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Thursday, January 23, 2020
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As provost, Philbert oversaw OIE cases
Second- highest ranking administrator supported mandatory faculty training CLAIRE HAO
Daily News Editor FILE PHOTO/Daily
‘U’ official placed on leave after allegations of sexual misconduct University Provost Martin Philbert was placed on administrative leave for allegations of sexual misconduct.
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Martin A. Philbert sidelined effective Jan. 21 pending review of multiple accusations BARBARA COLLINS Daily News Editor
Martin A. Philbert, University of Michigan provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, has been placed on leave effective Jan. 21 due to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, according to an email from President Mark Schlissel sent to
students Wednesday afternoon. According to the email, the University received the allegations last Thursday and Friday and began an internal investigation Friday. After a threeday investigation involving an outside law firm and the Division of Public Safety and Security, Schlissel wrote he placed Philbert on administrative leave Tuesday.
“We take allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously, and our policy is clear: Sexual misconduct will not be tolerated in the University of Michigan community,” Schlissel wrote. As provost, Philbert serves as the chief academic officer and budgetary officer for the University’s Ann Arbor campus. His purview includes promoting
the University’s academic, teaching and research endeavors. Because the Office for Institutional Equity reports to the provost, Schlissel wrote OIE’s reporting line for matters regarding Philbert’s investigation will be handled by Richard S. Holcomb, associate vice president for human resources. See LEAVE, Page 3
University of Michigan Provost Martin A. Philbert, executive vice president of academic affairs, was placed on administrative leave on Jan. 21 following several allegations of sexual misconduct. According to an email sent to the campus community by University President Mark Schlissel, these allegations were first reported to University administration on Jan. 16, prompting a three-day investigation by an outside law firm and the Division of Public Safety and Security before Philbert was placed on leave on Jan. 20. In a message to The Daily, University spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen confirmed Philbert will continue to be paid while on leave “following our normal process that is afforded all employees.”
BUSINESS
Panelists Harvard professor discusses racial talk green criminalization of Black Americans business, Khalil Muhammad spoke as part of the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. symposium investing SOFIA URBAN
Experts encourage corporations to begin incorporating more sustainable practices EMMA RUBERG Daily Staff Reporter
The Erb Institute, a collaboration between the Ross School of Business and the School for Environment and Sustainability, hosted an event on Wednesday night to discuss how businesses can promote sustainability in their work. The event featured David Blood, co-founder and senior partner of Generation Investment Management, and a panel of four other speakers. They spoke to a crowd of about 500 students, faculty and community members in the Robertson Auditorium in the Ross School of Business. Blood described his previous experience in the industry and how he became involved in sustainability. “I spent 18 years at Goldman Sachs and made the decision to retire in 2003,” Blood said. “I told my partners that I was going to set up a sustainable investment firm and they basically laughed and said, ‘This confirms what we knew about you all along: you’re crazy.’” See ROSS PAGE 3
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Khalil Gibran Muhammad, professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, gave a lecture on race and crime on Wednesday afternoon to about 150 attendees in Weiser Hall. Muhammad, who is the author of “The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime and Making of Modern Urban America,” spoke as a part of the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. symposium.
Muhammad contextualized the marginalization of Black identity by opening with an MLK Jr. quote about the disproportionate persecution of Black people by the police. Muhammad noted while the term “mass incarceration” has become more popular, the phrase “racial criminalization” tends to be excluded from the narrative of criminal reform. “Racial criminalization is defined as stigmatizing a racial group of people as a criminal regardless of guilt or innocence,” Muhammad said.
“That is the idea of a criminal class without using the law or public policy to arrest or use the agencies of criminal justice to control those people.” Muhammad said the institutionalized prejudice in the criminal justice system has its roots in the careful wording of the 13th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. “The 13th amendment has a slavery loophole,” Muhammad said. “And that is that it abolished slavery except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”
Muhammad said the criminal justice system turned a blind eye toward violent crimes, such as lynching Black people in the late 19th century. He explained this violence is increasingly seen as state-sanctioned domestic terrorism. “The state was complicit in the abridgment of these individual due process laws,” Muhammad said. “Under no circumstances are citizens granted the right to execute other citizens.” See HARVARD, Page 3
He is one of several University officials in the last few years to face scrutiny for sexual misconduct, following allegations against School of Music, Theatre & Dance professors Samuel Shipps and David Daniels last school year. As provost, Philbert is the second-highest ranking University administrator and earns about $570,000 a year. In this position, he serves as both the chief academic officer and the chief budgetary officer. Philbert primarily works with Schlissel to set academic goals for the University and allocate funds towards them. All school deans report to Philbert, as he oversees the University’s 19 schools and colleges as well as several interdisciplinary centers across the University. Prior to his appointment as provost in 2017, Philbert served as dean for the School of Public Health. See PHILBERT, Page 3
GOVERNMENT
Dingell in support of new PFAS litigation Attorney general says companies knowingly allowed chemicals in drinking water supply JULIA FANZERES Daily Staff Reporter
Almost six years after a switch in water supply by city officials led to the Flint Water Crisis, Michigan has been facing another man-made water crisis affecting approximately 1.9 million Michiganders. On Jan. 14, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a lawsuit against 17 water companies for damages to the state of Michigan, alleging these companies knowingly allowed PFAS into drinking water. Similar to the lead that fueled the Flint Water Crisis, the toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — collectively known as PFAS — have lasting health consequences and are linked to numerous health diseases, including cancer. PFAS chemicals are humanmade chemicals that are resistant to grease, oil, water and heat and have therefore been used in a wide range of consumer products. PFAS have also been dubbed “forever chemicals” as they do not break down or biodegrade over time but instead accumulate in the environment.
JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily Khalil Gibran Muhammad delivers the Donia Human Rights Center Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Weiser Hall Wednesday afternoon.
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Vol. CXXIX, No. 55 ©2019 The Michigan Daily
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 CLASSIFIEDS................6
See PFAS PAGE 3
SUDOKU.....................6 SPORTS...................7 ARTS...............5
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annika @nnikawang will never forget how freshman year at umich uhs i was told i had allergies and when i went to my home to my primary care he said “you have bronchitis and a sinus infection as well as a minor case of tonsillitis�
why is umich so obsessed with forcing everyone to have 2 factor authentication? like what, am i supposed to be afraid of all of the people trying to log into my canvas account to read class syllabi??
Brian @brianthatoneguy umich on the weekends be like “oh you like eating lunch? name every dining hall that serves lunch. trick question. they’re all closed. Starve.�
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:-) @kaixxxisa Ann Arbor hipsters are worse than New York hipsters because Ann Arbor hipsters think they’re an oppressed minority for wearing a Fjallraven backpack and thrifted clothes
em @emilylevy1414 just had to explain to my bf, who has attended UMich for 3 years, what the Hill Auditorium wasđ&#x;Ľ°
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DANYEL THARAKAN/Daily At the Preoccupations: Palestinian Landscapes exhibition at the Holding House Gallery in Detroit Thursday evening.
‘U’ researchers produce effects of exercise using protein Sestrin
In the future, physiology lab hopes research discoveries can be used to combat muscle decline in the elderly, people who are immobile HANNAH MACKAY Daily Staff Reporter
Exciting news for exercise enthusiasts and casual gymgoers: researchers at the University of Michigan have found a protein called Sestrin that has the potential to induce some of the most positive effects of exercise without any training or conditioning. The laboratory of Jun Hee Lee, an associate professor of molecular and integrative physiology, is conducting the research. His work focuses on Sestrin, which is produced naturally by cells in response to various environmental stresses, including exercise. In the future, researchers hope the protein can be used to combat muscle decline in the elderly or people who are immobile. According to Lee, previous research has shown that Sestrin is linked to metabolism and his lab has been investigating its role in different stress responses for more than 10 years. Recently, research into the protein has linked it to the benefits of exercise-induced stress. “It has been known that this protein has various metabolic functions, so our idea was that this protein somehow can connect how cells respond to different stresses, so we have been studying this molecule in various stress contexts,� Lee said. “It is known that exercise induces physical and oxidative stress inside muscles, so we thought that maybe Sestrin, as a stress response molecule, can be beneficial for organisms.�
Lee said previous research demonstrated exercise training increases synthesis of Sestrin. His team tested this idea in fruit flies as well. “We saw more Sestrin after exercise,â€? Lee said. “Our research showed that more physical activity increases the Sestrin and no physical activity decreases the Sestrin.â€? Lee’s lab also collaborated with researchers in Spain to investigate the potential role of Sestrin in muscle atrophy as people age. “When we performed those studies in flies and mice we also had a chance to collaborate with a Spanish school who actually focused on the muscle-wasting condition, so their focus is muscle atrophy,â€? Lee said. “What they found is whenever they immobilize the muscle ‌ they see this Sestrin protein expression is diminished.â€? Lee said the collaborators found a correlation between induced Sestrin expression and preventing muscle loss in aging populations. “(Sestrin) very dramatically attenuated muscle loss during disuse and even after aging,â€? Lee said. “So combined with these two stories we think that Sestrin plays a very important role in muscle biology, especially in the focus of physical movement.â€? LSA senior Eric Mettetal worked in Lee’s lab for two years and contributed to this project. Mettetal said it is important to understand the mechanisms behind Sestrin expression now that its potential benefits are known. “Understanding the mechanisms will help us learn ways of potential therapeutic
approaches in the future,â€? Mettetal said. “If Sestrin has been shown to be this important component of how our body responds positively with regards to exercise and if Sestrin has all these beneficial effects regarding metabolism, if we can find a way to harness the power of Sestrin in a sense and its therapeutic potential, this could have really great implications for potential therapies in the future.â€? Lee said he planned to uncover these mechanisms of Sestrin expression now that their benefits are so clear. “It is very exciting because just by altering this singular gene and protein we were able to recapitulate many of the benefits of exercise,â€? Lee said. “Our goal is to understand how this protein synthesis is regulated and how this protein activity is regulated ‌ by exercise or maybe in the future pharmacologically.â€? Lee and his team investigated the specific effects Sestrin has on exercise ability by creating two types of flies: a Sestrin knockout that produced no protein and another which upregulated Sestrin production automatically without exercise. These flies were then exercised the same way as the normal wild-type group, the phenotype of the fly’s natural form. The Sestrin knockouts demonstrated no improved endurance over time compared to normal flies. “We put them on the same exercise scheme,â€? Lee said, “but exercise didn’t have benefits for these knockout flies ‌ they don’t improve endurance after
training.â€? Lee said flies that were engineered to overproduce Sestrin out-performed wellconditioned normal flies, even before they underwent specific exercise training. “When we expressed this protein inside flies, first we had full body expression, and then we found that even without exercise they were performing much better,â€? Lee said. “When it is overexpressed in muscles specifically it was producing exercise, like extension of endurance.â€? Lee said his team then studied Sestrin in mice, using wild-type mice and mice that did not have Sestrin. Lee elaborated on the metabolic effects exercise has on normal mice and how a lack of Sestrin severely diminishes these effects. “After endurance exercise training the (normal mice) are consuming oxygen in a more efficient way,â€? Lee said. “They are burning fat ‌ only after vigorous exercise do they burn glucose, but these Sestrin-deficient mice actually have problems in that kind of switching, so even when they are walking they cannot burn the fat, they use glucose.â€? Myungjin Kim, a research assistant professor in the department of molecular and integrative physiology, contributed to this project. Kim said the researchers had to incentivize exercise as part of the regiment with mice and found a lack of Sestrin hinders exercise ability.
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LEAVE From Page 1 “The U-M Board of Regents and I are committed to a full and thorough investigation, and we will continue to work to ensure the integrity of the process, following the same policy and practices that apply to all employees at U-M,” Schlissel wrote. “It remains early in the investigation, and no findings or conclusions have been reached.” Following the email, Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., wrote in a tweet that the University is quickly stepping up to investigate allegations against Philbert. “Everyone deserves due process and a thorough investigation,” Dingell wrote. “It is still difficult for survivors to come forward in situations like these, and we need recognize their bravery and courage.” University Regent Jordan Acker (D) also wrote in a tweet that he
HARVARD From Page 1 Muhammad explained how health statistics in the Jim Crow era contributed to the discrimination of Black people. “A number of social scientists suggested that by looking at demographic data, particularly the census report on health statistics, one could make general claims on the fitness of certain racial groups,” Muhammad said. “The late 19th century was steeped in various forms of scientific racism that we cannot dismiss today.” Muhammad said census data was manipulated by the government in order to undermine the educational opportunities of Blacks individuals. The incarceration of Black people, especially men, became both a symptom and a justification for the further suppression of freedom, contributing to a cycle of discrimination. “Evidence of Black criminality became an excuse for Black terror,” Muhammad said. Muhammad also described how other marginalized groups, such as Italian and Irish immigrants, were
believes the investigation into the allegations must be transparent. “Today is a sad day for the University,” Acker wrote. “I am angry and deeply empathetic to the survivors, and am committed to ensure that it never occurs on our campus again.” Philbert was approved as provost in June 2017 and assumed the position in September 2017. Previously, he served as dean of the School of Public Health. In October 2019, Philbert met with the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs to recommend amendments to policies on the dismissal of tenured faculty following the firing of Music, Theater & Dance professor David Daniels for allegations of sexual misconduct. “We have to be very careful and thoughtful, and quickly amend the bylaws to protect tenure and to protect our faculty and to protect society from the bad behavior that is frequently in the headlines,” Philbert said at the meeting.
subjected to some statistical scrutiny but much less persecution. He said AngloSaxon immigrant communities were given social support in order to combat poverty and enjoyed lower crime rates. On the other hand, Muhammad said Black communities were met with increased policing. “There was an economic argument for prioritizing social resources for European immigrants and crime control resources for people of African descent,” Muhammad said. LSA freshman Chloe Darancou told The Daily her overarching takeaway from the lecture was about the need for change. “Although there has been progress in recent years, we still have a long way to go with police brutality being a common phenomenon in our society,” Darancou said. LSA sophomore Maddie Herman said the lecture made her think more deeply about common perceptions of justice. “We are ignoring the trends that are clearly right in front of us due to ignorance and a lack of information,” Herman said. “We need to become more aware in order to change the mantras that we are telling ourselves.”
PHILBERT From Page 1 Typically, the Office of Institutional Equity handles cases of sexual misconduct, but this office reports to Philbert and the Office of the Provost. In the email sent Wednesday afternoon, Schlissel said the reporting line for all matters related to investigations surrounding Philbert will be directed to Richard S. Holcomb, associate vice president for human resources. It is unclear what will happen to pending OIE investigations. “The U-M Board of Regents and I are committed to a full and thorough investigation, and we will continue to work to ensure the integrity of the process, following the same policy and practices that apply to all employees at U-M. It remains early in the investigation, and no findings or conclusions have
PFAS From Page 1 The impact of their continued use since the 1940s means that over time, PFAS levels from past and current uses can result in increasing levels of environmental contamination. The lawsuit filed by the attorney general argues the defendants knew or should have known that PFAS persists in the environment and would build up in animals and humans exposed to the chemical. Additionally, the lawsuit also notes that the Environmental Protection Agency concluded there is an association between exposure to PFAS and a variety of health complications including thyroid disorders, pregnancyinduced hypertension and preeclampsia, as well as testicular and kidney cancer. The state names 17 defendants in the lawsuit and alleges they deliberately concealed the dangers of PFAS, withheld scientific evidence and “intentionally” sold, distributed, released, transported, supplied and arranged for disposal or treatment into areas affecting Michigan’s natural resources and property. Additionally,
been reached,” Schlissel wrote. OIE began directly reporting to Philbert instead of the University Human Resources and the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in September 2019 to streamline OIE processes. Since then, he has faced questions about the length and effectiveness of the investigative process. At a November 2018 meeting of Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, Philbert responded to criticism of OIE investigations, defending the process by which the office handled misconduct cases. “I’ve heard concerns about the length of time it takes to complete some OIE investigations,” Philbert said. “We’re always working to ensure that those investigations are fair, thorough and timely.” During Philbert’s time as provost, the University Board of Regents approved mandatory sexual misconduct training for all faculty and staff. At
the September 2018 meeting, Philbert applauded these initiatives and encouraged education as the best means to prevent future misconduct. “The University’s mission of education, research and service requires that every member of our community feels welcomed, valued and able to work free from the threat of sexual misconduct,” Philbert said. “Sexual misconduct is a very serious matter, something that we seek to prevent and that we are committed to addressing immediately and effectively should it occur. Our work to prevent and address such misconduct begins with education.” In the fall semester, Philbert was also involved in organizing a faculty group to look into amending the bylaws on dismissal and severance pay of tenured faculty. These groups were formed following controversy around the ongoing process of firing Daniels. Since
being placed on paid leave in August 2018, Daniels has made over $100,000 in salary from the University. At an October 2019 SACUA meeting, Philbert said amending the bylaws was necessary to react more promptly to faculty wrongdoing. “We have to be very careful and thoughtful, and quickly amend the bylaws to protect tenure and to protect our faculty and to protect society from the bad behavior that is frequently in the headlines,” Philbert said. At a 2017 reception held in honor of his provost appointment, Philbert said his goal in the position was to encourage national investment in academia. He was also a supporter of the campaign to add a Middle Eastern/North African ethnicity designation to University documents.
it asserts the companies handled and used PFAS and PFAS-containing materials in Michigan in a way they knew would contaminate natural resources and expose Michigan residents to harm. Three of these companies named in the lawsuit — 3M, DuPont and Chemours — have been involved in several other lawsuits since 2016. In February 2017, DuPont and its spin-off, Chemours, settled a lawsuit with more than 3,500 residents in Ohio and West Virginia. While denying any wrongdoing, they agreed to pay $671 million for polluting an area around a manufacturing plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Ann Arbor is now one of the 11,000 sites in Michigan where the drinking water has been contaminated with PFAS chemicals. The city of Ann Arbor began tracking the PFAS content in the city’s drinking water in March 2018 and found five types of PFAS in Ann Arbor’s treated drinking water and two other types in the river water. Following new carbon filters at the water treatment plant, PFAS levels lowered to single-digits in the spring of 2019. However, in October of 2019, PFAS levels increased by more than tenfold, jumping to
25-29 ppt. The city stated that causes for this increase are still unknown. A statement released by U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich. applauds Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Nessel for holding polluters accountable, as Dingell claims Michigan was ground zero for PFAS contamination. “The most troubling thing I have learned through all of this is that the manufacturing companies knew about the harms of PFAS — and even tracked it in the blood of employees — while the EPA has completely abandoned its responsibility to act swiftly and comprehensively to respond,” Dingell said. “This is wrong and they must be held accountable.” Dingell is also the lead author of the PFAS Action Act, a bipartisan bill cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich. and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich. The bill would provide protections for impacted communities by requiring the EPA to limit human exposure and set a drinking water standard for PFAS that protects public health. The bill was passed in the House of Representatives on Jan. 10 with bipartisan support. In Upton’s district, the city of Parchment was one of the first cities of PFAS
contamination. As one of the original cosponsors, Upton released a statement detailing the importance of protecting Americans from PFAS contamination. “This legislation would designate PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances and allows the EPA to clean up contaminated sites in Michigan and across the country,” Upton said. “Parchment made it perfectly clear that we need an all-hands-on deck to protect our families, drinking water, and environment, and I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address this challenge across the nation.” Public Policy senior Claire Galligan previously worked in Kildee’s office and spoke about her frustration with the continued PFAS contamination. She said she was happy to hear about the bipartisan legislation. “It’s extremely disappointing to hear that water companies have knowingly contaminated Michigan’s water with PFAS,” Galligan said. “I think there’s definitely a strong need for legislation to protect Michigan’s water from contamination, and hopefully it will receive strong bipartisan support considering this impacts so many districts in Michigan.”
ROSS From Page 1
an important role in generating and implementing climate change solutions. “I think there is still an important role for government,” Haverkamp said. “The United States government right now is not at the table, but when you think about how the prices of renewables have gone down a certain amount, China was doing that to help lower the cost of solar panels and things like that.” Blood agreed with Haverkamp, saying he thought the government needed to be involved in the process in addition to other outside organizations. “As much as I’d like to say we can sort this out from capital markets and business, we cannot,” Blood said. “Business will be part of the solution, civil society will need to be part of the solution, and we are now getting to the point where we will need active involvement in government.” At the end of the event, the panelists took audience questions submitted through Twitter. One Twitter user asked how society can transition to a low carbon economy if Business students are not required to learn about the climate in many core classes. Following loud applause, a faculty member in the audience said the Business deans are currently working on implementing a related change. Business sophomore Mia Zapata came to the event because she is taking an organization studies class about business and sustainability. She said she thought Business students should be required to take a class about this topic or attend mandatory events.
Mary Kamidoi reflects on time in WWII internment camp
Lecture touched on wartime experiences of Japanese Americans, importance of preserving Asian/Pacific Islander American history JIALIN ZHANG
Daily Staff Reporter
Mary Kamidoi, former treasurer of the Japanese American Citizens League Detroit chapter, spoke in Haven Hall Wednesday morning in association with American Culture 301: “A/PIA in the Civil Rights Movement.” During the event, Kamidoi recalled her childhood, memories of life in internment camps and the anti-Japanese and anti-Asian discrimination she endured upon her arrival in Michigan. Kamidoi was born in Stockton, California into a family of farmers. She said her memory of her childhood started with the Pearl Harbor bombing and the panic that spread within her community after the event, alongside news about internment camps. “When we got the news that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, my parents had no idea what was going to happen to them,” Kamidoi said. “The first thing they were worried about is, ‘What is going to happen to my children?’ By April we were told we are going to be put in a camp.” Kamidoi and her family were first put in horse stables, where she said the living conditions were unbearable and caused widespread illness. “It is hard to believe the description of the conditions of a horse stable, harder to believe they let people live in it,”
Kamidoi said. “So many people were getting ill, simply because of the smell of the horse stables and the filth we had to live with, that they decided to build permanent camps.” After the U.S. government finished building permanent internment campsites, Kamidoi and her family were relocated to an isolated site in Rowher, Arkansas. “Our camp is just barracks,” Kamidoi said. “And these camps are built in the most desolate places possible, there was no way that we can leave the camp on foot, we couldn’t have gotten anywhere.” Kamidoi said in addition to the poor living conditions, the distrust and dehumanization within the camp made things worse. “You always have a number, not a name, nobody cared about your name,” Kamidoi said. “And the first thing all the parents told the kids is that you don’t know your neighbors, you don’t know who’s living next to you, so don’t go run to them and don’t tell them anything personal.” LSA sophomore Brian Tran, who is currently taking AMCULT 301, found Kamidoi’s description of the living conditions in the internment camp shocking yet familiar. “The housing situation in the horse stables kind of reminded me of more situations that are happening today,” Tran said. “Especially on the southern border with the immigration
crisis.” Despite the hardships, Kamidoi said she still considers herself lucky since anyone who showed disfavor or disapproval of the government would have their entire family sent back to Japan, regardless of their citizenship. “There was a questionnaire we had to fill out,” Kamidoi said. “And there were two questions, 25 and 26, if you didn’t answer those in favor of the government, you are put on a boat and you are sent back to Japan, whether you were born there or not.” Ron Aramaki, adjunct professor of American Culture, told The Daily that internment camps invalidated the identity and national pride of Japanese Americans solely on the basis of their nationality. “We have the assumptions that whoever we are, we are Americans,” Aramaki said. “Regardless of what we look like, skin color, race or religion. But in World War II that didn’t matter at all. In other words, the Supreme Court decided that even though when you are an American, it was your nationality, your race that made the difference, that determined that you will be the enemy.” Roland Hwang, lecturer in the department of American Culture who is currently teaching AMCULT 301, told The Daily he believes this practice of antagonizing and vilifying certain groups has been a long-existing part of
Thursday, January 23, 2020 — 3
American society. He said it has become especially prominent in light of today’s immigration crisis and the growing fear of terrorism, extremism and hate crimes. “We hope from this lecture people can draw some analogies to today about who’s being called the enemy race or religion, to see how people are being mistreated today and put into camps,” Hwang said. Tran said contemporary America seems to be repeating the ugly part of its own history, which is a dangerous trend that needs to be addressed. “History is kind of repeating itself,” Tran said. “And we learned in class that Japanese Americans are the first ones to stand up against that trend because they have already been through that.” After WWII, Kamidoi and her family moved out of the internment camp to a farm on Missouri, where she said she faced discrimination and suspicion. She recalled a time she was on a school bus and was targeted by members of her class about her race. “One day they had white paper planes with red dots drawn on them, and they threw them at us,” Kamidoi said. “I was mad and I was thinking, ‘What are you guys doing?’ And I looked at the bus driver and I thought, ‘Why didn’t you do something?’”
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Blood co-founded GIM with Al Gore, a climate activist and former U.S. Vice President, in 2004. He said his interests in sustainability and development and Gore’s passion for environmental protection resulted in the successful business model they currently use. “My interest is in poverty and social justice and sustainable development,” Blood said. “Al’s is obviously an interest in the environment. And when we were talking that first day, we recognized that they are the same issue. They’re the same coin, they’re just different sides.” Following Blood’s comments, three other panelists joined him on the stage. Chad Spitler, founder and CEO of Third Economy, moderated the panel and posed various questions to each of the speakers. In response to a question about efforts to combat climate change, Michael Dorsey, partner at Ibersun Solar and a member of Club of Rome, said many countries initially promised to provide large amounts of money but have not fulfilled that promise. “So if you had $5,000 of housing damage and I came along and gave you $1, you might want to get in my face,” Dorsey explained. “Essentially, that’s what governments have done, particularly in the case of Africa, so it’s not just that we haven’t assembled enough money. The money that we’ve assembled is actually, I would offer, is generating climate injustice.” Jennifer Haverkamp, director of the University’s Graham Institute and law professor, said she believed the government should still have
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Opinion
4 — Thursday, January 23, 2020
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EMILY ULRICH | COLUMN
How to make exercising as addicting as social media
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ALLISON PUJOL | COLUMN
I
Not your mother’s Banana Republic
t was always a great challenge for my mother to coax my younger self into eating fruits and vegetables. These days, I am not a particularly picky eater. After learning to subtly incorporate fruits into my favorite foods, I now put blueberries in my pancakes and strawberries in my yogurt with glee. But I once had a terrible aversion to fruits and vegetables, save one — the banana. To this day, my love for bananas far surpasses my appreciation for any other fruit. The banana plant grows quickly and cheaply in tropical areas — like those located in South and Central America. Even though my sunny home of South Florida sees the occasional banana plant (which flowers but is not quite a tree), it is difficult to produce bananas in the majority of the United States. By the end of the 19th century, the U.S. economy responded to the domestic demand for bananas by importing the fruit from the countries where it grew naturally. Corporations such as United Fruit Company and Cuyamel Fruit Company — ancestors to the now ubiquitous Chiquita banana — established strong ties with Latin American governments in exchange for hefty loans and expansive land ownership. In Costa Rica alone, thousands of workers died from disease or the effects of a hostile climate during the construction of infrastructure to support the U.S.’s burgeoning banana imports. It was during this time that the term “banana republic” was coined, which refers to a country that has an economy dependent on the export of a single, usually agricultural, good. At Trader Joe’s in the U.S., bananas are priced at 19 cents a
pop. Meanwhile, for many Latin American countries, the export of bananas — and the intensive manual labor that allows it — is economically essential yet deeply exploitative. Banana farm workers earn a meager living and often face hostile environmental and economic conditions where they work. The tropical heat is brutal and the hours are long, and Chiquita’s program for workers includes a stipulation that if they quit or are fired, Chiquita can seize their home. Female laborers often face sexual harassment or threats of rape from their superiors, and the threat of being fired is often sufficient to prevent anyone from speaking out or resisting. For those who work on lower rungs of the banana industry in Latin America today, there is little opportunity for redress. Labor inspections are spotty at best, largely because government officials are overburdened with huge caseloads and few financial resources. Colombia even closed its Labor Ministry from 2002 to 2011. There is little hope that the industry will properly regulate itself and ensure human rights standards for its own workers. In the decades since the inception of corporations like Chiquita, organizations such as Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) have even lept at the opportunity to use widespread worker abuse for profit. In a State Departmentfunded report released during the Obama administration, BSR analysts chirped about the need for “worker empowerment” in Honduran banana farms such as Finca Tropical. “Plantation owners,” the report sagely suggests, are often pressured by international certifications to
facilitate a “one-sided discourse where managers fail to prompt worker participation.” We’re looking at a business that brands itself on sociallyconscious consumerism but refuses to criticize the evident exploitation of its clients’ workers. Perhaps the biggest concern that still remains 10 years after the report’s release: What does a huge corporation like Chiquita really do when workers come to their managers with a request to be paid more than $14 for 12 hours of high-risk intensive labor? So, what should we do as U.S. consumers? Should we stop eating bananas? That’s one potential way to personally protest the injustice that laborers face. Still, the individual choice to avoid bananas won’t break the supply chain or resolve the business model that has perpetuated exploitation in the first place. Maybe I’m biased because I really do love bananas, but to me, the problem lies not with the fruit but the structures that commodify and restrict it. There are plenty of organizations that are passionate about the fight against worker abuse, especially that which occurs in Latin America today. Human rightsfocused legal organizations have engaged in the fight against corruption in corporations like Chiquita, and many agricultural workers do claim membership in unions despite their employers’ best attempts to silence them. Supporting these groups won’t promise immediate and perfect resolution to the dangers that workers face in Latin American banana farms, but it is certainly a start.
KEVIN MOORE JR. | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT KEVJR@UMICH.EDU
Allison Pujol can be reached at ampmich@umich.edu.
L
ast Wednesday I got out of my morning lecture early, and although part of me was inclined to head to the library and study for my organic chemistry exam, another part was begging to enjoy what was left of the day. It was 40 degrees outside and there was not a cloud in the sky. You don’t get many days like that in the middle of January in Michigan. I decided to go on a quick run between classes to enjoy the weather. I took Geddes Avenue into Nichols Arboretum and then ran down to the Huron River. I was definitely on a runner’s high that morning. “Ladders” by Mac Miller was playing in my headphones, and I could feel my pace speeding up. As soon as the bass dropped, I reached an uphill part of my run. It was as if Spotify was synchronizing the music to my route. I ran up the hill at a blazing pace, and I knew this run was going to be a personal record on Strava. Strava is a social network for athletes, and although it’s geared toward running and cycling, the app lets you measure your athletic performance in a variety of activities including rowing, surfing, ice skating, kayaking, rock climbing, skiing and more. Once you choose your type of workout and click the start button, the app will begin tracking stats including distance, time, speed, route, elevation gain and average pace along with many other features. It is a great way for athletes to track their training plans, but also a fun way for those who are new to working out to track their fitness goals.
The platform allows you to record your favorite statistics and post them along with a photo to round out the full fitness experience. Your followers can give your workout a “kudos” which is equivalent to a “like,” as well as comment on your post. Strava, unlike other social media apps, emphasizes personal goal setting and celebrating your own fitness accomplishments. On Strava, you have the opportunity to connect with close friends who are also tracking their workouts and support each other in obtaining fitness goals.
Strava emphasizes personal goal setting and celebrating your own fitness accomplishments. It provides a way to feel the support of your community, even when your workout buddies are not physically there with you. The aspect of community in fitness is important. In a study on medical students, it was found that individuals who work out in a group have a lower stress rate and better quality of life than those who work out alone. Strava could serve as an alternative when you can’t have a group with you, but still desire the encouragement a community provides. It can be difficult to find inspiration to push yourself
when you are working out by yourself. The intersection between social media and fitness is growing in popularity so much that the term “fitspiration” has emerged. However, this type of inspiration is not always beneficial. Many times, it can lead to low self-esteem or body image issues when comparing oneself to fitness trainers, athletes and other health gurus that you most likely will never cross paths with in real life. I have caught myself multiple times scrolling through Instagram and seeing posts about the latest cycling trip, backpacking expedition, triathlon or exotic yoga retreat that celebrity athletes have just accomplished. Meanwhile, I am questioning why I just ate that cinnamon pizza bread from MoJo. Let’s admit it, we all have those days when we feel like doing absolutely nothing. After class, we would rather head home and curl up with a cozy blanket and Netflix to relax instead of going to the gym. Your dedication to those New Year’s resolutions might be starting to wear off, and that’s okay; it just means there’s a need to find motivation elsewhere. Fitness apps, like Strava, can provide that motivational factor. When I go on Strava and see how active my friends on campus are, it gives me the ambition to work out and produce stats worthy of “kudos.” Sure, maybe I’m addicted to social media, but at least it’s in a way that drives me to be more active and take part in a healthier lifestyle. Emily Ulrich can be reached at emulrich@umich.edu.
NOAH ENTE | COLUMN
Taiwan elections reflect power of Hong Kong protests
E
arlier this month, and has demonstrated approval Taiwanese voters for developing Chinese hegemony went to the polls to over Taiwan’s democratic system. However, China’s efforts have decide the future direction not been limited to of their country’s political messaging. historically hostile Over the past few relationship with the years, the Chinese Communist Party military has created of China (CPC). At a series of artificial their hands were islands in the South options to move China Sea, actions toward some form of which the government greater reconciliation has maintained are with President Xi necessary in order Jinping and his NOAH to defend Chinese government, or for ENTE interests. These naval Taiwan to remain as nationally distinct as possible. installations pose a threat to any On Jan. 11, the people of country which also claims the Taiwan emphatically decided right to freely operate and travel to maintain their independence in the area. This particularly from the CPC and continue their includes Taiwan, which would fight for legitimacy. As a result, be threatened by the proximity Taiwanese President Tsai Ing- of China’s navy should a violent wen won reelection amid an standoff arise in the future. The South China Sea is one unusually large voter turnout and is set to continue her defense of the most vital international of Taiwan’s autonomy from shipping passages in the world, and if China continues its Beijing’s far-reaching tentacles. Tsai Ing-wen has proven to be aggressive development of islands a revolutionary figure who spoke and insistence that the sea belongs out against a 1992 understanding solely to China, the future of free reached by the CPC and the then- trade — not to mention Taiwanese ruling Taiwanese government autonomy — will be put at massive that a “one country, two systems” risk. framework would be implemented someday, and Taiwan would not declare itself officially independent from China. Tsai Ingwen has vocally expressed that such an agreement would not be beneficial to Taiwan. Her running mate has hinted at moving toward independence, though Tsai Ingwen has denied having such an objective. The ongoing protests that have rocked Hong Kong since last spring are sure to have played Amid this frightening a prominent role in the votes of millions of Taiwanese citizens, geopolitical reality, Taiwanese as well as Tsai Ing-wen’s policy civilians can look to Hong Kong toward China. The months of as an example of what could unending civil and political happen if they accepted a slow unrest in the city stemmed from yet decisive move toward China’s exactly the type of system that domain. In recent headlines, Taiwanese voters clearly decided Taiwanese donors have supplied to avoid. The Chinese Nationalist Hong Kong with 2,000 gas Party, which ran against Tsai Ing- masks, air filters and helmets: wen’s Democratic Progressive an act of solidarity in the face of Party, seeks to bring Taiwan into shared regime repression. They a political framework of greater see the young men and women Chinese influence, satiating brandishing gas masks and China’s leaders’ quest of bringing braving police forces to stand and Taipei ever closer to the arms of defend their democratic system. the CPC. With the “One China” They witness Hong Kong’s weak policy living on to this day, the leadership doing little to assuage People’s Republic of China is still the fears of its people. Above all, trying to bring Taiwan under their they can see the unbearable toll the protests have taken on the control. In recent years, China has semi-autonomous city for nearly worked especially hard to put a year. When considering a future pressure on Taiwan and spread for their children, Taiwanese fear throughout the island. Beijing voters rejected such a path, at the showed great support to Han Kuo- end of which their high school yu, Tsai Ing-wen’s main opponent, and college students would be
China is still trying to bring Taiwan under their control.
called upon to take on a brutal regime alone. That is not a fate that any parent would wish upon their children. As such, Tsai Ing-wen’s reelection represents the strength and resilience of the Taiwanese people in the face of growing pressure from the CPC. She will surely face great challenges in her quest to achieve, maintain and enhance Taiwanese national identity and possibly independence, but the polls indicate that her people believe in her to advance their interests. Going forward, it will be interesting to monitor the behavior of the U.S. vis-à-vis an empowered Taiwan and an emboldened China. For decades, the U.S. has followed Beijing’s “One China” policy, which states that countries must only have official diplomatic relations with the PRC and not the “breakaway” and “illegitimate” Chinese government of Taiwan. Yet the U.S. has quietly maintained a relationship with Taiwan, one that has included billions of dollars in arms sales, since the Taiwan Relations Act was passed by U.S. Congress in 1979. Despite the understanding reached by former President Carter with Beijing, in which U.S. Presidents did not officially speak with Taiwan’s leaders, President Donald Trump has had noteworthy contact with the Taiwanese government. Following the Taiwanese election, countries perceived by Beijing to be getting too close to Taipei have been harshly punished. Most notably, the government in Shanghai has cut off all relations with Prague after the Czech Republic’s capital signed a sister-city agreement with Taipei and not Beijing. As a result, Trump’s policy surrounding the decades-long conflict will surely have practical implications for both the U.S. and Taiwan, especially as Trump works with President Xi to stabilize U.S.-China trade. However, the discourse surrounding Taiwan somewhat appears to be changing, for the benefit of the U.S. and Taiwan. Both because it is just, and because it can be used to curb China’s economic and political behavior, the U.S. should lead the change in the world’s approach to the island that, like Hong Kong, is simply fighting to keep its autonomy and democracy af loat. Noah Ente can be reached at noahente@umich.edu.
Arts
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Thursday, January 23, 2020 — 5
FILM NOTEBOOK
COMMUNITY CULTURE COLUMN
The lasting odyssey of ‘Uncut Gems’ The line between ‘art’ and ‘artsy’ ANDREW WARRICK Daily Arts Writer
About ten minutes into “Uncut Gems,” I wondered if I was on drugs. I wasn’t, but the symptoms were all there. I couldn’t understand much of what was going on, but what I did comprehend was completely, almost exhaustingly insane. The movie began normally enough, with a team of Ethiopian miners digging out a stone encrusted with colorful opals. The camera zoomed in on one of the rock’s gems, and it became a cosmic field of brilliant, shining colors. Then, somehow, the interdimensional lights morphed into Adam Sandler’s (“Grown Ups”) colon. As the movie continued, its diamond encrusted Furbies, swirling synth soundtrack, rapid fire dialogue and appearance of The Weeknd did nothing to help. Maybe, I thought, someone had spiked my drink. “Uncut Gems” is a wild ride, perhaps the craziest of the year. On paper, it’s a simple premise: a man wants to make it big by auctioning a rare diamond and in doing so pay the debtors that threaten him. Yet there’s something more to the movie that both clouds and colors this simple story,
I couldn’t understand much of what was going on, but what I did comprehend was completely, almost exhaustingly insane.
giving it a bizarre, cosmic sense of import. While it was hard to pin down while I was in the theatre, I later realized that I’d seen this sort of thing before. What other stories take real world events and imbue them with crazy, mythological twists and turns? Epics, like Dante’s Inferno or The Odyssey, do. You’re probably
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thinking something like, “Doesn’t a story have to be ancient and fantastical to be an epic?” or even “How could you put Adam Sandler and epic in the same sentence?” However, even with these valid concerns, “Uncut Gems” has unquestionably epic traits. According to Penlighten, an epic’s hero is “a figure of heroic stature or national significance” and someone who “faces opponents and performs courageous deeds that are valued by the nation.” Adam Sandler’s Howard Ratner performs this role, but instead of winning wars or travelling through the underworld like Odysseus or Aeneas, he fights in the high-stakes jewel market and basketball-gambling circuit. While Ratner’s sheer greed may come off as heinous, it’s distinctly American. American cultural heroes are almost always defined by their materialistic desires — from Jay Gatsby to Kim Kardashian. Ratner represents this tenacious drive for cash, deemed heroic by mainstream America. Like the epic heroes before him, Ratner never gives up on his quest, even when threatened with torture and death. An epic hero’s travels encounters “supernatural or other worldly forces” who “play an active part in the actions of the heroic character.” While there are no gods, angels or demons in “Uncut Gems,” there are plenty of celebrities. I’ve already mentioned The Weeknd, but there’s also Kevin Garnett playing a version of himself. These famous faces are not just camoes.
In “Uncut Gems,” celebrities are major characters that influence the narrative like the Greek gods in “The Odyssey” or the demons in Dante’s “Inferno.” If “Uncut Gems” is an epic, one must wonder why. What are writer/director duo the Safdie brothers doing by using this convention? After the film, I realized that our culture has swapped epic battlefields fought by soldiers in golden armor with casinos populated by people in gold chains. Gods too have been replaced by their modern equivalents — sports and movie stars. As much as we like to pretend we’re more civilized in 2020, that the cell phone has replaced the scroll, certain things will always be the same. Money changes hands, battles are fought and people die. Yet there’s still love, comedy and victory. A day in the life of humanity is a spectrum that runs from heinous to holy. Most stories take a stance, portraying the world as black and white, or one of the two, and choose genres with neat, clear borders that make the world simpler. Epics, however, embrace life’s moral chaos and its endless contradictions. They take what is most beautiful, ugly, exciting and boring and paint a cosmic yet simultaneously down-to-earth portrait of the human race unlike any other narrative. While the form is centuries old, “Uncut Gems” proves that it still has centuries left. All I can do is hope that the next one has just a little more diamond-encrusted Furbies.
TV REVIEW
‘Everything’s Gonna be OK’ is OK MAXWELL SCHWARZ Daily Arts Writer
“Everything will be OK” is the kind of thing we tell someone when one of two situations has occurred: Someone is irrationally caught up in a minute problem, or everything will absolutely not be OK. Yet, the new comedy from Australian comedian Josh Thomas (“Please Like Me”) walks a thin line between these two situations — between being completely helpless and being just self aware enough to make it out alive — and comes out deftly chock-full of heart. So, their dad is going to die. “Their” is three siblings: Nicholas (played by Thomas), a slightly hysteric gay kid from Australia visiting his father in America, his sister Genevieve (Maeve Press, “Evil Lives Here”) and their sister Matilda (Kayla Cromer, “Blood Orange”), who has autism and struggles with social cues. They don’t know their dad is going to die at first. But on the day that Nicholas is preparing to leave for Australia again, his dad (Christopher May, “The Hero”) tells him he might not want to get on the plane — who is going to take care of his sisters? Well, Dad has a list, but Nicholas is the obvious choice. Nicholas has a lot of issues, clearly; he shared all his issues on a date with Alex (Adam Faison, “Grace
and Frankie”) in one breathless motion. Over banana pudding, they all decide that Nicholas will take care of the girls even though he is, admittedly, not the best choice. And then Dad dies, halfway through the episode. One of the things that’s so neat about “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay” is how candid it is. From the way the father explains his situation, to the kids’ reservations about Nicholas’s parenting abilities, everything is straightforward. In the mode of improv comedy, the characters accept events at facevalue, as if none of it is out of the ordinary, as if their father isn’t actually dying from pancreatic cancer. Even character traits — from Nicholas’s sexuality to their father’s gross oversight in waiting to tell his children for so long that he was going to die — aren’t dwelled on. Every character is independent, with his or her own self-assured identity. Perhaps this is helped most by Cromer’s stellar performance as Matilda. Cromer herself is on the spectrum. The sincere and honest treatment of autism on the show is a breath of fresh air. It isn’t something that gets in the way of the plot, and it doesn’t drag characters down. It is simply a component of the show, something characters are just aware of. Nicholas’s sexuality is treated with the same respect. Nothing is dwelled on. They don’t even dwell on their father’s
From the way the father explains his situation, to the kids’ reservations about Nicholas’s parenting abilities, everything is straightforward.
My mom is an art teacher, so I’ve had no choice but to be surrounded by art my whole life. Every family vacation, my mom made a point of scoping out the nearest art museum and marching me and my brother through the exhibits. She spent hours quizzing us on the likes of Claude Monet and Edgar Degas, explaining the differences between realism and surrealism and putting museum tour guides to shame. She skipped the whole Disney princess nonsense and instead taught me to idolize Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe. When I was in the fifth grade, my mom opened her own art studio and started a small business teaching art classes and hosting workshops. The majority of my weekends during middle school were spent shuffling in and out of her studio, watching her teach other little girls about Kahlo and O’Keeffe. I felt proud to tell my friends that my mom owned her own business; having that space to entertain my creative spirit while spending time with my mom was a true blessing. I quickly grew to love the way her studio always smelled of turpentine and constantly hosted a gaggle of high-pitched, tiny artists-to-be. A year passed, and as the aches and agonies of adolescence commenced, my mom’s charming little art studio didn’t seem so charming to me anymore. It was at this same time that Instagram was created and every middle schooler became a content creator overnight. Like every other brace-faced girl in my sixth grade class, I was quick to subscribe to this new age of digital art. I began to discover the difference between what signifies “art” versus what can be deemed as “artsy.” It’s those two little letters that draw the distinction between da Vinci and the dreaded VSCO girl. Suddenly, art shifted from being a central pillar of my relationship with my mom to being a vehicle for what every adolescent strives to do during those hellish years: relate to her friends. Overnight, there was this new thing on our phones that would allow us to fabricate and broadcast the lives we wished we had. We finally had a way of escaping our sad, middle-schooler existence. We could be popular, we could be artsy, as long as our Instagrams made us look that way. Once my friends and I made our respective Instagram accounts, we began our honorable pursuit of artsy excellence measured in likes and followers. We would
death. The funeral is a jovial, slightly awkward event, where Nicholas attempts to dodge condolences and Matilda delivers an unconventional eulogy. When they come back to the house, they’re all sad, but not because their dad’s dead. Instead they move forward, tackling their issues in the moment. The episode ends with the siblings dancing — Nicholas wants a hug, but Matilda doesn’t like hugs. Nicholas and his sisters stuff their hands in the condolences bouquets and toss the petals into the air, dancing as they fall around. And, honestly, everything seems
make an event out of “getting cute,” which usually meant sporting something neon from Target and going out to exploit what little our suburb in central Indiana had to offer resembling an arts and culture scene. We would spend hours weaving in and out of our downtown’s brick streets, exploring a boutique, then an antique store and then another boutique, searching for anything that sparked our inner artsy. Once that got old, we would venture beyond the suburb’s Main Street to museums in Indianapolis. We made a habit out of going to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, not to actually look at the art, but to pose in front of it. We would stand in front of countless paintings and sculptures, hand on hip, maybe make a kissy face and take Instagram pictures. This was all in the name of converting enduring, exceptional pieces of fine art into something we deemed insta-worthy — of making art artsy. The same pieces I saw in my mom’s textbooks and heard about over and over again in the lessons she taught at her studio became nothing but background visuals to me. Over winter break, my two best high school friends and I returned to the same art museum and, luckily, we didn’t totally revert to our old habits. No kissy-faces were made. We saw all the art that we could in the 45 minutes before the museum closed, taking the occasional picture of new pieces we saw. We came across the same Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit we had been going to since middle school. We only then realized that maybe there’s something more to all those flowers and pelvis-shaped “animal bones” she painted. We let out some embarrassed giggles as an old couple nearby glared at us. The vulvic imagery was suddenly screaming at us from the walls of the museum. We were seeing her art in a whole new way. We were seeing it beyond the limits of the Instagram filters that had once dominated our perspective in middle school. I’d like to think that moving away to college and gaining some more life experience allowed me to ditch the idea that artistic merit and life’s value were measured on scales of insta-worthiness. But if I know anything for sure, it is that while art and artsy-ness may carry completely different connotations in society, both ideas have been steadfast in their ability to connect me with the people in my life whom I love most— my mom, my friends and Georgia O’Keeffe included, of course.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
BOOK REVIEW
‘The Wives’ is a standard thriller but hard to finish SARAH SALMAN Daily Arts Writer
The blurb on the back of Tarryn Fisher’s “The Wives” describes the book as “shocking” and “twisted.” I can’t help but agree. I was so “shocked” by the ending that I must’ve read the last two pages several times just to understand how “The Wives” went from a delicious thriller to something resembling a lowbudget Lifetime movie. “The Wives” is written from the perspective of Thursday, a young nurse living in Seattle. Early on, we learn that Seth, Thursday’s husband, visits her every Thursday (a point of confusion for me because I assumed her nickname was Thursday). On Monday and Tuesday, he visits his other wives. Legally, Seth is not married to these other women, but he’s
their husband in every other sense of the word. Thursday is initially compliant with this strange relationship. You see, she’s aware that Seth has other wives, recognizing that Seth must get his other needs (i.e. a baby) fulfilled by another woman. In fact, she willingly competes against Monday and Tuesday, as if their polygamy were merely a bizarre episode of “The Bachelor.” She dubs Tuesday as Seth’s first “selfish” wife, jabbing at her inability to cook and even jokingly asking Seth one night if it was “Pizza for dinner again?” Thursday, in contrast, revels in her mastery of the kitchen, a skill that she views as making her a better wife. In the first chapter, we get a glimpse into the “picturesque” side of Thursday and Seth’s marriage — Thursday’s lavish dinner (a juicy rack of lamb served with oranges and cream), a back-and-forth
of flirty banter and a night of hot sex. I was hooked. I wanted to see their precariously-held relationship crumble. I wanted the cat-fights between Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I wanted the dark secrets to resurface. Because while Thursday is aware of Seth’s other wives, she doesn’t know who they are. Thursday’s happenstance finding of a carefully folded piece of paper in Seth’s jacket with an appointment for “Hannah” takes the readers on a journey that circumvents everything we thought we knew. Devoid of flowery prose, the blunt writing style made it easy for readers to get reeled into the mind of Thursday. There were no lengthy paragraphs, no heavy themes to dissect. Reading “The Wives” was like listening to the ravings of that one eccentric friend. I found
myself questioning time and again, who’s telling the truth? Thursday… or Seth? “The Wives”’ restriction to just the perspective of Thursday intensifies mystery and thrill at the expense of a carefully plotted novel. On paper, “The Wives” had everything that I would normally find enticing: a dark, sexy relationship, long (almost pornographic) descriptions of food, a mound of buried secrets and a jaw-dropping twist. Except for the relationship (and maybe the food, but I’m picky!), the rest of the cliches weren’t quite as well executed. The climax comes a little too early and it’s a dumpster fire of twist after twist revelations as if we’re watching a parody of a dramatic unmask. Wait… it was actually ME this whole time! The latter half of “The Wives” does a disservice to the slow-burning
thrill of the first. I kept reading with morbid curiosity, hoping my terrible predictions didn’t come true. It was worse than I could’ve imagined. My brain was a scrambled mess when I reached the final “twist” and “shocking” conclusion. Above all, I was confused and disappointed. “The Wives” had set the stage for an expert psychological thriller. A novel that could’ve explored the innermost darkness of the human psyche. Instead, “The Wives” relied on cheap thrills to get to the finish line. While I wasn’t satisfied with the ending of “The Wives,” I still enjoyed the book. After a month-long reading hiatus (yes, I know. I’m disappointed with myself too), “The Wives” succeeded in its promise as “a thriller you won’t be able to put down!” I finished this book in one sitting, dying to know the ending.
Arts
6 — Thursday, January 23, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW
Kate Wisel and her love letter to fiction at Literati GRACE TUCKER For The Daily
My friend glared at me when I told her Kate Wisel’s collection of stories was about violence against women. Other women don’t often like to hear those two words together — violence and women. Especially on a Friday night. I had promised my friend a cozy outing to our favorite coffee shop, a charming end to a not-so-charming first full week of classes. She hadn’t expected the reading to be so morbid. Nevertheless, we sat ourselves down towards the back of the lessthan-full audience of bookworms on that bitter winter night. We sipped our chai lattes, noses still sniffling from the cold, as a man with a stern expression introduced the young author. I am a self-proclaimed lover of Literati. I love its walls scribbled with pensive literary remarks and its bountiful offering of espresso drinks. I was excited to attend the event, which was part of Literati’s ongoing “Fiction at Literati” series. The night included a reading by author Kate Wisel from her book Driving in Cars with Homeless Men followed by a conversation with fiction writer and essayist Brad Felver. The coffee shop’s normal grouping of tables and benches was reconfigured
to make way for about five rows of black bentwood chairs. Though the event was admittedly low in attendance — my friend and I were joined by an older couple and a few lone silver-haired bibliophiles — Literati’s tranquil atmosphere and quaint ambiance did not disappoint. All of us Literati and literary lovers successfully escaped the biting Michigan cold and sat before a petite young woman with a voice sweet as honey. She introduced her work by comparing the linked stories to a “pool table,” with the characters’ plotlines crashing into one another as the book progresses. She began the reading with a section from the chapter titled “Trouble,” which is told from the perspective of Serena, one of the central narrators. Wisel advertises her book as “a love letter to women moving through violence;” the work is a collection of stories that all take place in the varied settings of working-class Boston. Through her pool-table architectural style, Wisel takes the reader on a journey through time and space, which, as Felver described in his formal conversation with her, lends to a disorienting reading experience. With this style, Wisel says she is able to encourage a more interactive author-reader dynamic rather than having the reader be “picked up [by the author] like a toddler and carried” through a story.
She also makes a point to pepper humor throughout the book as an outlet to convey the frustration and anger experienced by the affected women. Her first reading of “Trouble” spoke to this writing tactic: Serena, the character narrating the story, compares the yapping of her dog to a “Mormon girl [being kidnapped]” and makes repeated jabs at her neighbor couple’s matching lazy eyes. As Serena’s narrative went on to include several more colorful details, Wisel got some muttered chuckles from the audience. I particularly enjoyed the way she described the character’s dog as having a “coal-lined eye like an emo teenager.” Wisel goes on to reveal that Serena got the dog as a gift from her partner — a kind of “sorry for making you bleed” peace offering. The imagery Wisel employs to allude to the women’s experiences with domestic violence was poignant yet palatable, effective in its ability to make me and my friend grimace with discontent. In the first reading of “Troubled,” Serena’s abuse is illustrated through details describing her and her home’s physical state: her swollen eye, a bloody floor, a shattered mirror. There was no explicit narration of the abusive events Serena was experiencing. The second story was once again told from Serena’s perspective and as Wisel alluded to in the conversation that followed her reading, jumped
in time from the first story. In the second section, Serena is working as a flight attendant, traveling miles and miles and basking in a sky-bound existence away from her abusive partner. After the reading and conversation with Felver, the two authors opened up for questions from the audience. Wisel received a few questions about her unique architectural style and her method for approaching such a sensitive topic like domestic violence with humor and transparency. We got to learn a little bit about the thought process she employs when constructing sentences as she explained how she leans into the natural rhythm of what’s jumbled inside her head, ultimately giving her writing a lyrical quality. Wisel answered all of the audience’s questions with humility and bubbliness as she cracked jokes about the quirky journey writing a book can be. She made it sound as though she did not approach her book with a concrete plan, but rather let the women’s stories develop naturally on the page. After a handful of questions, the event officially ended and the audience members dispersed, one by one, going on to explore the rest of the warm bookstore. My friend and I left, minds bustling with thoughts of puppies and lazy eyes and hearts aching with a dull pain for women like Serena, bruised and bloodied and confined to Wisel’s page.
Hearne’s ‘Word for Word’ and what it means to create SAMMY SUSSMAN
Daily Community Culture Columnist
This past weekend, I happened upon an old recording of composer Ted Hearne’s “Word for Word” for large orchestra. In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that the piece was premiered by the New York Youth Symphony in 2011 under the direction of Paul Haas, a former composition teacher of mine. Hearne is known for his unconventional use of form and organization of time. His string orchestra work, the “Law of Mosaics,” is one of my favorite pieces. Its opening movement, “Excerpts from the middle of something,” contains wide swathes of silence. In between these bouts of silence are intriguing complex soundworlds; the lack of connecting material between these worlds gives the movement its unique flavor. In “Word for Word,” however, Hearne experiments not with silence and chronology but with the very meaning of creativity. He takes simple, two-measure orchestral figures that he claims “could have been ripped from a piece of orchestral music from the 19th century” and repeatedly distorts them using nothing but a music notation program’s copy-paste feature. He does not evolve this material in the “traditional”
compositional sense. He offers no other musical ideas in the first movement that might evolve this opening material. For many of the orchestral parts, he does nothing but repeat the material with different rhythmic offsets. Nevertheless, he plays the role of “composer” in the piece, creating the notation that produces the synchronous vibrations of air we refer to as music. As I began to think more about this piece, I ran into a question of creative autonomy. Had Hearne composed the piece, or was he aided by his computer’s copy-paste feature? Is there a point at which creativity becomes overly reliant on technology — a point at which a creator must credit technology as a co-creator of a work? In this specific piece, it was the fact that Hearne had composed the underlying copy-pasted material that lead me to conclude that he was the sole creator of the work. Though this material is 19th-centuryesque, a close reading of Hearne’s program note indicates that it is his original music. But what if this were not the case? For this I turned to another movement of Hearne’s “Law of Mosaics” for string orchestra: “Climactic movements from ‘Adagio for Strings’ and ‘The Four Seasons’,” slowed down and layered on top of one
another.” For those familiar with these two works, the movement’s musical material is painfully obvious. It is nothing but the climactic section of the “Adagio for Strings” and a large, tutti section of “The Four Seasons,” with both pieces slowed down considerably. I found myself asking, yet again, whether Hearne was really the sole composer, or creator, of this movement. In this instance, the answer seemed much more ambiguous. He was definitely the first composer to notate these pieces slowed down at such a rate and packed on top of each other in such a way. But he was not the first composer to create these melodies, pitch classes, or relative durations. This problem, I realized, is also intimately related to modern technology. Thanks to contemporary music notation programs, streaming services and public domain sheet music websites, composers have the ability to view, listen to and emulate other composers’s music like never before. To complicate things further, I would ascribe much of the meta-musical meaning I interpret from Hearne’s piece to relate to this modern technology. I think that his piece deals with our post-modern, allegedly post-factual age. As much as modern visual imagery is repeatedly recontextualized and decontextualized at the hands of memes, Hearne is
able to strip two staples of the string orchestra canon of their normal musical meaning. I began asking myself if my preconceptions about the role of a creator in an artistic work were thus somehow outdated. Perhaps this is no longer a valid means of understanding art and the artists that make it. Perhaps other realms of the performing arts had already evolved past this and classical music was slow to catch up. In rap music, for example, I knew that many producers relied on sampling to generate accompanimental material. While the rapper wrote and performed entirely new material, the producer merely manipulated and organized music written by others — the role of the creative producer, I would argue, had been replaced with the musical curator. But then I asked myself what had prevented other composers from doing exactly what Hearne had done or what many of these producers do. (This is an argument I’ve frequently heard applied to John Cage’s “4’33”” to great effect.) If Hearne’s work wasn’t creative, what had prevented others from preempting Hearne in his non-creative efforts?
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Release Date: Thursday, January 23, 2020
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
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34 Get support, in a way ... and what the puzzle circles do 35 Writer Gardner 36 Rock that, oddly, loses to paper 40 Puccini opera 46 Boxer Laila 49 Ventura County city 50 German word of gratitude 51 Wildly cheering
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Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, January 23, 2020 — 7
‘It extends further than lacrosse’ Thrust into starting roles as freshmen, Bryce Clay and Andrew Darby benefitted from Michigan’s positive culture DREW COX
Daily Sports Writer
Playing against the best atheletes of your sport at the Division I level is daunting. Playing in a starting role as a freshman — even more daunting. But when attackman Bryce Clay and defenseman Andrew Darby both found themselves in the starting lineup for the Michigan men’s lacrosse team against Drexel last Februrary — the second game of their freshman season — they had little to fear. They knew their teammates and coaches had their backs. “I wasn’t nervous ... I leaned a lot on my seniors, because those guys have been there before,” Darby said. “They (knew) what to do.” All Clay and Darby needed was to relax and do what they came to Michigan to do — play lacrosse. They did just that. In the final minutes of the third quarter, Clay netted his first goal as a Wolverine and picked up four ground balls. Darby scooped up three ground balls of his own and caused one turnover. Despite a deflating 17-16 double-overtime loss to the Dragons, there was a positive silver lining — Clay and Darby had emerged as starters. *** Despite their age, Clay and Darby weren’t nervous. For one thing, they had earned the right to play at a high-caliber level. Clay, ranked as the No. 11 attackman amongst 2018 recruits, was a two-time USILA high school All-American during his time at Forest Hills Central High School in Grand Rapids, MI. Darby hails from Darien, Conn. — a hotbed for east-coast lacrosse — and was named FirstTeam All-Connecticut during his senior season. “We had to go ahead and throw them in positions that
they needed to be thrust into,” Michigan coach Kevin Conry said. Added Darby: “I’d make sure I hit the wall at least three times a week in-season just to get my reps in and make sure I wouldn’t drop that extra pass. Just working hard, trying to learn the defense, trusting my coaches and the older guys.” But the deeper reason behind Clay and Darby’s early success lies in a positive team culture that permeates throughout the Wolverines’ entire roster. Some college sports teams are toxic and self-destructive, overemphasizing individual success and accolades. But some are imbued with camaraderie, support and an overwhelming sense of pride. These teams value synergy and build one another up. Michigan men’s lacrosse is among the latter. “Something coach Conry harps on is setting an example on and off the field,” Darby said. “You can’t just turn on a switch for big games. You have to be dialed in at practice and off the field everyday — go to class everyday.” *** Last season, Clay and Darby had some pretty good role models to follow. On a roster anchored by several current professional lacrosse players, including the program’s all-time leading goal-scorer, midfielder Brent Noseworthy, and defenseman Nick DeCaprio, who led the Big Ten in caused turnovers per game last season, the Wolverines were able to use their veteran leadership to cultivate the development of the program’s future leaders. Joining an offensive core led by Noseworthy, midfielder Decker Curran and fellow attackmen Kevin Mack and Alex Buckanavage, Clay found himself in exceptional company to help elevate his game. He quickly became an offensive weapon for
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Sophomore attackman Bryce Clay scored a goal in 10 out of 12 games as a freshman in 2019, aiding Michigan’s talented attack line in his first season.
Michigan, finishing the season third on the team in goals (22) and fifth in total points (28). During a four-game stretch in the middle season when Noseworthy was out with a knee injury, Clay stepped up, scoring 10 goals and recording three assists. “A lot of my success last year was from my teammates, whether it was them giving me the ball or me giving them the ball,” Clay said. “They helped me get to the right places. I was just a kid. Whenever I was stressed out or not having a good day, they made sure I was alright and putting in the extra work.” An experienced defensive unit, led by then seniors DeCaprio and Michael Borda, provided an opportunity for Darby to grow as well. By the end of the season, he had picked up the third-most ground balls on the team (29) and caused 13 turnovers.
“Defense is a big team sport,” Darby said. “You have to rely a lot on your team ... Just having an open mind and being able to learn was the big key for me.” And off the field, whether it was working on homework, team-bonding or finding time to get meals together, seniors made sure to help younger players adjust to the lifestyle of a Division I athlete. “Last year (Noseworthy) was a great influence on me,” Clay said. “He’s a great guy, great teammate. (He’s) somebody I could go to outside of lacrosse ... It’s nice having that.” Added Darby: “If you’re having a bad day, not everyone is having a bad day, so you have to rely on your teammates to help you get better and keep you positive.” Although their roads to Ann Arbor have been vastly different, both Clay and
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Sophomore defenseman Andrew Darby provided a steady presence beside senior Nick DeCaprio as a freshman in 2019, anchoring Michigan’s defense.
Darby have found a home on the Wolverines’ roster thanks to the demonstrated care of their older teammates. *** As a lacrosse player from western Michigan in Grand Rapids, Clay had to spend his childhood summers at lacrosse tournaments on the east coast just to get attention from college recruiters. When Michigan called to offer Clay a scholarship to play lacrosse, it was a no-brainer for him to commit. However, Clay had to put in a significant amount of work to adjust to the pace of college lacrosse. “The Big Ten is super fast ... With lacrosse predominantly being an east coast sport, I really had to speed up quick and (the team) helped me transition,” Clay said. “(But) I realized that it’s bigger than myself to represent the Block ‘M.’ I know that when I leave here, I’ll be a better person. I’ll be a Michigan man. That was big for me.” Darby, on the other hand, played for a high school crowded with talent where competition for playing time was fierce. After not playing on varsity until his senior year at Darien, Michigan posed as a unique opportunity for Darby to showcase his true abilities at the college level. “That made me get better and I learned from a lot of guys ahead of me at (Darien),” Darby said. “It just made me better in the long-run ... my (motto) of getting here was, ‘trust the process.’ Everything (happened) for a reason.” *** But now older teammates like Noseworthy and DeCaprio are gone. Entering their sophomore seasons, Clay and Darby bear a greater burden to fill their shoes as impact players and role models. Following a disappointing 4-9 season plagued by injuries and faceoff struggles, it wasn’t a perfect season for the young pair. Like everyone on the team,
they made mistakes. But Conry hopes his decision to place them in a starting role early in their collegiate careers will pay dividends. “They were baptized in fire. (We said) ‘Let’s get (them) in and have them make some mistakes now, so (they) can be better,’ ” Conry said. “It’s creating a map for their future.” Clay and Darby have their eyes set on the upcoming 2020 campaign, with hopes to build off the Wolverines’ victory over Ohio State in last year’s season finale — their first win against the Buckeyes in program history. “One thing we learned was that we hate to lose,” Darby said. “It was not fun. So we built up that hatred for losing.” Added Clay: “I’m expecting some bigger things ... we are grown-ups now. We have some experience out there. Just to compete at a high level is huge to set an example for the younger guys coming in and represent the Block ‘M.’ ” When Michigan opens its season against Cleveland State in February, Clay and Darby will once again be in the starting lineup. Conry and the rest of the team will expect them to build off of last year’s production. But off the field, the program will expect arguably more of them to serve as leaders for the young Wolverines roster. “They are guys who we know are going to be in the shooting room, doing extra footwork, going to be monsters in the weight room,” Conry said. “We want guys who meet our standards and carry their teammates along with their standards,” Conry said.“Now that they have gotten to a point where they have consistently met our standards for our program ... they are doing a good job dragging people along with them.” “It extends further than lacrosse,” Clay said. “Lacrosse is a big part of our lives, but we are trying to be better men.”
With Kayla Robbins out, Danielle Rauch gives Wolverines valuable minutes JACK KINGSLEY Daily Sports Writer
Just one minute into Sunday’s game against Nebraska, senior forward Kayla Robbins went down with an ugly-looking injury, later determined to be a torn ACL which would end her season. For the Michigan women’s basketball team, everything else in that moment paled in comparison to the health of its second leading scorer and captain. But after an emotional break in the game’s action, Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico was faced with the difficult decision of how to replace Robbins’ minutes. The Wolverines’ two starting wings — Robbins and senior Akienreh Johnson — both averaged over 27 minutes per game entering Sunday, and neither had missed a game all season. As a result, none of Michigan’s bench wings had played extended minutes against a power conference opponent.
Barnes Arico’s choice to fill Robbins’ role was sophomore guard Danielle Rauch. Rauch — typically the backup point guard to sophomore Amy Dilk — hadn’t played more than nine minutes in a Big Ten game. Sunday, she was called upon for 32. And she made the most of them. While Rauch’s offensive contributions were a step down from what Robbins usually gives the Wolverines — five points to Robbins’ pergame average of 11.6 — she played smart and did what the team needed her to do. She took care of the ball, with zero turnovers, and looked to distribute when she didn’t have a shot, giving opportunities to Michigan’s more dynamic scorers.
“I didn’t realize how much she had played in the game until I looked at the stat sheet,” Johnson said. “She looked like she was a person that averaged 30 minutes. She never got tired. She was talking consistently, doing a great job on offense and defense.” With three minutes left in the game, Dilk fouled out and the Cornhuskers made both free throws to extend their lead to seven, in a game that was tied just three minutes earlier. It seemed that the loss of Dilk was the nail in the coffin to the Wolverines’ chances of pulling out a win. But Rauch wouldn’t let Michigan go down so easily. On the ensuing possession, she drained a 3-pointer and yelled to
She was ... doing a great job on offense and defense.
the bench, giving the Wolverines life. Two possessions later, she found sophomore forward Naz Hillmon in the paint for a layup. On the next one, she dished it out to junior forward Hailey Brown, who knocked down a 3-pointer that cut the Nebraska lead to three. Michigan would end up losing by three, but Rauch kept them in the game until the final possession, even after it seemed out of reach just minutes earlier. To onlookers, Rauch’s highquality 32 minutes may have been a surprise given her previous playing time, but to those inside the program, it was the expectation. Her teammates consistently describe her as one of the hardest-working players on the team — the type of player who is constantly in the gym on off days, putting up tons of shots to put herself in a position to contribute when needed. “I just think that I train
the same way all the time to be prepared for whatever opportunity that I’m given,” Rauch said. “On any given night I don’t know if it’s gonna be three minutes, 10 minutes or 30 minutes. Always prepare yourself for whatever opportunity you’re gonna get.” Both Johnson and Rauch made it clear: Nobody can replace
Robbins, but Michigan’s season doesn’t end without her. Players who haven’t been asked to do much more than play smart for short spurts with a starter on the bench will have to put points on the board and contribute for extended periods of time. Rauch’s play on Sunday gave the Wolverines confidence that they found one of those players.
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Sophomore guard Danielle Rauch played 32 minutes off the bench Sunday.
Sports
8 — Thursday, January 23, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
State of despair
Michigan loses to Penn State, 72-63, dropping its third-straight game behind a lackluster defensive effort DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
The ball started in Lamar Stevens’ hands, as the Michigan men’s basketball team expected. The senior forward has been a key cog of Penn State’s offense since he stepped foot on campus in 2016. So when the first possession of the Wolverines’ 72-63 loss to Penn State (14-5 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) ended with Stevens posting up, nobody was surprised. With sophomore forward Brandon Johns Jr. at his back, he faked toward the paint, spun the other way and knocked down a fadeaway from baseline. On the next possession, he sank a three from the wing. The one after that ended with him converting a mid-range jumper. Before long, Stevens’ hot start put Michigan (11-7, 2-5) in a 9-2 hole, forcing coach Juwan Howard to burn a timeout. And as his team trotted back to the bench, what Howard saw was a fitting prelude to the rest of the night. “I saw some guys had a little doubt in their eyes,” Howard said. “And that’s not how we have to approach games, especially when we’re playing at home.” When Stevens exited the floor shortly after, the Wolverines made the most of the opportunity. As Stevens watched from the bench, junior guard Eli Brooks knocked down a corner three that sparked a 11-0 run. He added another five points during the spurt. Stevens sat for fewer than two minutes, but it was enough to give Michigan the lead. Shortly after he checked back into the game, though, Penn State scored 14 unanswered points over a six-minute stretch that saw the Wolverines commit five turnovers. And in a matter of minutes, a game that had already been flipped on its head took another sharp turn. Once again, Michigan had
plenty of opportunities to retake the reins after it fell behind. The Wolverines couldn’t cash in this time, missing 14 of their 19 shots away from the rim in the first half. Between Michigan’s shooting woes and Stevens’ lack thereof, Penn State took a 37-28 lead into halftime. The second half began with a similar script. Coming out of the locker room, Penn State went on a 7-3 run as the Wolverines missed seven of their first eight field goal attempts. While Michigan’s open looks repeatedly clanked off the back iron, the Nittany Lions extended their lead to as much as 15. Through it all, the Wolverines’ defense was as quiet as it’s been all season. “It’s too late in the season for, you know, I have to beg our guys to communicate on defense,” Howard said. “Not just on the defensive end, on the offensive end, too. It just so happens it’s a lost art in the game and we have to bring it back. “Yes, I’m old school, but in order for us to forge ahead and move forward and improve, communication has to be a part of the process. That is surprising that some of our guys don’t like talking on defense. … There’s a lot of guessing going on, and I just don’t understand it.” With Michigan in dire need of a spark, freshman wing Franz Wagner jumped in front of a pass along the perimeter. As he chased the deflected ball in transition for what looked like an imminent open dunk, a Nittany Lion defender grabbed hold of his arm. The blaring sound of a whistle pierced through Crisler Center, and the unconventional intentional foul call ensued. Wagner sank both free throws, which proved to be the first of eight unanswered points for the Wolverines — a stretch that trimmed the deficit to just five. But as the Wolverines began closing the gap, it was an unlikely
candidate who kept them at bay. After playing only three minutes in the first half, Chambers called on fifth-year guard Curtis Jones Jr. — who entered Wednesday night averaging 6.8 points on 35.7-percent shooting — for 15 second-half minutes. As Jones prepared to check in, his coach delivered a message. “These moments are made for seniors,” Chambers recalled telling him. “It’s your time.” Jones answered the call, knocking down seven of his nine second-half shots in an 18-point explosion against subpar defense. “If your hand is down versus a shooter — for example, Curtis Jones, who was just lining it up and shot it right in our face — that’s unacceptable,” Howard said. “You have to own it. You have to be able to do your job.” Against Penn State, the Wolverines didn’t own it, nor did they do their job. And for that, they dropped a game on their own floor in a conference where road wins are a rarity, putting them even further behind the eight ball.
ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer
This game against Penn State at home was supposed to be a way to get out of a slump, a way for the Michigan men’s basketball team to regain its rhythm — and some standing in the conference rankings. That is not what it turned out to be. What it turned out to be was 40 minutes of proof that Michigan’s issues on defense are still very much in play, at home or on the road, and that it boils down to a lack of communication. “We just couldn’t get defensive stops,” sophomore forward Brandon Johns, Jr. said. “We just need to be better on defense. Our communication could’ve been a little bit better. We just need to be solid with all the little things on defense.” Penn State shot 48.2 percent from the field, and 42.1 percent from the arc, in its eventual 72-63 win over Michigan. And it wasn’t as if all of those
72 points were coming from distance. The Nittany Lions had 22 points in the paint. No matter where the shots were coming from, they were falling. And the Wolverines had a hard time stopping them. “They got too many open looks,” Michigan coach Juwan Howard said. “And it was because of lack of communication on the defensive end. It’s January 22. We talked about it. We have to communicate on defense, be physical, don’t be surprised.” After Michigan was gashed in the post at Minnesota last week and continued to struggle inside against junior center Luka Garza and Iowa on Friday, going up against Penn State’s lethal combination of senior forwards, Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins, was a tall task, literally. Stevens and Watkins give Penn State a lot of length. With Isaiah Livers still sidelined with a lingering groin injury, Michigan has been turning to a three-guard lineup at times, which left them
ASHA LEWIS/Daily
Freshman wing Franz Wagner shot 1-for-9 on Wednesday, part of a game in which Michigan shot 35 percent from the field.
Pearson’s vision coming true
TRACK AND FIELD
‘M’ tops three-way meet
ROHAN KUMAR Daily Sports Writer
BRANDON TRACHTENBERG Daily Sports Writer
In sports, positive messages about resilience and perseverance have become the staple of struggling teams. Yet such optimism often falls short. Out of all the teams that pledge to stick with it, trust the process, work hard and improve each day to make a midseason comeback, only a handful will see such ROHAN promises come to KUMAR fruition. With such positive statements, it can be hard to accurately predict how a team will actually respond. It’s difficult to separate fact from fiction, hard to know who’s just talking and who genuinely believes that they’ll change their fate midseason. Looking back, though, brings the necessary clarity. And it’s now crystal clear that there was truth behind Mel Pearson’s optimism during the Michigan hockey team’s early season struggles. *** It was a Monday in midNovember, late afternoon. Practice had ended a short while back, and Pearson sat down in a dark blue, leather chair in the lobby of the hockey offices at Yost to field questions from a group of reporters, as he often does. There was a certain element of repetitiveness to the ensuing conversation. For the third weekend in a row, Michigan had widely underperformed its expectations. The Wolverines had just been swept by Michigan State, including a home loss in which they blew a two-goal lead. They were on a sevengame winless streak that began in Kalamazoo against Western Michigan. Through three weekends of conference play, Michigan had tallied just one out of a possible 18 points. “For the most part, they’re
Junior sprinter Vail Hartman made the final turn in the 4-by-400 men’s relay with a comfortable lead. His teammates, senior Desmond Melson, sophomore Ian Davis and senior Alex Schwedt helped Michigan built a sizeable lead, but it was Hartman who the Wolverines entrusted as their anchor. As he leaned into the finish line, with only empty track in his wake, a roar erupted from the 2,000 maize-andblue dressed fans around him, providing a truly cinematic finale to the meet. Michigan track and field made it look easy all afternoon as they swept the Buckeyes and the Spartans in the Simmons-Harvey Invitational. The Wolverines walked away with a win in both the men’s and women’s divisions, finishing first in half of the 30 events combined. The women’s team won by 27 points over the second-place Buckeyes and third-place Spartans, while the men’s team won by 13 points over second-place Ohio State and third-place Michigan State. “It gives you a sense of a championship — Big Ten — because it’s Ohio State and Michigan State,” Michigan coach James Henry said. “Those are the teams that you want to beat. It gave us a Big Ten flavor. The intensity was there and that’s what we wanted.” Senior distance runner Meg Darmofal felt that intensity as she won the women’s mile race. She won by over two seconds with a time of 4:46 — a career best and the fifth-fastest time in college this year. Six laps in, Darmofal was a part of the pack, but then made her move and got up to the second spot behind her teammate, senior Annie Taylor. In the final lap, Darmofal continued to lay it all out, passing her teammate. Spartans’ distance runner Annie Fuller climbed her way to behind Darmofal, forming an All-American battle. But in the last 200 meters, Darmofal’s
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Michigan coach Mel Pearson is seeing the fruits of his persistent optimism in the Wolverines’ recent hot streak.
playing pretty well. And it will come,” Pearson said that day. “There’s two ways you can go. You can just feel sorry for yourself, you can sulk, you can start complaining. … Or you can just continue to work hard, continue to support each other and just trust in the process. They’re the latter.” Pearson went on to cover the importance of focusing on things you can control. The weather that Monday was quite pleasant. The sun shined brightly, bringing a blanket of warmth atypical of a November day and providing the coach with a perfect example to further explain his mantra. “You guys can’t control the weather out there today, right?” Pearson asked. “Did you call somebody out and say ‘I want a sunny day today’? No, you can’t … There’s so many things you can’t control.” He mentioned that attitude is controllable, though, and that the Wolverines would just have to stay positive and avoid complaining. “I’m going to be different and have a good attitude,” Pearson said. “And know that the sun is going to come out at some point for us, and when it does it’s going to be beautiful.” ***
Michigan’s recent success would’ve seemed somewhat unfathomable earlier this season. The Wolverines are coming off two stellar weekends on the road, in which they swept then-No. 14 Notre Dame and earned five of six points against then-No. 6 Penn State. To Pearson, it has been a gradual comeback. It started with the three series following the one against the Spartans in November. Michigan split all three — against New Hampshire, Wisconsin and the Nittany Lions — and started to find its footing. Now thinking back, Pearson can bring perspective to his team’s rebirth and why he believed in it during the tough times. “You know as a coach,” Pearson said this week. “You know when you have something and you’ve got a chance and some things are just working against you. And you know when you are just horse shit, when you have no chance.” The Wolverines are finally playing with some moxy. They’ve convinced themselves that this is who they truly are and this is what they’ve always been capable of. Through Pearson’s eyes, the team that suffered the rough stretch early on was still scrambling to find its identity.
Now, Michigan has found that identity in its defense. “That’s the bread and butter. And I told the team after the Friday night game at Penn State, ‘Hey I’m happy about the six goals, but what I really like is the goose egg, the zero,’ ” Pearson said of the 6-0 victory. “Because some nights as we’ve seen in the first half the puck is not always going to go in for you. But if you play solid defensively and don’t give anything up then you’re going to be right there. You’re going to be in every game and we have been. I think that’s the foundation on which you build upon. “They’ve bought into that now. They understand that.” Now for the Wolverines, it’s all about maintaining that success through the remainder of the regular season to help their postseason aspirations. “I’m not going to say we’re going to run through and go 8-2 here in the second half, but we have a chance,” Pearson said. “We have a chance to win every game, and that’s all you can ask for.” In other words, Pearson is staying positive as before. The past two weekends justify that, little by little. It paid off the first time. Maybe, just maybe, the sun will come out again.
looking somewhat small on the court Wednesday. But the Wolverines’ problems were far from being contained inside the painted lines. Penn State punished Michigan from just about anywhere, taking advantage of the open looks they got from the Wolverines. The thing was, it wasn’t as if the Nittany Lions brought out radical new looks or started taking shots they haven’t been taking all season. Wednesday night’s shot chart looked pretty similar to any of a number of Penn State shot charts from this season. Michigan knew what was coming. And they still couldn’t stop it. “We have a great scouting report, and we watch film on every opponent,” Howard said. “We see guys’ tendencies as well as their strengths, and who can shoot the ball and where they shoot the ball from. “So there’s no surprises. I understand why guys get open looks. It tells me it’s because of lack of communication.” As the Wolverines are seeming to sink further and further into their ongoing slump, the mood in the locker room is not helping. Players are “getting in their heads,” according to Johns. And that’s just making it harder on defense, where so much — as is becoming increasingly clear lately — depends on teammates talking to each other on the court. If they don’t start talking, it doesn’t seem that the energy — or the defense — is going to get better anytime soon. “It’s something you should do regardless,” junior guard Eli Brooks said. “You’re a basketball player. At the end of the day, hopefully you’ve been doing it your whole life. Talking on the court and just bringing energy are different things.”
speed accelerated her away from Fuller and into the first-place finish. “I was trying to get position throughout the race,” Darmofal said. “Then my teammate made a move in the last quarter of it and got things rolling … so I just kicked it and went for the win.” The Wolverines, as a whole, followed Darmofal’s words competing in a different gear throughout the events. In the men’s 800-meter race, Michigan filled out the top five. The five runners followed sophomore distance runner Derrick Simmons’ hot start out of the gate and used that momentum to triumph in the race. Sophomore distance runner Cole Johnson finished first with a time of 1:51. Freshman distance runner Nick Foster, Simmons, senior distance runner Ben Hill and freshman distance runner Thomas Shilgalis didn’t finish far behind — all within a second of Johnson. “To finish top five and have your teammates right there running with you is an awesome feeling,” Johnson said. Records — personal, schoolwide and league-wide — were a major theme of the meet. No one can attest to that more than senior thrower Andrew Liskowitz. He launched the five farthest throws in school history, three of them being over 20-meters. Liskowitz’s top throw went for 20.29 meters, which stands as the second farthest shot-put throw in the NCAA this year. “I think today has been a good reflection of how my training has been going,” Liskowitz said. “(I’m) working hard and eating right. Pretty happy with that.” The Wolverine athletes’ events went their way Saturday and the results of the meet exemplified their success. “The momentum flew in our directions because of the home field advantage that we had,” Henry said. “We wanted to take advantage of that. It was nice to see our team come together and cheer each other on from beginning to end.”