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University investigates harassment in #MedToo
Study finds medicine has higher rate of sexual misbehavior than other fields ABIGAIL TAKAS
OLIVIA CELL/Daily
Daily Staff Reporter
U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-Lansing) answers audience questions on national security, service, and policy at an event held in Weill Hall Monday afternoon.
Lt. Generals, Rep. Stolkin discuss military service, national security
Veterans analyze foreign policy, intelligence through lens of experiences JULIA RUBIN & BEN ROSENFELD Daily Staff Reporters
Lieutenant General James Clapper, Lieutenant General Michael K. Nagata and Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, participated in a panel at the Ford School of Public Policy Monday night on national security, public service and foreign policy. In an auditorium packed with more than 200 people, the national security experts honored Veteran’s Day by discussing the value of service and the greatest challenges the U.S. national security
apparatus faces today. According to Lt. Gen. Nagata, his decades of service had a profound impact on the ways in which he approached policy challenges over the course of his intelligence career at the National Counterterrorism Center. In facing constantly changing global and political dynamics, Nagata says today’s intelligence and elected officials should modify the ways in which they view the very concept of service. “How I defined that word, service, when I first joined the military in 1981 is not the same way in which I view that word today,”
Nagata said. “My view of that word now is much larger. It’s subordinating what I may wish for personally, or what my family and loved ones may need, for a purpose that is more important than me or even my family.” In an interview with The Daily, Nagata explained changing domestic politics — namely political polarization and increased partisanship — have complicated public servants’ ability to work together and problemsolve in order to respond to shifting global dynamics. “Our ability to do things effectively internationally requires both sides of
the political spectrum of the U.S. government to find ways to compromise enough that they can work together,” Nagata said. “Our ability to compromise politically has been steadily eroding for a very long time.” Both Nagata and Clapper agreed that the current political atmosphere has also made the job of public servants difficult, as political pressures applied by the president and other partisan forces have attempted to politicize the jobs of intelligence officials. “There’s always been an See VETERANS, Page 3
The University of Michigan recently conducted an internal investigation into sexual harassment in Michigan Medicine, termed #MedToo, per the recommendations of a 2018 National Academies study. The National Academies report investigated how women are treated in science, technolog y, engineering and math fields, now that more women are entering historically maledominated spaces. The report found that the field of medicine has a higher rate of sexual harassment across academic disciplines, with female medical students experiencing sexual harassment from faculty and staff at a rate 220 percent higher than female students in any non-STEM field. The report concluded by calling on universities to examine the prevelance of sexual harassment
within their own health care institutions. One of the Michigan study’s authors, Dr. Reshma Jagsi, is deputy chair of radiation oncolog y at Michigan Medicine and also a co-founder of the national movement, Time’s Up Healthcare. In an interview with The Daily, Jagsi recalled initial conversations with the Medical School deans regarding the University’s response to the national study. Jagsi explained to the administration the risk of being the first university to collect and publish these results; because no other universities had conducted investigations following the National Academies report, readers may incorrectly assume the issue is specific to Michigan Medicine. “When I talked to our deans, Marschall Runge and Carol Bradford, they were so incredibly supportive of this,” Jagsi said. See MEDTOO, Page 3
SACUA discusses challenges OIE releases two facing U-M press, library system reports on ‘U’ Representatives also talk issues regarding University funding ADMINISTRATION
sexual misconduct Disclosed information reveals decrease in submitted claims from students, faculty LIAT WEINSTEIN Daily Staff Reporter
The Office of Institutional Equity released two annual reports related to faculty and staff sexual misconduct and prohibited student conduct Monday. Both reports reveal decreased numbers of sexual misconduct claims submitted to OIE. Since 2013, OIE has published annual reports on student sexual misconduct to disclose information about how many instances of sexual misconduct are reported to the University each year. Last year, OIE began releasing an additional annual report on instances of sexual misconduct perpetrated by faculty, staff and third parties. The University’s sexual misconduct policy, and OIE’s handling of sexual misconduct cases, have been under debate for more than a year. This past January, the University amended its sexual misconduct policy to incorporate an in-person hearing after the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a student must be given an opportunity to cross-examine the accuser. The University has also spent $1.6 million defending against the Doe v. Baum lawsuit, which alleges the University’s policies violate due process of those accused of sexual misconduct.
The report on prohibited student conduct found that between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019, OIE received 272 reports of actions labelled “prohibited conduct” — 126 of which were sexual assault claims. According to the University Record, this is 23 fewer sexual assault claims than were reported last year. In total, the number of reports decreased slightly from 277 last year to 272 this year. In October, the results of a campus climate survey and a Division of Public Safety and Security report found differences in rates of sexual misconduct for minority students, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community and students with disabilities. The DPSS report also noted the number of reported on-campus sexual assaults increased in 2018 from previous years. In the report, OIE also discusses how reports were addressed and offers educational and preventative measures to counter sexual misconduct. Jeffery Frumkin, associate vice provost and interim senior director of OIE, told the University Record more information about how to report instances of misconduct have changed reporting patterns in the past few years.
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BEN ROSENFELD Daily Staff Reporter
The Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs representatives met in the Fleming Administrative Building to discuss University of Michigan funding and challenges facing the University library system and the University Press on Monday afternoon. James Hilton, University librarian and dean of libraries, and Charles Watkinson, director of the U-M Press, both attended
the meeting to offer insights and answer questions from faculty representatives. The first topic of discussion was open access, or the ability for University faculty and students to get access to research materials and e-books without facing a paywall. “The way that I think people here have tended to talk about open access — and (the way) people in library communities tend to talk about open access — is as almost a moral right of readers to have access to information,” Hilton said.
According to Hilton, the issue of copyrights is related to open access. Copyrights can often hinder the ability of the University to gain access to potential library resources. Hilton says the issue of copyrights is something all universities must contend with in developing their library systems, and one that is more complex than many would assume. “Lots of people think that the only things that are copywritten are things that are formally published, or things that
you attach a copyright notice to, or something like that,” Hilton said. “That is not true. If I sit down right now and take that piece of paper and write some new creative expression, it is protected by copyright from the moment that I write it.” Hilton also addressed a recent push to enter into an agreement with the other 13 Big Ten universities which could reduce the costs of publishing and purchasing library resources like e-books. See SACUA , Page 3
ASHA LEWIS/Daily University Librarian and Dean of Libraries James Hilton speaks about library open access at a SACUA meeting in the Fleming Administration Building Monday afternoon.
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Vol. CXXIX, No. 27 ©2019 The Michigan Daily
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USS Liberty incident survivor talks experience in honor of Veterans Day Purple Heart recipient Larry L. Bowen reflects on military experiences JASMIN LEE
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About 15 students and community members came to hear USS Liberty Survivor Larry L. Bowen speak at the Michigan League about the true story of the USS Liberty incident on June 8, 1967. This event was sponsored by the Veteran and Military Services in conjunction with Veterans Week sponsored by the University of Michigan. Bowen is a Purple Heart recipient for his service on the USS Liberty incident. Philip Larson, program director for Veteran and Military Services, introduced Sudoku Syndication Bowen before talking Sudoku Syndication about the USS Liberty
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Liberty incident and and that was the most Senior Opinion Editors: Emily Considine, Krystal Hur, Ethan Kessler, Miles that the government has important part.” Stephenson, Erin White The movie also maintained this position MAX MARCOVITCH and ETHAN SEARS — even today, he said, the discussed post traumatic Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com disorder and issue is currently being stress Senior Sports Editors: Anna Marcus, Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Mark Calcagno, Theo Mackie, Tien Le how it affected the treated this way. Assistant Sports Editors: Bailey Johnson, Bennett Bramson, Connor Brennan, “I feel like a man without lives of the USS Liberty Jacob Kopnick, Jorge Cazares, Rian Ratnavale a country because the survivors. Bowen shared ARYA NAIDU and VERITY STURM government is refusing his own story of how he Managing Arts Editors arts@michigandaily.com to acknowledge what discovered he had PTSD. Senior Arts Editors: Clara Scott, Emma Chang, Cassandra Mansuetti, Sam “I’m one of the late happened,” Bowen said. Della Fera, Trina Pal Arts Beat Editors: John Decker, Sayan Ghosh, Mike Watkins, Ally Owens, “And then after the attack, respondents of PTSD, Stephen Satarino, Izzy Hasslund, Margaret Sheridan we were told never to never knew I had it,” talk about it or we would Bowen said. “I walked in ROSEANNE CHAO and JACK SILBERMAN Managing Design Editors design@michigandaily.com be threatened with fines to talk to the psychiatrist Senior Design Editor: Sherry Chen or imprisonment. For all and she asked some of the this time, we’ve not been difficult questions that ALEXIS RANKIN and ALEC COHEN allowed to speak, been (people in the movie) Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com treated like criminals were talking about and Senior Photo Editors: Alexandria Pompei, Natalie Stephens, Alice Liu, Allison Engkvist, Danyel Tharakan and we’re still not getting she says ‘Larry, you’ve Assistant Photo Editors: Miles Macklin, Keemya Esmael, Madeline Hinkley, got PTSD’. I guess I support.” Ryan McLoughlin “Justice for the never really heard of the Liberty,” a documentary term before, so it was ANDREA PÉREZ BALDERRAMA Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com about the USS Liberty completely new to me.” Deputy Editors: Matthew Harmon, Shannon Ors At the event, Bowen incident, was shown http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ brought many books during the event. The http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ SILAS LEE and EMILY STILLMAN pamphlets with documentary included and Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com personal accounts information about his Senior Copy Editors: Dominick Sokotoff, Olivia Sedlacek, Reece Meyhoefer of the USS from USS Liberty account CASEY TIN and HASSAAN ALI WATTOO survivors James Liberty incident. There Managing Online Editors webteam@michigandaily.com Ennes, Richard were some books written Senior Web Developers: Jonathon Liu, Abha Panda, Ryan Siu, David Talbot, Samantha Cohen Keipher, Larry by survivors of the event, including Ennes, who Weaver and Ernest ELI SIDER EASY HARDGallo. wrote about his firstManaging Video Editor video@michigandaily.com Senior Video Editors: Ryan O’Connor, Joseph Sim Kurt Hill, retired hand account in his novel Veteran liaison “Assault on Liberty.” NA’KIA CHANNEY and CARLY RYAN Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com LSA junior Matthew for the College of Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Samuel So, Ana Maria Engineering, told Iamarino also told The Sanchez-Castillo, Efe Osagie, Danyel Tharakan The Daily that Daily that he hopes this Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Harnoor Singh, Nada Eldawy, Maya the movie really talk will spread the word Mokh showed how the USS about the USS Liberty CATHERINE NOUHAN Liberty survivors incident and bring justice Managing Podcast Editor did everything they to the survivors. MADALASA CHAUDHARI and HANNAH MESKIN Managing Social Media Editors “I was very happy to see were supposed to do Senior Social Media Editor: Allie Phillips for the country and the USS Liberty incident how they were let event on the email for Veterans Day. I was very down. “I liked the excited to see that,” MOLLY WU Creative Director historical events Iamarino said. “It’s been RYAN KELLY ZELJKO KOSPIC to look at how 50 years since the event Sales Manager Special Projects Manager our servicemen occurred and the people ROBERT WAGMAN ANITA MICHAUD did their job and on the ship still have Marketing Consulting Manager Brand Manager were kind of left not received justice. So hanging in there,” hopefully more talks like Hill said. “National this will bring attention The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during security and that to the event and we’ll be the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is able to speak about what whole operation put © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com in effort for (the happened that day.” Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription story) to not be told
incident. Bowen is part of the USS Liberty Veterans Association, an organization that has spent the past 55 years telling their first hand accounts of USS Liberty attack. There were 34 American casualties on the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967, caused by torpedo and bombing attacks from the Israeli Defense Forces on the Mediterranean Sea. The event was officially considered an accident by both countries. Israel apologized and paid the victims’ families compensation, according to Haaretz. According to Bowen, the U.S. Government told the survivors of the attack to never mention the USS
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MEDTOO From Page 1 “First of all they said, ‘Absolutely you should do this. This is what the national academies is calling for, we have the expertise here, we should lead the way.’” The researchers surveyed faculty at Michigan Medicine using validated measures adapted from the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire, and examined the experiences of men and women in the field, distinguishing sexual harassment perpetrators between insiders (staff, students and faculty), and patients or patient family members. At Michigan Medicine, the study writes, “82.5% of women and 65.1% of men, reported at least one incident of sexual harassment from insiders in the past year.” Esther Choo, associate professor in emergency medicine at Oregon Health & Science University, is one of the founders of Time’s Up Healthcare. Choo’s greatest concern about the study
is its fairly low response rate, which indicates the possibility of participation bias. “I would also say that the rates were so high, that even if in the unlikely circumstance that every single person who didn’t respond to the study had never experienced sexual harassment, (the results) would still be significant,” Choo said. The rates of gender harassment are far more prevalent than sexual coercion at Michigan and nationwide, according to the study. #MedToo states 82.2 percent of women experienced gender harassment from insiders, and 64 percent of women experienced gender harassment from patients or patient families within the past year. On the contrary, only 0.6 percent of women experienced sexual coercion from insiders in the past year. “Even though we may think that they’re less consequential than the egregious behaviors that we tend to focus on, the Harvey Weinstein-type aggressors
News in our society organizational, psychologists have demonstrated that those gender harassment behaviors are actually associated with meaningful impact on any point we care about: physical well-being, psychological well-being and on professional wellbeing,” Jagsi said. Kate Brown, a fourth-year Medical student involved with sexual harassment education in the medical school, was not suprised by the overall findings of the study, but explained that this study did provide a new perspective into how the #MeToo era is also empowering men. “It’s been expected that men just enjoy those things, and that it’s just part of being a man, but I think it’s probably always bothered people,” Brown said. “I think finally in the context of #MeToo, men are being empowered to say, ‘You know, this really is not okay.’” Although #MedToo examined the impacts of sexual harassment on men in addition to women, it did not examine the
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VETERANS From Page 1 “There’s always been an aura of suspicion about intelligence anyway,” Clapper said. “That’s inherent because of its secrecy, and there has to be a certain amount of secrecy involved with the conduct of intelligence. If there’s no secrecy, you know, you’re out of luck. So the atmosphere now has amplified that suspicion and all the references to the deep state, the whistleblower complainant being a member of the intelligence community. All that contributes to — even heightens — the suspicion and, unfortunately, distrust.” Beyond the intelligence community, Slotkin spoke about how her experience serving in the military informs her mission-driven approach to policy-making against the backdrop of an increasingly polarized political climate. “My service really colors how I view other people,”Slotkin said. “When I walk into a room, and we’re talking about the issue of an impeachment inquiry, and there’s one side who’s just chomping at the bit to make political hay out of it, and the other side is rejecting the whole thing and refusing to acknowledge (the other side’s perspective), all I can think of is: where is your sense of mission of what we’re trying to do to protect and defend the Constitution?” The panel as a whole spoke to the importance of integrating values into
American institutions to ensure that citizens’ physical safety does not come at the cost of their rights, beliefs, and ways of life. Lt. Gen. Nagata said Americans need to more passionately engage in conversations about how the intelligence community should balance American values against the need to combat the growth of domestic terrorism.
Our ability to do things effectively internationally requires both sides of the political spectrum of the U.S. government to find ways to compromise enough that they
“We are seeing a significant growth of all forms of violent extremism within the United States… I hope that the United States as a government and as a people start becoming more energetic about a debate,” Nagata said. “How do we reconcile these very important values, privacy rights,
constitutional rights, societal norms… versus the need to ensure the safety of our own people against violent extremists?” The panelists each highlighted both physical and international threats to national security. Lieutenant Generals Clapper and Nagata pointed towards terrorism, China and Russia as menaces as well as an assault on institutions that support truth and the erosion of confidence between populations and their governments. They agreed the United States military must become more agile, adaptable and risk-tolerant in order to confront 21st century challenges. “The United States military has to get better at training and educating for complexity and uncertainty,” Nagata said. “We need to inculcate a tradition in the United States military… (that 21st century threats are) an incredibly complex, multi-dimensional security challenge, there is no solution, there is no answer.” Though panelists were concerned about young people’s declining interest in military and government service, LSA junior Noa Sreden shared her excitement for the panelists’ discussion. “I think they’re very unique perspectives that the presenters give, especially on foreign policy,” Sreden said. “That’s something that’s pretty unique and goes above what we typically learn here in Michigan.”
impacts on indivuals with intersectional identities. “This is the first of many, many papers that will come out of this …” Jagsi said. “There will be separate analyses that will look at the intersection of race and gender, looking at the intersection of sexual orientation and gender, those are coming.” However, Choo cautions that researchers must consider specific aspects when collecting intersectional data, explaining that despite inclusive intentions, it may end up isolating those who responded. Choo gave the example that if there were only five Black gay women in an institution, reporting on their responses would threaten their anonymity. “Those with intersectional experiences in healthcare are in the minority, and so you want to protect the most vulnerable … so sometimes we try to highlight intersectional experiences, and what we’ve done is violate principles of privacy and confidentiality,” Choo said. In addition to intersectional identities, sexual harassment occurs in spaces where gender inequity is present more generally. At Michigan Medicine, the student body has been more than 40 percent women for the past 25 years, however women are still underrepresented in leadership positions, Jagsi said. Jagsi explains this lack of gender equity is both a cause and effect of gender harassment; when few women are in leadership positions, gender harassment prevails and discourages other women from moving up in the ranks. Jagsi called for a change in leadership to change the culture of sexual harassment. “Equity is essential,” Jagsi said. “So we need to hire more women, promote more women, and insure that women are represented at all levels of
SACUA From Page 1 According to Hilton, this policy — while seemingly appealing — could disadvantage U-M more than other Big Ten schools. “It’s probably pretty easy to assume that across the Big Ten, we’re all kind of readers,” Hilton said. “So if you just take iPads, and you split up the consortium subscription by bodies, you get a pretty fair distribution. That is not true if you shift pay for publishing. We publish disproportionately more. So even if we went in with a consortium agreement with the Big Ten, what Michigan might have to pay would be very different.” Hilton also discussed the University Press, which he explained is an important tool for a university to improve its reputation, rather than simply a means of bringing in revenue. “I would argue the University presses collectively provide the infrastructure that supports scholarly publishing in the humanities and humanistic social sciences,” Hilton said.
OIE From Page 1A “We believe that the dramatic increase in reporting last year and subsequent decrease this year represents stabilization of reporting following the significant attention and raised awareness at U-M of these issues and how to report concerns,” Frumkin said. When contacted by The Daily, a representative from the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center
Tuesday, November 12, 2019 — 3
our organization, and in all positions of authority and inf luence.” Fourth-year Medical student Anitha Menon also ref lected on the issues of gender inequity in an
Equity is essential. So we need to hire more women, promote more women, and insure that women are represented at all levels of our organization, and in all positions of authority and influence.
interview with The Daily. “I can only imagine that that level of harassment amplifies as you progress up the career ladder and are more and more isolated,” Menon said. “Statistically speaking, there are women, and in particular women of color, really underrepresented in higher levels of the academic ladder, especially in tenured professorships.” Menon said many medical students have taken it upon themselves to catalyze change in the culture of sexual harassment at Michigan Medicine. “My real interest has always been to try to educate medical students on the prevalance of sexual harassment and its impacts on medical students — in
particular, again, women of color, queer women, trans folks — because I feel like medical students are not — we don’t really recieve that kind of education, and we’re definitely not taught skills of how to intervene in sexual harassment,” Menon said. Similarly, Brown is involved with addressing sexual harassment in Michigan Medicine through a student organization created by her and her classmates, SafeMD. Originally focused on medical students, the organization has expanded to also teach medical students how to help patients that have experienced sexual harassment or abuse. Brown said she believes Michigan Medicine is taking a step in the right direction through conducting this study. But she also believes the toxic environment of sexual harassment needs to be addressed by both students and administrators. “I think reducing sexual harassment has to come both from the bottom up, where there’s grassroots efforts for people on the ground — whether that’s students or faculty — to demand change and also to step up as bystanders, but I also think it needs to come from the top down,” Brown said. “Institutional leadership needs to say, ‘Harassment is not okay,’ and then needs to take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen, and then make sure that if it does happen, that situation is not tolerated,” Brown said. Menon said when she spoke with University administrators, they were open to student feedback on how to combat the current environment. “They want student involvement and student ideas on how to address sexual harassment,” Menon said. “When I presented this to some of the folks who are involved with the curriculum, they were really interested in potentially, potentially, incorporating it into the curriculum.”
“Historically, that has been based on the notion that you can sell enough books to make back costs. That is not true now and has not been true for the majority of presses for quite some time.” Hilton explained because of this challenge of meeting costs, the University must find other sources of revenue, whether from donations or receiving a larger portion of the University’s endowment. “(The fact) that there are 100 presses out there is really important for the humanities and social sciences,” Hilton said. “So our proposal is basically over time, we have to find a way to fund the press commission. What do I mean by that? I mean we need to figure out what it costs to publish 90 or so manuscripts a year, books a year. And what would you need in base funding to support that?” Watkinson also provided input on the challenges facing the University Press, arguing that depending on the discipline, the University faces competition from several other presses. “African Studies, for example, it would be the Ohio University Press, which
is not a very well-known press elsewhere,” Watkinson said. “Political science is interesting because it’s a lot of commercial publishers now — Routledge, Palgrave. Classics, I think we often lose books to Cambridge University Press. So it does depend on the discipline, who the competing press would be.” Following the committee’s conversation with Hilton and Watkinson, the session concluded with a unanimous vote to approve e-voting for faculty senate, which would expedite the decision making process of Senate Assembly. SACUA member Neil Marsh explained how this policy would make it easier for members to vote on important proposals, especially if they could not be present at votes themselves. “Basically this in a way of asking the Senate just to green light a move into the 21st century which had become hamstrung by the quorum rule, (which is that) you can’t change the rules because you never get enough people,” Marsh said. “So this is a way to eventually be able to give more of the faculty more saying opinion.”
declined to comment on the report on behalf of SAPAC. The report on faculty and staff sexual misconduct also revealed a decrease in the number of reports from the year before. In the fiscal year 2019, 178 reports of misconduct by faculty and staff were submitted to OIE, while 235 reports were made last year. In the report, Frumkin said as the University works to create an umbrella policy for students, faculty and staff, they will most likely begin publishing only one report discussing all claims in the future. In October, the
University officially released its draft umbrella policy. In an email to The Daily, University spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen said these reports are released each year to make issues of sexual misconduct, and the University’s response to these claims, more widely known across the University. “We share this information in order to be transparent, to acknowledge that these behaviors occur within our community, and to show how the university responds to sexual misconduct,” Broekhuizen wrote.
Opinion
4 — Tuesday, November 12, 2019
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FROM THE DAILY
Katie Hill and scandal in the social media age
I
n the last week of October, Democratic Rep. Katie Hill of California’s 25th District gave a farewell speech as she resigned following allegations that she had a sexual relationship with a member of her congressional staff. Hill was elected nearly a year ago and was seen as a rising star in the Democratic party. Though Hill resigned after the House Ethics Committee announced an inquiry into the allegations, she maintains her innocence while acknowledging a relationship with a member of her campaign team. Relations between candidates and campaign team members are not covered by House rules. Despite her denial of sexual relations with a congressional staff member, Hill chose to resign because of the inappropriate nature of her relationship with her campaign staffer. However, her private life was sensationalized by right-wing media stemming from her estranged husband’s release of her nude photos with a campaign staffer. Hill and her husband, Kenny Heslep, are currently in divorce proceedings. This use of revenge porn, or the public release of private sexual media without the consent of those they depict, is a shameful tactic of abuse. It is this abuse – not the affair alone – that led to the outpouring of misog ynistic rhetoric against Hill and her female staffer. The double standard that Hill was subjected to throughout the ordeal is a demonstration of the hardships that women have to endure when they obtain positions of power. Hill’s resignation is a resulted from her acknowledgment of what she views as an inappropriate relationship with a campaign staffer. While her decision to engage in such a relationship may have been misguided, the actions of her estranged husband deserve more scrutiny. Not only is revenge porn illegal in many states, including California, it is also a clear violation of Hill’s privacy and dignity. Heslep’s actions are far more shameful than Hill’s and are far more deserving of criticism and legal reprimand. Yet, when the photographs were first released, right-wing websites such as RedState spread the images in an attempt to smear Hill’s reputation. The abusive nature of these actions cannot be overstated. Hill’s estranged husband violated her as an
individual in an attempt to blackmail her. Far-right media outlets then pounced upon this violation, publicizing her intimate moments as a means of invalidating her and her position of power. Hill’s circumstances bring to light the significant media presence of new generations of politicians that will be elected. Because these new politicians are growing up with modern technolog y, social media begs the question if we will become desensitized to intimate content being released. Given that the internet personalizes politicians, and
The internet has a strong influence on politicians’ images how social media platforms such as Twitter are one way for people to connect with and understand leaders, our puritanical standards for politicians may need to change. We must also question our cultural standards, and possibly lower our high social standards of politicians, as more and more elected officials will most likely have promiscuous content somewhere online. It also needs to be further discussed how we hold officials accountable. Where do we draw the line between being silly and innapropriate on the internet? There needs to be recognition that the internet has a strong inf luence on politicians’ images, and could easily cause trouble for them in the future.
It is also integral to note that women, people of color and LGBTQ+ people will face the brunt of this transition. Minority groups are often smeared when it comes politics and face significantly more criticism online. We have seen instances of past videos and photos reemerge with elected officials, such as the leaked video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., dancing in college while wearing conservative clothing, for which her clothing was criticized for being “too nice for a girl who struggles.” Former president Barack Obama was criticized for a tan suit he wore, due to claims of the “lack of seriousness” and that it was an inappropriate and disrespectful appearance. Many media platforms have noted that Hill identifies as bisexual, and how that specific part of her identity contributes to the controversy. There were several ethical issues with regards to Hill’s intimate relationships during her time as a representative, as power dynamics of intra-office relations should be carefully monitored. It should be known that regardless of technology or social media, there is a degree of professionalism that needs to be endorsed. However, the manner in which her mentallyabusive husband and rightwing media worked in concert to ruin her reputation is clearly an act of premeditated abuse. These actions mimic what has been seen before with current and former politicians, which reminds the public to be aware of young people entering office and the lasting digital footprints they leave. With this in mind, it demands us to think about what our internet history says about our elected officials and in forming our digital standards.
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.
SUBMIT TO SURVIVORS SPEAK The Opinion section has created a space in The Michigan Daily for first-person accounts of sexual assault and its corresponding personal, academic and legal implications. Submission information can be found at https://tinyurl.com/survivespeak.
I
Less suppression, more representation
n North Carolina, a state court ruled a previously drawn district map unconstitutional on the basis that the constructed lines were blatantly partisan. This is just one example of the ongoing gerrymandering problem that has invaded our electoral system and unfairly displaced voter choices for the sake of party power. Gerrymandering entails redrawing congressional district lines to sway elections in favor of certain parties, which suppresses voters’ voices. Voters of one party become a majority in some districts, ultimately handing that party a guaranteed vote. The outcome of more and more districts engaged in gerrymandering becomes all but predetermined, undermining the democratic process. The North Carolina court’s latest ruling is not only a win for voters, but also can set a precedent for strictly regulating the future of gerrymandering to ensure a fairer democratic process. Our electoral system does not need any further interference. With Russian meddling in our 2016 presidential election still fresh in our minds, we should strive to preserve the integrity of our democracy and work harder to value the voices of the people. When the U.S. Supreme Court stated it would not take action on state gerrymandering cases this summer, it felt like a win for Republicans. With a conservative judicial majority sitting on the Court and gerrymandering historically giving Republicans an advantage, it seemed like Republicans would get away with rigging election outcomes. This meant several of the heavily manipulated states would stay weighted unfairly to Republicans and would be subject to extreme gerrymandering prior to key elections. At this point, it feels like politicians will do anything to hold on to their seats of power, going so far as to disregard the purpose of the government we have
established. America prides itself so much on being a democracy, yet we seem to be falling far from it as the next election looms. If a certain outcome is already secured, the votes of some become meaningless, so why bother holding elections? Manipulating which districts votes are counted for is undemocratic and clearly violates “one person, one vote” — if you can’t win fairly, then you clearly don’t deserve the seat. However, there may still be some hope for our broken system, as Democrats have found a way to challenge gerrymandering: appealing to state courts. North Carolina ordered the district map to be redrawn for the 2020 election after the state court’s judgment, which is a win for Democrats and voters alike. Since the Supreme Court delegated states the authority to decide on their own gerrymandering cases, approaching it at the state level
If you can’t win fairly, then you clearly don’t deserve the seat. could potentially benefit those who live in states subject to extreme gerrymandering. Districts with absurdly-drawn maps could be reversed if state courts rule them invalid. Voters would then have their votes counted meaningfully and their interests fairly represented. If anything, it loosens the Republican grip on election outcomes and restores some honor to our democracy. At the same time, it is also important to remember Republicans are not the only ones guilty of gerrymandering.
Maryland is an example of Democrats’ own attempts at gerrymandering, where they tried to take back a seat that had turned Republican by redrawing the district to include more Democratic voters in the district. Even in the North Carolina case, is hard to completely believe Democrats had no partisan motivations. It happens that voters’ rights and interests are also upheld when challenging Republican-drawn district maps. With the upcoming 2020 elections, there is a lot riding on which party will control the House of Representatives, given that the presidential election is occurring at the same time. On one hand, if other district maps are challenged in state courts, questioning their legitimacy could give candidates running a fair chance at previously uncontestable seats. Furthermore, voters would have a chance to have their voices accounted for properly. While the Supreme Court is reluctant to set standards for gerrymandering because the question of what a “fair” district looks like is a subjective one, there still needs to be a way to fairly determine congressional districts. District lines should be separated from party lines; some states employ nonpartisan commissions to help draw their districts. Since there is no way to ensure anyone who is politically affiliated will produce a fair map, these committees employ a mix of partisan commissioners to keep each other in check. While there is a National Democratic Redistricting Committee, there should be an independent version to help states draw and maintain fair district lines. To keep our electoral process from corruption and preserve its integrity, we need to work harder to make sure that our elections can uphold the values of our democracy. Alice Lin can be reached at alicelin@umich.edu.
MAX STEINBAUM | COLUMN
A
Jefferson, Hamilton and Hong Kong
revolutionary tide began idealism, believed America had to wash over France in an existential duty to promote the 1789. Across the Atlantic, spread of democracy around the world. the American public — Policymakers fresh off its own war and the public of independence that have grappled over had ended only six whether idealism or years prior — watched pragmatic realpolitik the early stages of the ought to inform revolution unfold with American foreign a sense of republican policy since our solidarity. In 1793, the nation’s founding. revolutionary French 226 years later, the government executed MAX debate has witnessed King Louis XVI and prepared for war STEINBAUM a flare-up over the with Great Britain. The nascent United States’ posture towards American republic faced its most the ongoing Hong Kong protests. pressing foreign policy question As the streets of Hong Kong flood yet: Should the United States, with pro-democracy protesters ideologically sympathetic to the angered by Beijing’s crackdown revolutionaries, champion the on the city’s autonomy, the French war effort? Or, should the question of to what degree the U.S. U.S. pursue the more strategic should support Hongkongers pits idealism against pragmatism. policy of military neutrality? As believers in democracy and The conflict pitted two of the era’s political giants, Secretary free speech — and viewing the of State Thomas Jefferson United States as a defender of and Secretary of the Treasury these rights — some Hong Kong Alexander Hamilton, in a bid protesters have publicly waved for the support of President the Stars and Stripes and sung George Washington. Jefferson, the Star Spangled Banner. Others a Democratic-Republican have even “chanted pleas for the and staunch supporter of the U.S. to ‘liberate’ Hong Kong” from revolutionaries, argued the Chinese oppression, according to United States’ republican ideals a BBC report. It’s clear that these necessitated support of France. Hongkongers look in part to the Hamilton, a Federalist, promoted United States as a champion of their non-intervention, casting the aims and want to inspire feelings revolution as anarchic chaos of camaraderie in American and emphasizing the value of audiences over our shared ideals. The Hongkongers’ pleas have America’s commercial ties to Britain. Washington eventually not fallen on deaf ears. American sided with his fellow Federalist, lawmakers of all stripes have and in April 1793 issued a voiced their support for Hong Proclamation of Neutrality. Even Kong’s autonomy, viewing the if most Americans supported protection of its democratic society France’s efforts against a responsibility of the free West. In monarchical Britain, the United September, Sen. Mitch McConnell, States would not commit troops to R-Ky., warned Beijing that violent suppression of Hong Kong’s rights its cause. The struggle between Jefferson would be unacceptable, stating that and Hamilton was as philosophical it would require “America, which is as it was political. Hamilton, a known internationally for standing supreme pragmatist, felt that up for human rights … to take 1793 America was too susceptible more forceful action.” Former Vice to mob rule to participate in a President Joe Biden also defined European war. More importantly, America’s responsibilities to Hong he recognized that a policy Kong in idealistic terms, saying last of intervention on behalf of June that “all of us must stand in democratic movements, even support of democratic principles if noble, could force the United and freedom.” The White House, however, States into perpetual war around the globe. Jefferson, informed has taken a contradictory by a sense of Enlightenment stance towards the democratic
movement. While President Donald Trump expressed goodwill towards the Hong Kong protesters and condemned China’s crackdown in an address to the U.N. in September, he also “promised Chinese president Xi Jinping that the U.S. would remain quiet” on the Hong Kong turmoil during summer trade talks. Clearly, Trump’s rhetorical support of the protests has been tempered by practical considerations of how his words will impact trade with Beijing. Even if America’s sympathies lie with the Hong Kong protesters, idealist policy could prove destructive to trade arrangements. Trump’s lukewarm approach, rooted in realpolitik, has evidently not been championed by Congress. On Oct. 15, the House of Representatives unanimously passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, a measure reaffirming American commitment to the region’s integrity. A similar version of the bill exists in the Senate, and is sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans. That the bill has enjoyed such an outpouring of bipartisan support in our hopelessly polarized times speaks volumes as to its significance: It represents a situation in which America will either rise to its democratic ideals, or will shy away from them out of political expediency. It boils down to a simple question: Is America to stand up to China and make good on its dedication to freedom? As Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fl., echoed in August, “We have to decide: Do we want to be a defender of democracy?” Jefferson — and really anyone who values America’s role as a moral lighthouse — would respond to Rubio with a resounding yes. There are few situations in our world today that so obviously present the chance to stand for democracy against authoritarian encroachment. Come what may of our challenge to Beijing. Across the Pacific, American flags are waving. If we ignore them, what do we stand for? Max Steinbaum can be reached at maxst@umich.edu.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 12, 2019 — 5
BOOK REVIEW
MUSIC REVIEW
Smith’s story debut glows
This little quip is never explained, but it’s clear what it means. Many of the narrators in Smith’s stories Daily Arts Writer work like apparitions of the third-person omniscient voice, and it helps that many of them live lives similar In a 2017 essay about Zadie Smith’s recent work, to Smith’s. Many of the narrators of the Manhattan the critic Mara Smith posits that the common thread stories are middle-aged creative professionals, often running through her first five novels is her use of “an biracial, entertaining variously conflicted feelings omniscient narrator able to hold multiple voices in about personal identity. Another story that resembles suspension.” For Mara Smith, these novels are mostly a personal essay, “Downtown,” documents a visit concerned with balancing disparate voices, cultures from two Jamaican aunts during the Kavanaugh and sensibilities — a thematic concern that works hearings, which are only one element of the narrator’s well with the lengthy, digressive form Zadie Smith’s elusive “funk.” She goes to a Black church and prays for a long list of Black people killed by police in novels tend to take. Anyone familiar with her wonderful and recent years. The narrator feels weird about this — often more tightly constructed essays (collected “You don’t say to a witch: The reason they’re dunking in “Changing My Mind” and “Feel Free”) knows you is because you’re a witch. You say: The reason that Smith is capable of another style, which is less they’re dunking you is these motherfuckers believe omniscient and more everywhere-at-once. Her in witchcraft!” This tiny semantic point is not taken reviews and criticism have a playful, airy exuberance well by the other churchgoers. Elsewhere in the story, the narrator meets a that feels like the counterpart taciturn Austrian painter to the narrative drive of her who lives in a Hungarian novels, while retaining her forest and represents a kind of characteristic stylishness. absurd pole of purity that she Every name-drop lands simultaneously desires and exactly in the right place, feels guilty for desiring. The every turn of phrase is both story doesn’t try to connect utterly correct and wryly these disparate incidents. In illuminating. She has a way many cases their meaning is of gradually sketching out self-evident, it’s more that their the field, detail by detail, and juxtaposition creates elusive then effecting a resolution or flashes of meaning. This is a a twist at the exact point when kind of fiction that is less about it is needed. Other times, one situations as it is about affects reaches the end of an essay — the lack of plot development frictionlessly only to realize hardly makes the stories less that they’ve ended up in a rich, in the same way that deep completely different place than water is never still no matter they started. what the wind is doing. I mention her essays because The more characterit’s worth keeping them in mind HAMISH HAMILTON driven stories tend toward when reading Smith’s first collection of short stories, “Grand Union.” The stories portraiture, which is sometimes wonderful, as in the sometime seem like they’re outgrowths of the more first section of “Words And Music,” and sometimes experimental essays in “Feel Free” — they are airy, tiresome, as in the maudlin “Big Week,” a portrait of exuberant constructions unmoored from the essay’s a Boston ex-cop, a fount of guilt and wishful thinking, fidelity to literal reality. Absent the usual structures who is trying to reconnect with this family after she works with, Smith is free to try new approaches, recovering from a problem with opiates. Other stories to experiment with pastiche, to sketch with a soft, in the collection show Smith engaging, with mixed loose pencil. The result is as uneven as it is thrilling success, with science fiction, parable, folk tale, — it feels like documentation of experimentation metafiction. Most of these stories experiment with rather than a polished, tightly-woven collection of fragmentation or disjunction to varying degrees. the kind that writers like Jhumpa Lahiri or Deborah Smith’s style has gotten more terse with each book Eisenberg create. In other words, this book has she has written, and in “Grand Union” her prose is much the same roundabout, baggy energy of her honed down to a fine edge. Even the few stories that confer more traditional novels. The essay form narrative pleasures, like also seems like something “Sentimental Education,” of a touchpoint for some often open with bursts of of the stories here, in that disjunct energy: Smith frequently eschews Zadie Smith “Back then, she conflict, plot and even unnerved men. But character development Penguin Press couldn’t understand in favor of scene, texture Oct. 8, 2019 why, and sought answers and voice. Her game is from unreliable sources. not to tell a story but to Women’s magazines — describe a situation via the accumulation of details, and, in the process, to tease women themselves. Later, in midlife, she came to other conclusions. Lay on the grassy pavilion above out tensions and contradictions. One story that works like this is the fourth in the the Serpentine café, admiring a toddler, her own son, collection, “Words And Music.” The story begins as he waded in and out of the wading pool. Suddenly with a moving portrait of two sisters separated by her daughter appeared at her shoulder: ‘You look at the circumstances of their lives, as one returns to him like you’re in love with him. Like you want to paint other’s Manhattan townhouse after she has died, him.’” In a paragraph like this, the length of the having inherited it from her. “She sits in Candice’s accidental gold mine and rips up the little postcards sentences is almost as important as what is being as they arrive, a few each week, the ones that explain conveyed. The prose has a blocky, forceful character how much the house is worth and how easy it would that undercuts the literal things that happen within be to sell. She doesn’t doubt it.” This thread only lasts it. Smith’s prose is like a flashlight that shines on a couple pages, though — the second half of the story her subject — revealing only what is immediately pivots to an unnamed first-person narrator who goes relevant or salient in what feels like a much deeper on to describe a disabled man who has become “a structure. It’s this — Smith’s consistent, masterly piece of city choreography,” a man who walks around wryness, her control over every detail — that dressed as Abraham Lincoln, a “cipher” under makes this story collection such a joy to read. Even the Washington Square arch that she describes as though there are occasional misfires in the book, it’s wonderful to follow her wherever she might go. “inauthentic, like me.” EMILY YANG
YOUTUBE
There’s room for more than one Luke in country like the harbinger for the next wave of neotraditionalism in the genre. Daily Arts Writer In “New Every Day,” “Reasons” and “Every Little Bit Helps” Combs keeps finding new ways In a world of hip-thrusting Luke Bryans and to rationalize a break-up. However, on a 17-track muscular Tim McGraws, Luke Combs stands album, a listener doesn’t have time for a threeout. Baby-faced and beer-bellied, he looks song lull stuck in the same thematic problem. All like someone you’d expect to see in the crowd lyrically clever and instrumentally sound, they of a country music concert, not on the stage. make sense on their own, but grouped together But in a genre that claims to represent “real they can’t help but bleed into one another. On the title track, “What You See Is What You people,” that image is a good thing. Following a massively successful first album This One’s Get,” Combs finally hits his stride. “With me ain’t For You, Combs continues to deliver catchy, no tricks up these sleeves / An acquired taste ’90s-country-sounding tunes on his sophomore / a constant work in progress” Combs admits. effort, What You See Is What You Get. He proves At this point in the album, it’s easy to get what himself to be just what today’s Nashville needs he means. Consistently backed by an electric guitar and steady drums, Combs doesn’t make — a reality check. A stomping anthemic love letter to “long room for any surprises. All of his songs exist neck ice-cold beer,” the album opener might in the same sonic landscape — a modern take give listeners the wrong first impression. But on ’90s country. But if appreciating that takes an “acquired even “Beer taste,” it’s Never Broke safe to say My Heart” contemporary breaks the country fans “bro-country” are hungry for mold for its lack it. of scantily-clad “All Over women and use Again” is the of real drums as only track that opposed to snap Luke Combs veers into the tracks. Further Columbia Nashville snap-track trap dodging the of his country frat-party radio peers. subgenre of Still, the chorus country, Combs can’t help but quickly pivots explode into to chronicling real drums as Combs laments “falling over life’s smaller, sweeter moments. “Refrigerator Door” is an ode to the again” for the relationship to be “all over kitchen appliance as a kind of time capsule. again” just as quickly as it started. Ultimately Combs lovingly details the “Couple magnets, Combs can’t give in to pop-country, even when recipes and Polaroids” against a simple chord he tries. What You See Is What You Get confirms progression. In “Even Though I’m Leavin’,” Combs follows a father and son from monster- that Combs knows his lane in country music in-my-closet worries to the father’s deathbed. and plans on sticking to it. By not taking any “Even though I’m leavin’ / I ain’t goin’ genre-bending risks, he takes the greatest risk nowhere,” the pair consistently reassure one of all — trusting country music to stand on its own. And it works. “So say I’m a middle of the another. A Brooks & Dunn assist on “1, 2 Many” starts road / not much to show / underachieving, the party up again. An uptempo song about average Joe,” Combs shrugs in “Does to Me.” drinking “5-4-3-2-1, too many” in the style He recognizes the value in being an everyman. they perfected in the ’90s, Combs sounds like That’s why listeners are lucky to be getting the perfect addition to make the legendary what they see when it comes to Luke Combs. duo a trio. “C’mon that’s a country song right A real person.what they see when it comes to there,” Combs concludes in the outro, sounding Luke Combs. A real person. KATIE BEEKMAN
What You See Is What You Get
Grand Union
POLICY TALKS @ THE FORD SCHOOL
MICHAEL BREEN President and CEO Human Rights First
J O S H R O S E N T H A L E D U C AT I O N F U N D L E C T U R E
Human rights on the brink Thursday, November 14, 2019 4:00 - 5:20 pm Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Annenberg Auditorium, 1120 Weill Hall 735 S. State Street
COURTESY OF EMMA CHANG
Free and open to the public. Reception to follow. Information: 734-615-7545 or fspp-events@umich.edu
@fordschool #policytalks
Arts
6 — Tuesday, November 12, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
TV REVIEW
FILM REVIEW
Three titles, one dream: The new, meta HSM show
real kids are putting on a stage production of those real movies. Comically, these fictional students Daily Arts Writer happen to fictionally go to the real school used as the set, which has everyone talking about “High Without a single member of the original “High School Musical” on the set of “High School School Musical” trilogy, Disney waved its magic Musical.” When I put it like that, it sounds like wand once again to give us a program we never a recipe for another disastrously-made program knew we wanted. If you get past the layered in an age in which good television is increasingly and convoluted title as well as the promotional hard to find, despite more television than ever hashtag; #HSMTMTS, you will most certainly before being produced. This is far from the case. enjoy the program that was absolutely made to The pilot extremely self-aware and comic. The lure my generation to Disney’s new streaming tone, which is established by the ridiculousness platform, Disney+. Let me lay this out for you, of the title, drives home the point of the series because the concept is really not that confusing and why it works — moments range from silly, once it is explained, but you may need to re-read sarcastic and serious in the same way when you the sentence a few times before it clicks. “High are a teenager that everything feels like life or School Musical: The Musical: The Series” is death. The show stars a group of exceptionally about what would happen to the lives of teens currently attending the real East High, where talented teenagers, most of whom I have Disney Channel’s “High School Musical” movies never heard of, and might be more talented were filmed, if they were to put on a production than the original cast. Nini (Olivia Rodrigo, of the movie “High School Musical” as a musical. “Bizaardvark”) and Gina (Sofia Wylie, “Andi Mack”) are just two of the standout performances Got it? I am reluctant to judge programs by their pilot from Disney alums. Could this be their breakout role, episode because introducing what happens them to an in that first older television episode is so audience? different than Also, Seb (Joe what a show Serafini) is a may actually University of be about — Michigan alum. pilots primarily So, go blue. function as an The show establishing simultaneously episode, where Streaming Now pokes fun at you get a taste the absurdity of each of the Disney+ of high school, characters. theater people, The plot of this Disney and episode creates show business. the storylines You name it, the that will drive the rest of the season. It is not until the audience show has it. The parallels to the original plot of sees how the plots established in this episode are “High School Musical” are prevalent, which carried out over the remaining episodes of the kind of makes this “High School Musical,” but season that they can reach a verdict on whether reimagined through the lens of “The Office.” or not “High School Musical: The Musical: The And as crazy as it sounds, somehow … it works. There is no other program with multiple colons Series” is worth trying to understand. This show is set in the real world in which in its title that I would recommend watching. “High School Musical” remains a cultural But it was impossible to ignore what was right phenomenon of successful television movies in front of me: The charm of “High School starring Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, where Musical: The Musical: The Series.” JUSTIN POLLACK
NETFLIX
‘Snow’ is a wonderfully timely guilty pleasure Joan Cusack (“Toy Story 4”) as an unnamed, tin-foil-donning snow plower. Daily Arts Writer Once these pieces of the story are set, it’s hard not to enjoy the way they unfold, cross “Let It Snow,” the latest John Green novel- paths and explode against each other. In that to-film adaptation (originally a collaboration way, “Snow” is like a rollercoaster whose entire with authors Lauren Myracle and Maureen trajectory is visible, but that doesn’t mute its Johnson), is great in the way that cold pizza angsty and harmless thrills. Conversations is great. It may not look good, taste good or go are stilted emotional g ushes, often ending in down very well, but the idea of it is casually sweeping declarations or stinging rebukes. As spectacular. “Snow” leans so clumsily into the blizzard picks up, emotions only run hotter. its own clichés that the result is a charming Friendships fracture and plans collapse. But holiday romance-fest that hides nothing about the piercing, irresistible power of “Snow” is a its eventual destination, but still manages to viewer’s knowledge that everything will work itself out in the end. savor the journey along the beaten path. “Snow” is the kind of movie that elicits Like the original source material, “Snow” is a euphoric display of adolescent hormones, laughter more frequently at its schlock than at an emulation and a caricature of teen years the jokes in its dialog ue. But laughter is laughter, and intentions that resonates aside, the film not despite its was substantially exaggeration, humorous. but because Needless to of it. When a say, “Snow” will particularly not change the robust snowstorm course of modern hits a small, cinema. But then unnamed again, who cares? suburban town, Netflix What the film the lives of achieves is pure several high and concentrated schoolers become joy, a lazy removal entangled with from life’s awkward sexual problems. The tension. characters deal The writers with issues that hold nothing back, offering characters that fit precisely into every are, for the vast majority, miniscule versions trope a viewer can imagine. Among a tapestry of actual obstacles, and to see them persevere of main players, there’s Tobin (Mitchell Hope, is a simple and careless kind of pleasure. It is “Descendants”), a shy dork who has been on an experience that calls for some hot cocoa, the verge of admitting his love for his best a snowf lake-patterned blanket, a couch that friend for his entire life; Addie, (Odeya Rush, sinks down further than it should and curtains “Lady Bird”), a committed friend paranoid that block all afternoon sunlight from the her boyfriend is cheating on her; Keon, (Jacob windows. Above all, “Snow” is a warm welcome to the Batalon, “Spider-Man: Far From Home”), an aspiring DJ who will do anything to throw one holiday season. With a recent blanket of snow great party for his friends; Stuart, (Shameik spread upon Ann Arbor’s streets and noseMoore, “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse”), a diving temperatures that won’t recover until popstar on tour who might just be ready to find late spring, it might be exactly what you need love; and (most quizzically) Oscar-nominated now. ANISH TAMHANEY
Snow
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis DOWN 1 School day interlude 2 Maroon, at sea 3 “The Merchant of Venice” heiress 4 Winter bug 5 Down __: Maine nickname 6 Room at the top? 7 Pilfer 8 Olympic diver’s goal 9 Aromatic compound 10 Personal magnetism 11 PreRevolutionary furniture style 12 French summer 15 Secret supply 18 Scam 23 “Dropped” ’60s drug 25 Battering wind 27 Cathedral areas 28 Nutritional supplements co. 30 Pot top 34 Pop singer Lauper 35 Novelist Umberto 36 Blackboard chore
37 Legendary lover 38 With 32-Across, Adam and Eve’s transgression 39 To the __ degree 40 Gillette’s __ II razor 41 Turntable speed, for short 44 Longtime Tom Petty label 45 Defensive retort 47 The “T” in NATO
48 Toyota Prius, e.g. 49 Loire Valley city 51 Bucky Beaver’s toothpaste 52 Wails with grief 53 Shore birds 57 Apple Watch assistant 59 Family reunion attendees 61 Ace 62 “Science Guy” Bill
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
By Kurt Krauss ©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
DISNEY+
COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW
Release Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2019
ACROSS 1 Sports agent, briefly 4 Lavish meal 9 Behold, to Brutus 13 “Another Green World” musician Brian 14 Foamy coffee drinks 16 Bar measure 17 *Big top 19 “The Handmaid’s __”: Atwood novel 20 This, in Spain 21 Acapulco aunt 22 Final Olds produced 24 Injured-arm support 26 *School keepsake 29 “Under Siege” star Steven 31 Prof.’s degree 32 See 38-Down 33 Restaurant Arlo Guthrie sang about 36 Early 2000s Apple product 37 *“The Daily Show” network 41 Hard to find 42 Cosa __ 43 Trident-shaped Greek letter 44 Angry 46 Pick up the pace 50 *2012 Channing Tatum film 54 Around, in dates 55 Try to bite, puppy-style 56 Triage ctrs. 58 Broadway brightener 59 Hawaiian coffee region 60 Show starter ... and a hint to the answers to starred clues 63 Nobelist Pavlov 64 Cantankerous 65 __ Bo: fitness system 66 “The Lion King” lioness 67 Davis of “Do the Right Thing” 68 Cal. spans
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
11/12/19
11/12/19
Literati presents André Aciman ELI RALLO
Daily Arts Writer
André Aciman’s book tour for “Find Me” was hosted by Literati bookstore in Rackham Auditorium this past Saturday and featured a conversation with Zahir Janmohamed, M.F.A. creative writer in the Helen Zell program. I approached the event with great admiration for Aciman, being that I am particularly fond of “Call Me By Your Name,” his 2007 novel which was made into a film with Timothée Chalamet in 2017. The novel follows 17-year old American Italian-Jewish boy named Elio who falls in love with a visiting scholar, a 24-year old American Jewish man named Oliver, in 1980s Italy. The piece showcases a thoughtful commitment to relationships under the circumstances of Elio and Oliver, while bridging love and naiveté through their coquettish desires for each other and eventually wonders about loss and connection. But the sequel surprises us. We’d assume it would center on the immediate aftermath of the fiery passion between Elio and Oliver, but instead Aciman takes a more unique route. “At first I was writing about Elio,” Aciman said when asked about the new book. “I was writing an Elio that was 18, 19, 20 but then I thought, ‘Okay Elio misses Oliver … Oliver misses Elio, that’s all. It ends there.’ I knew that I had to go somewhere else. I needed a conf lict.” Some time later, Aciman was writing a story about a man on a train going to Rome. At first he wasn’t sure what he was writing about, but then he realized he was writing about a father going to visit his son — his son being a now older Elio. Janmohamed steered the conversation well, shedding light onto not just “Call Me by Your Name,” but some of Aciman’s other major works as well. Despite the author’s blunt yet romantic caveats and tangents, Janmohamed asked poignant, astute questions that led to some really interesting takeaways. When asked about his many essay collections and nonfiction pieces, which center around his family being exiled from Egypt in the ’60s, Aciman said, “You write about a thing to understand it. We work around painful moments and look for the undisclosed humor to survive. That’s the gift of writing, it’s like going into an old attic to find things there that you haven’t
paid much attention to.” Aciman takes a mature, seasoned approach to his writing. Throughout the talk, it became clear that he follows his own impulse over commonly recited wisdom about writing. “I don’t use the word ‘love’ at all in my writing. It does not appear once in ‘Call Me by Your Name,’” he said, when asked about the role romance plays in his work. “I don’t write ‘I love you’ because if you use that word ‘love’ in writing, you close the door to everything else. You want to express the inf lections of desire and wanting. If you mention the word ‘love,’ you don’t have the courage to examine all the tension that comes with it.” In “Call Me by Your Name,” homoerotic love and the fumbles of falling for someone are explored, and Jewish identity plays a subtle role, bridging an initial connection between the two men. “It’s the first thing they have in common. Being Jewish. Even if nothing were to happen, they have something binding them. They cannot undo it, they can only build upon it.” Despite not being extremely religious himself, Aciman writes about his Jewish identity often in his writing. In “Call Me by Your Name,” he specifically states he uses Judaism as a metaphor for Elio and Oliver’s larger feelings toward one another. Other than that integral part of their identity, both men are not overtly described in the novel. “I give you three sensations in the book. The smell of rosemary, the sound of the knives being sharpened on Wednesdays, and when everyone naps, the coffee being made. I do not care for physical description in my writing because it does not interest me. I don’t want to know what the people or places look like, I want to know what goes on in the heads of two human beings who are sitting, drinking coffee, trying to find out if there’s anything between them,” His new book is no exception. Its commitment to the internal emotions which drive the characters’s impulses and actions is f lowery and articulate. “Writing is about doing better than what real life has given you. What writers do, is that we put our work between us and life. And reality. It’s a filter, and that filter is how some of us survive,” Aciman said before reading some passages from his new novel.
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 12, 2019 — 7
‘It’s gonna start coming’: How Michigan is addressing power play woes After 0-for-9 power play mark in weekend disappointment against Minnesota, Wolverines look for more puck movement TIEN LE
Daily Sports Editor
Sitting in a waiting area outside of his office, Mel Pearson’s mind wandered to Mo Farah. Farah is a distance runner who represented Great Britain in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, running the 10,000 meters. He came in the favorite and came out winning gold — his fourth. The track event, the distance runner and his accolades have little to do with the Michigan hockey team, yet when Pearson brought up the athlete while discussing the team’s offensive struggles, there was no confusion on why. The Wolverines are no favorites, nor has this group of players won it all even once — let alone multiple times. But it was the events within the race that drew the comparison from Pearson. Farah had fallen midway through the run after getting clipped on the back of his heel by another runner during the 10th lap. It wasn’t intentional, nor was it Farah’s fault. But as a result, the British runner fell, costing him his pace and place. “He could have just laid there,” Pearson said. “Already had his gold, was knocked down, but he got up and ended up winning. “Once you get knocked down and sometimes it seems like it’s hard to get back up, but that’s all we have to do.” It was the type of tenacity Pearson has seen in the Michigan players during their current power-play slump. Against Minnesota, the Wolverines went 0-for-9 on power plays, reflecting the pains of their overall lack of offensive production for the weekend. Four of the man-advantages went without a single shot on goal for Michigan. The team just couldn’t find a breakthrough on offensive special teams. And it derives from a multitude
of reasons. There was no single answer, as Pearson liked to put it, or else he would have it fixed. But something that stuck out to him was the unnatural way the puck moved — “choreographed,” in his words. Having things forced goes handin-hand with the mentality of players as the goals refuse to drop. There’s a hill to climb for players, forwards in particular, when their role is to score goals, and they can’t. So, to combat the mental stain the scoring drought has, the team practices with more figurative weight on their sticks so that when gametime
comes, those weights are removed, and feel a little more natural. “I just say a little bit more of a sense of urgency to do the little things right in practice,” said sophomore defenseman Nick Blankenburg. “So when it comes to the game, we’re not gripping our sticks too tight or then we can just go out there and have the confidence to make the right place and not be nervous or anything. “I think we’ve just been preaching, ‘Yeah, you know, to talk going our way can’t feel bad for
A little bit more of a sense of urgency to do the right things.
ourselves.’ ” It’s easy to get crestfallen when the losses start piling up, and the goals don’t. But the team mentality on the crux of the struggle is the same. Play through it, because the process is exactly what it’s supposed to be. “But I think soon it’s gonna start coming,” Blankenburg said. “The offense and we just gotta stick to good team defense and the rest will come.” Pearson had seen it before, even in his most successful year as Michigan’s coach. Coming in with seniors Cooper Marody and Tony
Calderone on the power play, it wasn’t hard to see why that unit brought so much success. But even that dominant line had its times of trouble, as Pearson likes to remind the team. No matter how good you are, adversity is going to hit even the best of players. “And even at times when you’re rolling and know you have a good power play it struggles at times,” Pearson said. “I think my first year, Cooper and Tony and those guys are really good. But we went through, you know, moments where we weren’t very good, and we just couldn’t get anything
If you call this real adversity by not scoring? ... We’ll be fine.
going.” Added Blankenburg: “Sometimes the pucks just aren’t going in and that’s on the power play, even strength. I think it just happens. And that’s part of the adversity that we’re going to face (as) the year goes on.” And it’s more than just not scoring goals. Part of adversity is the doubt — the fear that the gameplans, the strategies, the systems just aren’t working. But as Michigan falls deeper in the hole, it’s the belief in the process that keeps them running on through. “There’s a ton of example, you know, adversity,” Pearson said. “I mean, if you call this real adversity by not scoring any goals? We’ll be fine.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan’s power play
14%
conversion rate on the season, ranking 39th out of 60 in the nation.
6
power play goals, the last one coming on Nov. 1 in Columbus.
3 power play goals for Nick Pastujov, to lead the team. No other player has more than one.
15.6%
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Sophomore defenseman Nick Blankenburg said that Michigan’s struggles on the power play are just part of the adversity the team will face throughout the season.
Michigan’s conversion rate in 2018-19, which ranked 44th in the country.
Quick turnaround helps shake dust Michigan tops Michigan State, 2-1 in Big Ten Tournament first round JARED GREENSPAN Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico stressed staying out of foul trouble ahead of Sunday’s win over Bradley.
KENT SCHWARTZ Daily Sports Writer
Both of the Michigan women’s basketball team’s matchups this past weekend felt closer than its 20-point margins of victory would suggest. On Friday, the Wolverines demonstrated an inability to hold onto the ball, tallying 19 turnovers and 22 fouls. “Hailey Brown got in foul trouble early, (Akienreh Johnson) got in foul trouble early, (Naz Hillmon) got in foul trouble,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “We’ve got to work on staying out of foul trouble, and we’ve got to work on being able to adjust to the officiating.” It was an ugly game defined by mistakes, but after a day’s worth of rest and the experience of 40 minutes of basketball, Michigan managed to gain a grip on its mistakes. Against Bradley, it was cleaner — despite still committing 12 turnovers, it limited itself to 13 fouls. Unlike Friday, there wasn’t a series of five plays in which four ended with turnovers, and
a player fouling out on Sunday. There wasn’t five straight possessions that ended in turnovers either. Instead, there was precise ball movement. At one moment, Hillmon was able to gather a rifled pass from Brown, before quickly recognizing a triple team and, in the blink of an eye, finding a wide open senior guard Kayla Robbins for a layup. The precision picked up in the second half Sunday with only four turnovers against nine assists as the stakes grew higher and the Wolverines faced adversity from a comeback push by Bradley. “The third quarter, they were able to knock down some threes, but I thought the start of the fourth quarter we regrouped and finished the game strong,” Barnes Arico said. “(We) did a better job of taking care of the basketball in the second half, which was great to see.” Another big part of
Michigan’s growth from Friday to Sunday was Hillmon — its star player — making herself a force. She was stifled Friday, fighting against double teams and trying to come into her new role as the focal point of the offense. None of those troubles presented themselves Sunday on her way to a double-double as she racked up 12 rebounds with 10 secondchance points. “Last game I was really lacking in that category,” Hillmon said. “I just really wanted to go out and just say that every rebound was mine, and really just try to hustle and get to the boards, like offensively and defensively, but really just trying to work in and hustle every play.” Perhaps it was simply first game jitters, or an adjustment back into the harshness of college basketball, but Michigan’s growth in just one day showed what it was capable of.
I thought the start of the fourth quarter, we regrouped.
With the game tied up and 20 minutes remaining in regulation, senior forward Jack Hallahan took a free kick from the right-side that sailed through the box untouched. The Michigan faithful released an anguished sigh of frustration. Missed scoring opportunities were mounting, and it appeared this was another miss for the Wolverines. Just a split second later, though, vexation transformed into euphoria. Hallahan’s curling ball took a fortuitous bounce high off the turf, flying into the top left corner of the goal and giving the Michigan men’s soccer team the lead. Hallahan lept emphatically into the air and pumped his fist, the stadium buzzing at the sight of his heroics. His goal proved to be the difference, as the Wolverines (10-4-4 overall, 4-1-3 Big Ten) held on to defeat rival Michigan State (3-12-3, 3-3-1) 2-1 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday. “When we got the draw, we knew it was going to be difficult,” said Michigan coach Chaka Daley. “In a game like this, with the rivalry, records are thrown out the window. From that standpoint, to get over the hump and find a way to win the game in come-frombehind fashion is really good.” First half struggles painted an all-too familiar picture for the Wolverines. Despite holding an advantage in shots and time of possession, Michigan entered the locker room trailing at the half, 1-0, thanks to a goal by Spartan forward Gianni Ferri. “The mentality, at that point, is to still keep playing,” Daley said. “We want to be positive as a group. When we came here, you had to score to win the game in the end. So, if you’re down one goal, that doesn’t change the mentality.” Sophomore forward Derick Broche sparked the Wolverines
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
The Michigan men’s soccer team beat Michigan State, 2-1, on Sunday.
in the second half. Coming off the bench, Broche consistently pushed up the left flank, setting a more aggressive tone. In the 60th minute, Broche broke the scoring spell — a shot by junior forward Umar Farouk Osman brushed off junior defenseman Jackson Ragen in the center of the box, trickling past the last line of Spartan defense. All alone, Broche buried the ball into the bottom left corner, energizing the team and tying the game. “When it came to me, I was like ‘just shoot it,’ ” Broche said. “It was on my strong foot, and luckily I was able to put it in. I had one five minutes earlier that I didn’t, and I was like, ‘can’t miss this one.’ ” Throughout the second half, Michigan proved more relentless on attack, challenging the Michigan State defense with fastbreaks and strong crosses, which resulted in an increase in shots. The team grew to embrace the match’s physicality — each team committed doubledigit foul totals — showcasing a tangible sense of hunger and aggression. On the other end, after allowing the early goal, the Wolverine defense shaped into form as a wall between the
ball and freshman goalkeeper Owen Finnerty. The Spartans were kept in check offensively, mustering only one shot on goal in the second half. Even when junior defenseman Austin Swiech left the match due to injury, the defense persisted, as junior forward Mohammed Zakyi filled in seamlessly at left back until Swiech could return. “The guys tightened it up after the goal, making sure they fought,” Daley said. “And these guys have been doing it all year, fighting like crazy all along and you really can’t say enough about them. They’ve grinded for us.” With the win, Michigan extended its season, advancing to play Penn State in the tournament semifinals on Friday. The victory was also paramount for the team’s hopes of earning a bid in the upcoming NCAA tournament. “We can use our whole season, especially this game, as a springboard,” Hallahan said. “We’ve been doing well, beat our rivals again — twice in a row — and came from behind. We know that we can grit it out if we’re ever down in a game and come back and win the game. It’s a huge step for the team.”
If you’re down one goal, that doesn’t change the mentality.
Sports
8 — Tuesday, November 12, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
State of animosity
Michigan readies for Michigan State with programs facing opposite directions as program outlooks hang in rivalry balance
“
Throw out the records,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh early Monday afternoon, a wry smile subtly forming on his face. “There’s a cliché you can use when you play this type of game.” Whether he believes that or not — his team staring down the barrel of a bout against MAX 4-5 Michigan State on MARCOVITCH Saturday — matters little. This is a week that annually breeds the kind of teeth-gritting clichés of coachspeak, muttered monotonously and meaninglessly. Respect for the opponent. The importance of rivalry games. All business. Those clichés will evaporate the moment the ball is snapped and will be ripped to shreds after a victor is crowned mid-afternoon Saturday. Then everyone will gather again one year from now to rehearse this charade once more. The reality is you can’t throw out the records. You can’t ignore the nosedive the Spartans have taken, nor the ramifications of what a beatdown on Saturday might mean. This is not 2015, two ranked opponents duking it out in Harbaugh’s first year, surely an even-handed promise of things to come. It’s not 2016, one side rampaging toward real postseason hopes, the other just praying to play spoiler. It’s not 2017, two hapless sides assigning meaning to a game that otherwise would have none. And it’s not 2018, two ranked opponents playing an ostensible elimination game. You can’t throw out the records here because the records tell all. This is one side trying to cling to a fading sense of who it once was, the other looking
to send that crisis into turbo. This is Jim Harbaugh trying to deliver a knockout punch to his most formidable foe. This is Michigan trying to bludgeon a Michigan State program slowly sinking in quicksand. The onus is on the Wolverines to grab hold of the reins. Underneath those annual platitudes Monday, the hints of that mentality were readily apparent. “You can’t let them get their heads up,” said junior cornerback Ambry Thomas. “Try to step on their throat and stay there all game. You know that they’re going to treat this game like their Super Bowl.” Then asked what he sees of the Spartans’ offense, a group that ranks 96th of 130 teams in total offense, Thomas said: “I see a team with a lot of talent, honestly. They just haven’t figured it out yet.” Harbaugh’s hesitancy this week is understandable, though. His counterpart, Mark Dantonio, has beaten Michigan eight of his 12 years at Michigan State, including two wins in four tries against Harbaugh. Even with a talent gap, the Spartans have found ways to muck these games up, slow them down and even win them. In 2017, Dantonio’s crew ran the ball 40 times, picked off Michigan quarterback John O’Korn three times and held on for a 14-10 win in the pouring rain. It was a master class in coaching, beginning to end. That’s what guides Harbaugh’s trepidation heading into a game in which all signs point toward a blowout. “On high alert for everything,” Harbaugh said. “Specifically, we understand that Coach Dantonio is a master motivator. There could be trick plays on special teams. Punt fakes, field goal fakes. Everything needs to be alerted and prepared and ready for.”
Try to step on their throat and stay there all game.
AN EVENING WITH SAFA AL AHMAD NOVEMBER 19, 2019 | 7:30 P.M. | RACKHAM AUDITORIUM
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MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has a chance to beat Michigan State and Mark Dantonio at home for the first time.
Still, what exists amidst Harbaugh’s suppressed fears cannot simply eliminate what’s right there in plain sight. Dantonio and Michigan State are 15-18 in Big Ten play over the past threeplus years. They are fresh off blowing a 28-3 lead at home to a mediocre Illinois team. There are questions swirling about the future of the greatest coach in that program’s modern history. Those questions are real, and perhaps lasting. “Whatever’s happened to them, has happened,” said sophomore defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. “Regardless of what happened to them, we’re going to go out there and play our game.” Play our game. Throw out the records. High alert. This week, the typical clichés are out there to grab onto if you so choose. But they do a disservice to the abnormal stakes at play this weekend. How about instead of throwing out the records, we throw out the pretense: If Michigan does what it should do on Saturday, it will shatter the balance of power in this rivalry for the foreseeable future. Marcovitch can be reached at maxmarco@umich.edu or on Twitter @Max_Marcovitch.
THEO MACKIE Daily Sports Editor
Aidan Hutchinson knows what this rivalry is all about. He grew up in Dearborn, less than 100 miles from both schools. He heard stories about it from his dad, a standout linebacker at Michigan in the early 1990s. In high school, he was recruited by both sides. Monday afternoon, standing in front of a rivalry-sized swarm of cameras inside Schembechler Hall, that experience is what led him to declare Michigan State “our biggest rival,” before realizing what he said and pausing. “Or, maybe our biggest rival.” It’s a declaration that would seem ridiculous in 49 states, with Ohio State looming in two weeks. But not here, where this rivalry — and your side of it — defines friendships and shapes childhoods. That’s the reality that’s encompassed Hutchinson’s life for the past 19 years. And now, four days from the Spartans’ biannual trip to Michigan Stadium, it’s the
reality that stares him in the face. Because for all his experience on periphery of this rivalry, Saturday is Hutchinson’s first time truly on the inside, as a key cog in the Wolverines’ defense. “It’s completely different (to play in it),” Hutchinson said. “I think it intensifies the rivalry even more. You watch it, you kind of get the feel of the rivalry. But when you’re actually in it — you’re hitting them, you’re talking a little bit — that’s when things kind of intensify.” The preparation, in a football sense, isn’t any different. Film study started the day after Michigan’s last game, much like it will for Indiana next week. More experienced players haven’t been inundating underclassmen with words of advice. When the Wolverines take the field, there won’t be any special ceremonies or alterations to the routine. But the difference is tangible. “It’s about who’s the big brother and who’s the little sister in this state,” said junior cornerback Ambry Thomas, providing the
day’s requisite viral rivalry quote. “That’s what it’s really about.” For Hutchinson, the difference is more understated, coming from his ingrained knowledge of what this game means. It’s also more personal, coming from his friendship with Theo Day, a reserve quarterback for the Spartans. “The talking has definitely started between me and him,” Hutchinson said. “… I don’t know if I can tell you what he said, but some words were said between us. He was talking a little bit about the game. I’m just pumped to play him.” It’s a familiar refrain for anyone who listens to these rivalry week pump-up speeches masquerading as press conferences. Every year, in-state players position themselves in front of cameras and talk about their relationships on the other side, often with brash declarations included. And then, every year, the in-game jawing follows suit, crescendoing in the most physical, personal game of the Wolverines’ season. “Obviously there’s going to be a little bit more stuff after the whistle,” Hutchinson said. “I’m expecting that because of how this rivalry has been in the past.” For players like Ben Bredeson or Carlo Kemp, that part is normal by now. They’re the ones who know better than to provide any bulletinboard material, instead emitting a respect for the opponent that won’t land them any cheap shots Saturday afternoon. Hutchinson might be expecting it, having gotten a few snaps last year. But for now, all he can do is wait. That, and get ready for the selfdescribed most important game he’s ever started. “Last year, I came in as a backup, only got a couple plays,” Hutchinson said. “But I’m expecting to do some big things in the game.”
‘M’ tries to weaponize two-big looks DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
If you can’t think of a time when Jon Teske played alongside another big man last season, it’s for good reason. For the Michigan basketball team, those instances were few and far between. Nowdeparted forwards Ignas Brazdeikis and Charles Matthews played significant minutes on last year’s team, and then-sophomore wing ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily Isaiah Livers also saw time off Sophomore forward Colin Castleton will have an increased role off the bench. the bench. That, coupled with the fact that the Wolverines’ don’t think it’s like (what) any Kelvin Jones, who is now on didn’t have a true backup ‘5,’ other coach can do because his fourth college after stints at UTEP, Odessa College and prevented then-freshmen he’s that position player.” With no shortage of Idaho State. Brandon Johns Jr. and Colin From Howard’s perspective, Castleton from making a major frontcourt talent in the Big Ten this season, Howard used though, his team’s interior impact. last Tuesday’s season-opener success boils down to more That’s no longer the case. After Brazdeikis and to f lex his own team’s muscle. than just size. “It’s been effective for Matthews left for the NBA After Teske scored 11 points Draft, Livers assumed a role in just over four minutes, us,” Howard said. “Jon is an as a starter. Now sophomores, the Wolverines showcased excellent passer, a high-IQ Johns and Castleton spent variations of his lineup that player, (he’s) always going to make the right play, never the summer in Ann Arbor, featured multiple big men. While Teske may be the going to try to do anything he where they gained muchneeded muscle ahead of their lone center in the starting cannot do. … Brandon, with his anticipated spikes in playing lineup, two of Michigan’s three activity and energy, he’s been time. Howard envisions both rotational big men were on the ready every time his name has players as pieces capable of f loor together for 14 minutes of been called on. He’s been able scoring at all three levels, the first half. The Wolverines to produce, and so has Colin.” Added Castleton: “(Passing) holding their own on the reaped the benefits, outscoring glass and guarding multiple the Mountaineers by 10 points is one of the things in (Teske’s) game that people don’t really in that timespan. positions. “As far as defense-wise, talk about. He has so many Against Appalachian State last Tuesday, Johns and we can show the other team other tools he can show and Castleton all looked much- multiple lineups,” Castleton different things on offense improved. The duo accounted said. “I think it’s great as far as and defense he does so well for 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting versatility and on the offensive that overpower the passing and grabbed five rebounds. end it’s good too because we ability he shows, but passing Perhaps it was the undersized have a great high-low game, is probably one of his best opponent or natural maturity and me and (Teske) can both attributes.” Teske’s passing could of being a year older, but it shoot the ball. … We can spread shouldn’t come as a surprise to the f loor out and we’re both become the key to sustaining see the immediate returns of two really big bodies on the success with multiple big men on the f loor against formidable hiring first-year coach Juwan glass as well.” There weren’t many Big Ten defenses. When Howard, who developed young big men like Hassan Whiteside interior challenges against an Michigan can’t overwhelm and Bam Adebayo as an Appalachian State team that teams with size alone, highassistant with the Miami Heat. doesn’t have a player taller low ball movement between big “Everyday, (Howard) is than 6-foot-9 on its roster, men can open opportunities otherwise wouldn’t working us out one-on-one, while the Wolverines’ three that all the big guys, and he’s the rotational big men are at least present themselves. But to Johns, the appeal is coach that’s getting down and that tall. Tuesday night, a Creighton simpler. dirty with us,” Castleton said “It’s like huge towers out at Michigan’s media day in team with only one healthy October. “He’ll push us, bump player taller than 6-foot-8 there,” Johns said. “We’re so us and stuff like that, and he’ll visits Crisler Center. That big, our size disrupts a lot of teach us while we do it. … I player is 6-foot-11 center defenses.”