the year Michigan’s season ends here NCAA “Bracket Buster” NCAA Final Four

Jack Kingsley

Brendan Roose

Kent Schwartz

22-7 Maryland Michigan Michigan State Maryland Kaila Charles Lisa Bluder Purdue Naz Hillmon Sabrina Ionescu Samantha Brunelle Round of 32 Notre Dame Oregon Baylor UConn Notre Dame

21-8 Maryland Michigan Indiana Maryland Kaila Charles Teri Moren Rutgers Naz Hillmon Lauren Cox Jordan Horston Round of 32 UCLA Oregon Notre Dame Baylor Louisville

22-7 Maryland Michigan State Michigan Michigan State Kaila Charles Suzy Merchant Purdue Naz Hillmon Sabrina Ionescu Aliyah Boston Round of 32 Florida State Oregon Baylor Florida State South Carolina

Friday, November 8, 2019 // TIPOFF 2019

Bigs leading the way to positionless basketball As Michigan switches systems to emphasize positionless basketball, its bigs will need to adjust their games

or decades, basketball has been a mostly specialized sport, with specific, standardized roles drawn up for the different positions on the court. The smaller, more athletic guards captain the offense, take BRENDAN the ball up the ROOSE floor, call plays, find open teammates on passes and hit medium to long-range shots. The taller, stronger forwards and centers work to out-muscle the other team, using their size to pick up easy buckets inside, set screens to free up guards in space, dominate in the post and clog up inside lanes on defense. Players’ roles are set to match their skill sets, and for almost all of basketball history, this has been the preferred system. But things have started to change. Accessibility to the game at a young age and more advanced training methods have allowed players at every position to develop more diverse skill sets. Guards that rely on their quickness and ballhandling to get into space now have forwards that can help space the floor and move the ball, freeing up more passing and scoring opportunities for playmakers. For the Michigan women’s basketball team, the transition to “positionless basketball” appears to be well on its way, and the success of this system should be a major difference-maker this season. In their exhibition match against Northwood last Friday, every player in the Wolverines’ starting lineup measured at least 6-feet tall. While basketball players being tall is nothing new, Michigan’s combination of size and speed from the traditional guard spot can take pressure off the forwards on defense and create a more diverse attack down low offensively — evidenced by the Wolverines’ 58 points in the paint against Northwood. Granted, Northwood is a Division II team, so putting up big numbers against them doesn’t mean much for Michigan’s success later in the year. But it at least indicates that the Wolverines are willing to fully commit to a positionless system. Adapting to the scheme will be

especially crucial for Michigan’s bigs if they want this new offense to be effective. Positionless systems rely on the ability of forwards and centers to dribble and pass effectively, move quickly and establish themselves as threats on the perimeter. This draws defenders to the outside and opens up space for guards and other bigs to break inside for easy buckets. “We just watched the WNBA Championship … there are players on the court — pretty much every single one of them, 6-(foot)-2, 6-(foot)-3, 6-(foot)4 — that can bring the basketball up, that can handle the ball, that can pass the ball, that can shoot the three, that can post you up inside,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “And I think our (bigs) want to play at the next level and they see that. … They want to work on their handle every day in practice, and they want to be able to get a rebound and advance the ball with the ball in

their hands without always having to find a point guard.” Sophomore forward Naz Hillmon should be the most important key in the adjustment to positionless basketball. Coming off of a stellar freshman season where she led the team in points, rebounds and shooting percentage — all while coming off the bench — the 6-foot-2 Big Ten Freshman of the Year will need to adapt her game to fit the offense’s positionless style. While she spent most of last year generating offense in the post, she’ll have to find ways to score points from further away from the basket as opponents work to neutralize her post presence this year. “That’s a challenge that she’s really embraced and really worked hard on in the offseason,” Barnes Arico said. “And we gotta constantly remind her, ‘Hey Naz, that’s a good shot, you gotta take those shots instead of just looking to be a passer in those situations,’ and I think

I think our (bigs) want to play at the next level.

that’s something that she really wants to get better at in order to take those next steps.” Positionless basketball also means that Hillmon will need to move the ball quickly in transition. Assuming she maintains her dominance in defensive rebounding from last year, she’ll likely find herself in situations where she has to either find a teammate or dribble up the floor and score points herself. “I feel like I can play a role in that,” Hillmon said. “Just getting up and down the floor, running my lane, and trying to get some easy buckets in transition, to really try to get the ball out.” Michigan should also be able to count on true freshman Izabel Varejão’s diverse skill set to complement its positionless system. The 6-foot-4 center uses her quickness and outside shooting ability — two of the most sought-after traits in a positionless big — to counter her strong post presence. These skills are especially valuable in the

pick-and-roll game, where a player traditionally sets a high screen for the ball carrier, then slips back toward the basket for the pass and an easy bucket. Varejão’s shooting means she can roll down low or pop back outside for an open jumpshot, adding yet another element that defenses have to worry about. With the transition to a positionless system, the Wolverines have put themselves in a position to attack defenses in a new way this season. But their success will rely heavily on the ability and willingness of Michigan’s bigs to adapt. With a wealth of talent on the roster this year, this could be the difference between an ascending program taking the next step or falling back into the Big Ten’s forgotten middle tier.

Just getting up and down the floor, running my lane.

Brendan Roose can be reached at rooseb@umich.edu or on Twitter @BrendanRoose.

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico is changing her offensive system so as to emphasize a positionless style of basketball that requires diverse skill sets.

HILLMON’S QUES Fifteen seconds remained in the fourth quarter of the gold-medal match in the Under-19 Women’s World Cup. The United States and Naz Hillmon were staring down the barrel of a defeat to Australia as, back to the basket, Hillmon posted up against an Australian defender on the top of the key. She watched as two of her teammates crossed in front of her, waiting for the inbound and a chance to tie the game at 66. *** Two years earlier, Hillmon had tried out for the United States under-17 national team. She fought and battled through trials, making it to the final round of cuts. She didn’t make the team, instead designated an alternate. “I had never seen her so devastated in her life,” said Hillmon’s mother, NaSheema Anderson. “So we went back to the drawing board — what could you have done differently, what could you work on? They gave her things she could work on, and she spent the next year getting stronger, getting shots up, adding some components and dimensions to her game.” The next year, Hillmon went back to Colorado and made the under-18 team, won a gold medal in the Americas Championship and went on to be the Big Ten’s Sixth Player of the Year and first team All-Big Ten as a freshman at Michigan. Three months before she would face off against Australia, Hillmon was bugging her mom. One by one, her friends across the country received letters inviting them to come to Colorado and try out for the under-19 team, to play in the World Cup in Thailand, and she didn’t receive one. Her mom had kept it from her, to make sure she wasn’t just doing this to please her family. Finally, Hillmon was brought into the loop. She made her way to Colorado.

After five days of trials, the team was ready to be announced. Hillmon called her mom beforehand, debriefing her on her chances and when the results would be announced — while her mom teased out the excitement, Hillmon wasn’t going to make her wait. The time ticked by, Hillmon’s deadline went by, USA basketball’s deadline went by. Anderson was sent out texts to other parents, refreshed Twitter, did the math as reports trickled in of players who had been cut. She didn’t want to watch her daughter be dealt a blow like the one two years prior. As they listed the players who made the team alphabetically, five bigs were called before her, nearly filling her position group and increasing the chances she was an alternate. Finally, she called her mom. The coaches reached H. Her name was called. Hillmon would be one of just three players to play for both the under-18 and under-19 teams. *** Taking the inbound, guard Paige Bueckers launched the ball from center court, arcing over the head of the posted-up Hillmon, into the hands of a streaking Hailey Van Lith. *** Three weeks before the championship, in July, right as the Wolverines began their summer camps, Hillmon went to Tokyo. As she set off for Japan, she was filled with the advice of Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico, who had coached the same tournament ten years earlier. “She knew how important it is to represent USA across your chest and how much it was about basketball,” Hillmon said. “She wanted me to enjoy it and take in the experience.” Twelve of the best 18 year-olds from

around the country — some high school, some college — landed for their pretournament scrimmage against Japan. For most, it was their first time playing together. The chemistry wasn’t established. Hillmon, who played for the same coaches the year before, stepped up. “Because I was one of the older girls, I needed to take responsibility over what was going on, on and off the court,” Hillmon said. “(I knew) the coaches … (I knew) what they liked and how to help the people just coming in.” But it was a process. Chemistry doesn’t come easy. The bus tour through the heart of Tokyo, the team’s visit to the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the wisecracks and laughs throughout the tournament — it all built a family. “You could just see the more time they spent together the more comfortable they are and the more they trusted each other,” Anderson said. “They wanted to play for one another and they wanted to win for their country.” The scrimmage in Japan and the practices before the tournament in Thailand were a crash course in each other — what shots each player liked to take, what moves they made — what their strengths and weaknesses were. *** Van Lith caught the ball a step ahead of her Australian defender. Using the space she had gained in a run to the top of the arc before a cut back to the hoop, she took one dribble toward the hoop — with Hillmon moving in to grab a potential rebound — faked her shot to get a clear look and sent up the potential game-saving shot. *** In the first game of the tournament, eight days before the championship, Hillmon

started against Australia. She stole the show as one of just four players on the team to score 10 points while also tallying a team-leading nine rebounds and five steals. The pattern would continue. Starting the whole tournament, she tallied three games with 10 or more rebounds over the course of the tournament, consistently having one of the best plusminus margins on the team. Hillmon’s tireless work on the court was mirrored by her leadership off it, using her voice to empower and better her teammates, while she improved herself. “I learned a lot about myself, in terms of how I could compete against some of the best in the country,” Hillmon said. “I figured out when people stop this that or another move, you have to have three or four more counters. And also learning how to put my teammates in better positions, working out with girls that you’ve never played with before and having a month, you have to hone in and make sure you put them in the best positions.” Her growth over the course of the tournament snowballed, culminating in her being named captain the night before the final game — she was no longer just an alternate. She neglected to tell her mom. *** Minutes before Van Lith’s catch, Hillmon was racing down the court toward her own basket. The seconds were counting down. Three points behind Australia, the gold medal was slipping out of the USA’s grasp. The only option left for the United States was to foul and hope the Opals missed their shots. “I had no idea how (coach Jeff Walz) was going to pull that off,” Anderson said.

KENT SC

PHO

November 8, 2019

TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com

DESIGN BY ALEX STONE

ST FOR GOLD “I turned to (guard Rhyne Howard’s) mom and I’m like, ‘We did not come to Thailand to get a silver medal.’ “‘What is he going to pull out? What is he possibly going to do?’” It was going to be a long fifteen seconds. Howard went for the first foul, reaching around Australia’s Isobel Anstey. Trying to waste time by avoiding the foul as long as possible, Antsey twisted her upper body back in Howard’s direction. Her elbow went straight into Howard’s nose. The flagrant, accidental foul gave two free throws and the ball to the United States. After making one of two free throws, the ball was inbounded by mid-court. Hillmon posted herself near the elbow, with two of her teammates crossing in front of her. Van Lith made her move, and the ball was lofted over everyone to her. She jump-stepped, faked her shot and ducked. Her shaken defender tumbled over her, before she banked in the gametying shot. With 12 seconds left, Australia was unable to hit the game-winning shot, sending the match to overtime. A team that the United States beat by 23 in the first game of the tournament was fifteen seconds and free throws away from winning the gold medal against the United States. They couldn’t close it out. In overtime, Hillmon gathered four rebounds and scored two points. The United States won the gold medal, 74-70. When the medals were awarded, they called for the captain. Anderson watched, feet away, as her daughter — whose dismay two years ago had worried her so much she kept the invitation to the trials from Hillmon to make sure she really wanted to go through the process again — walked forward and lifted the trophy.

CHWARTZ / DAILY SPORTS WRITER

OTOS COURTESY OF USA BASKETBALL

Friday, November 8, 2019 // TIPOFF 2019

Roster breakdown Michigan has just five returning players who averaged more than five points last season JACK KINGSLEY Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan women’s basketball team is coming off its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, and for the second consecutive season, the Wolverines have undergone a significant amount of roster turnover. With Hallie Thome and Nicole Munger graduating and Deja Church transferring, Michigan has three starting spots to fill and 30.6 points per game to replace. Despite that, the expectations for the Wolverines are as high as they have been in coach Kim Barnes Arico’s eight years with the team, largely due to strong recruiting classes over the past two years. The 2018 class was the most highly-touted of Barnes Arico’s tenure, consisting of three top-100 recruits, two of whom — Amy Dilk and Naz Hillmon — had significant roles as freshmen. This year, Michigan brings in three talented players who have all shown the ability to make an impact as freshmen. But with roster turnover comes questions about depth. The Wolverines only have five returning players who averaged over five points per game last year — all of whom project as starters — and will look to inexperienced players to fill important roles coming off the bench. Additionally, one of Michigan’s main focuses in the offseason was to improve defensively to alleviate the loss of three of its four leading scorers. The Daily breaks down what to expect from the Wolverines’ starters and who can step up and produce in addition to those five. Guards Sophomore Amy Dilk is one of Michigan’s two returning starters, and the Wolverines will look to her to be one of the team’s top scorers this season. Dilk came in last season and immediately earned the starting point guard spot. But with many proven scorers on the roster, she was asked to focus more on distributing than scoring the basketball. While her freshman season had some ups and downs, Dilk showed the ability to be a proficient floor general, averaging 4.4 assists per

game with excellent court vision, but turned the ball over 3.4 times per game. Dilk’s ability to score more consistently and improve upon her 7.2 points per game, along with cutting down on turnovers, will be key to Michigan’s success this season. As a result of losing three starters, senior Akienreh Johnson will consistently start for the Wolverines for the first time in her college career. Johnson’s career has been derailed by injuries a bit — a torn ACL caused her to miss a large portion of her freshman year, and she missed the first three games last season due to a broken hand — but as a senior she will have the opportunity to step up as a leader for Michigan. While not the most prolific scorer on the team, she showed that she can set the tone for the Wolverines offensively in an exhibition against Northwood last Wednesday, scoring seven firstquarter points. Johnson is also one of Michigan’s best defenders, and leads by example on the defensive end. Behind Johnson and Dilk, it is unclear which of the Wolverines’ four reserve guards will step up and contribute off the bench, and it seems like all four will have the opportunity to earn minutes. Michigan added two freshman guards to the roster this season, Maddie Nolan and Michelle Sidor, both of whom can contribute immediately. Nolan is coming off a serious knee injury that she suffered during her senior year of high school, but against Northwood, it didn’t seem to affect her play. She could earn minutes due to her aggressiveness, which was on display on Wednesday as she dove on the floor for loose balls and hustled for offensive rebounds. Sidor scored over 3,000 points in high school and can play both the ‘1’ and the ‘2.’ Her tendency to push the pace when running the point could provide Michigan with a change of pace off the bench. Michigan’s two more experienced reserve guards — sophomore Danielle Rauch and junior Priscilla Smeenge — both played very limited minutes last season. With no clear backup point guard, Rauch made her case for the job after logging six assists in just 16 minutes against Northwood.

Barnes Arico identified both Rauch and Smeenge as potential sparks off the bench due to their highenergy style of play. Forwards Coming off the bench in her freshman season, sophomore Naz Hillmon led the Wolverines in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage en route to being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year and being named to the AllBig Ten First Team. This season, Hillmon will be asked to play more minutes and potentially guard opposing centers, a challenge that will require her to improve as a defender. Due to the departure of many of Michigan’s top scorers, Hillmon will also be the primary option for the Wolverines on offense. She is dominant in the paint, but in order to diversify her game and combat increased defensive attention, Hillmon has worked to improve her perimeter scoring ability. Hillmon is Michigan’s most important player, and whether or not she can improve upon her freshman season will be the an important factor for the Wolverines if they are going to

finish at the top of the Big Ten. Entering her third season as a starter, junior Hailey Brown has the most starting experience of any player on the team. Her ability to score both in the post and on the perimeter makes her a versatile secondary option for Michigan. The Wolverines’ other senior, Kayla Robbins, will also have the opportunity to start for the first time this season. Her length and strong defense gives her the ability to guard multiple positions and switch, which has allowed Barnes Arico to move her to the wing this season after playing predominantly the ‘4’ throughout her career. Along with Johnson, Robbins will anchor Michigan’s defense. Depth is a concern, though, as sophomore Emily Kiser will start the season as the Wolverines’ only forward off the bench. Center The lone center on Michigan’s roster is freshman Izabel Varejão, whose size can be an important factor for the Wolverines. None of the five starters are true centers, and if they struggle to defend opposing bigs, Varejão will be called on to play an important

role. She has also proven that she can provide a scoring punch off the bench due to her effectiveness in the paint and ability to shoot the three, both of which were on display as Michigan’s leading scorer against Northwood. Foul trouble could be an issue for Varejão, but if she can stay on the floor, look for her to potentially play a role similar to Hillmon’s last season. Outlook This year’s Wolverines are relatively young and inexperienced, but a strong starting five and lots of talent up and down the roster provides the team with optimism that they can replicate last season’s success. If Sidor and Varejão can live up to their billing as scoring threats and acclimate well to the college game while the older bench players continue to improve, Michigan has the potential to finish in the top three of the Big Ten and make a third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. But if the Wolverines can’t find reliable bench contributors, there may be too much weight on the backs of the starters to reach their full potential.

KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily

The Michigan women’s basketball team will need to rely heavily on its sophomore class to take an increased role.

Friday, November 8, 2019 // TIPOFF 2019

What you need to know about the Big Ten basketball season THE DAILY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL BEAT Daily Sports Writers

Jack Kingsley, Brendan Roose and Kent Schwartz contributed to this story. Michigan finished last season fourth in the Big Ten and with a good chunk of teams competing for real estate at the top of the conference standings, life won’t be getting any easier. Here’s everything you need to know about the Big Ten’s top teams this year. No. 4 Maryland After winning the Big Ten regular season title last year, the Big Ten is Maryland’s to lose. The Terrapins are ranked in the top five in both the AP and Coaches preseason polls, in large part due to the return of all five starters, including Kaila Charles. Charles averaged 17 points per game last season and was named both a preseason All-American and the

preseason Big Ten Player of the Year. Maryland also brings in the third-ranked freshman class in the nation, led by seventh-ranked recruit Ashley Owusu, which gives the Terrapins much more depth than in prior seasons. The biggest challenge for them will be whether or not their uber-talented freshmen can adjust to secondary roles, but coach Brenda Frese is confident that their difficult nonconference schedule will help them figure out how to balance everyone’s minutes. The Big Ten has many teams with NCAA Tournament aspirations this season, but Maryland is a step above the rest and a legitimate threat to win the national title. No. 17 Michigan State After their 2018-19 campaign ended with a blowout loss to Notre Dame in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Spartans enter this season ranked 17th in

the preseason AP Poll. 13th-year coach Suzy Merchant may have her most talented roster in years, with four returning starters, including guards Shay Colley, Taryn McCutcheon and Nia Clouden, all of whom earned AllBig Ten honors last season. Michigan State will be tested early in non-conference play, when they travel to South Bend to take on No. 16 Notre Dame. To take a step up as a program this year and compete in these tough games, the Spartans will need to rely on some of their younger players for depth — their 2019 recruiting class includes five players from the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report Top 100. They probably won’t compete with Maryland for the regular season conference championship, but don’t be surprised if the Spartans make some noise in the Big Ten Tournament or even pull off an upset in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

No. 23 Minnesota The Golden Gophers did not make the NCAA Tournament last season after finishing 21-11, but the return of three of their top four scorers led to a No. 23 rank in the preseason AP poll. The return of an all-Big Ten player in Destiny Pitts gives Minnesota optimism that it can take the next step in coach Lindsay Whalen’s second year despite the loss of leading scorer Kenisha Bell. However, their season got off to a rough start after losing at home to unranked Missouri State on Tuesday. The result showed that the loss of Bell will take some time to adjust to, and may be too much for Minnesota to overcome to live up to the preseason hype. No. 24 Indiana The Hoosiers limped to a disappointing 8-10 conference record last year, but they still earned an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament, where they were bounced in the second round

by No. 2 seed Oregon. This year, Indiana returns all but one of its regular players from last season, making the Hoosiers poised to compete for one of the top spots in the Big Ten. Redshirt junior guard Ali Patberg led the team in scoring last year, with 15.8 points per game. Her offensive prowess earned her a spot on the AllBig Ten second team and on the preseason Naismith Award watch list, so expect her to put up even bigger numbers as she continues to develop this year. Out of every team on this list not named Maryland, Indiana might have the highest ceiling since it returns so much talent, but the Hoosiers are still largely unproven on the big stage. It’s hard to see this team taking a step back, though, so expect the Hoosiers to make it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, at least. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8B

MILES MACKLIN/Daily

The Michigan State women’s basketball team was voted No. 17 in the preseason AP basketball poll after a 2018-19 season that ended with a blowout loss to Notre Dame in the second round of the tournament.

Friday, November 8, 2019 // TIPOFF 2019

KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily

The Rutgers basketball team has lost four of its five starters from last year’s team, which finished third in the Big Ten. But in C. Vivian Stringer’s 25th year at the program’s helm, the Scarlet Knights could make noise.

BIG TEN From Page 7B Rutgers The Scarlet Knights enter the 2019-20 season missing four out of five starters from last year’s team that finished third in the Big Ten. They can hope to fill some of that gap with five-star center Maori Davenport, and redshirt junior guard Arella Guirantes also seems poised for a big season — scoring 27 points in Rutgers’ season opener against South Alabama on Tuesday. Still, replacing four out of five starters is no easy task for any team, so expect the Scarlet Knights to take somewhat of a step back this season. They’re almost certainly too inexperienced to compete for the Big Ten regular season title, but coach C. Vivian Stringer — entering her 25th season — could very well salvage some upset wins near the end of the season. With a strong enough showing in the Big Ten Tournament, Rutgers can still definitely find itself an at-large bid

in the NCAA Tournament. Iowa Coming off a run to the Elite Eight, a second place finish in the Big Ten and a Big Ten Tournament Championship, the expectations for Iowa this year are significantly lower than last. No team in the Big Ten has a bigger hole to fill than the hole left by Megan Gustafson, the nation’s leading scorer and Big Ten player of the year a season ago. Iowa also loses double-digit scorers Hannah Stewart and Tania Davis from last season’s team. But the Hawkeyes still have reason for optimism this year in large part to the return of all-Big Ten guard Kathleen Doyle and an experienced, successful coach in 2019 Naismith National Coach of the Year Lisa Bluder. This season will be a true test for a program that has had so much success throughout Bluder’s tenure, but Iowa has the potential for another top-three Big Ten finish. Purdue Looking for a team that could surprise in the Big Ten? Look no further than the Boilermakers. Purdue has two players named to

the preseason all-Big Ten team in Ae’Rianna Harris and Karissa McLaughlin and returns all five starters. The Boilermakers finished near the bottom of the Big Ten last year, but this year’s team is much more experienced. While they haven’t gotten much national attention, their No. 5 ranking in the preseason Big Ten coaches poll shows that Big Ten coaches think they can be a threat. Ohio State The Buckeyes put up a flat 10-8 conference record last season, earning them fifth place in the Big Ten. This season, they will have to make the most out of a young roster that features only three upperclassmen. Fortunately, they scooped up the fourth-ranked recruiting class in the country, so the talent is there. Among returners, sophomore guard Janai Crooms is poised to take a step up offensively this season, while the addition of junior transfer wing Braxtin Miller adds depth to an already talented position group. Still, Ohio State is just too young to compete at the top level of this year’s Big Ten, so

expect the Buckeyes to remain in the middle of the pack. Nebraska Nebraska comes into the season with its seven top scorers returning in coach Amy Williams’ fourth season. With four seniors, the team has an abundance of experience after their 14-16 overall record last season, including a 9-9 finish in the Big Ten, where they managed to hold games close. The Cornhuskers will be able to attack opponents in many different ways and without worrying about having to play tired players — in their first game of the season, 11 players played ten or more minutes. Northwestern While the Wildcats are likely a tier below the top Big Ten teams, they do return all-Big Ten firstteamer Lindsey Pulliam, a player who can give any team trouble on any given night. Injuries derailed a fast start to the season, but a 21-15 finish and an impressive run to the WNIT championship game give Northwestern confidence that it can compete with the best of the Big Ten this season. A relatively

weak non-conference schedule could make it difficult for the Wildcats to get an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament unless they finish at the top of the Big Ten, but they could steal a couple of wins from the Big Ten’s best. Bottom Tier Penn State, Wisconsin and Illinois finished as the three worst teams in the Big Ten last year, finishing 5-13, 4-14 and 2-16 in the conference, respectively. Penn State brought in the No. 18 recruiting class in the country in 2019, but it’s still hard to imagine the Nittany Lions competing beyond the middle of the pack this year. Don’t expect much change at the bottom of the standings. Outlook Michigan has the talent to compete with the top tier of the Big Ten this year, but it’s hard to see them finishing higher than second, barring a collapse from the Terrapins. The Wolverines’ ceiling is a top three finish in the conference, but a slip or a few untimely injuries could see them sliding back into the middle tier of the Big Ten.