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Wednesday, September 29, 2021 CAMPUS LIFE
Nikole Hannah-Jones gives talk on 1619 Project
NYT journalist talks impact of digital initiative NIRALI PATEL & ELISSA WELLE Daily Staff Reporters
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Protestors stand outside of the Board of Regents meeting on Sept. 23 to demand better protections for survivors of sexual assault.
‘No one on campus should have to fear’: Anderson survivors protest outside of Regents meeting More than 100 people demand accountability for allegations against former athletic doctor GEORGE WEYKAMP Daily Staff Reporter
Content warning: Sexual assault More than one hundred protesters gathered outside the Postma Family Clubhouse at the University of Michigan Golf Course Sept. 23, where the Board of Regents were meeting in person for the first time since March 2020. The crowd protested the University’s handling of allegations of sexual abuse against late University athletic doctor Robert Anderson and demanded stronger accountability from
the administration on behalf of survivors. The protest, which was organized by the student organization Michigan Students Against Sexual Assault, took place an hour before the Board of Regents meeting started. The general protest session was followed by speeches from some survivors of Anderson’s abuse. Later, the attendees protested on the sidewalk as the Regents entered the building. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA junior Porter Hughes, press secretary for MSASA, said one of the goals of the protest was to
raise awareness about sexual misconduct at the University to try to prevent other people from having to experience what the Anderson victims went through. “We hope to bring awareness to the greater public about this issue — it really has not gotten the press coverage it deserves,” Hughes said. “Also to pressure for more reforms and push for more action and more community dialogue on what changes are necessary to make sure something like this never happens again.” In May, hundreds of survivors of Anderson’s abuse filed a class action lawsuit against
the University, calling on the University to rethink how it approaches sexual misconduct and abuse. The complaint, led by LSA senior Josephine Graham, says the University’s lack of action against Anderson allowed his behavior to continue for decades. The University filed a response to the suit in August, where it argued to dismiss the case on the grounds that Graham needed “to wait until she has experienced sexual violence before bringing her injunctive relief claims.”
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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole HannahJones, founder of The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, spoke to more than 250 members of the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor communities in Rackham Auditorium on Sept. 22. The event was hosted by the Ann Arbor District Library and touched on the impact of the project two years after its release. The 1619 Project is a multimedia initiative aiming to reframe the United States’ history of slavery and the ongoing consequences of nearly 200 years of legal enslavement. Jones discussed the criticism she has faced since the project’s release, most notably its common conflation with critical race theory. Much of the backlash — such as former President Donald Trump’s creation of a 1776 commission to promote “patriotic education” in response to the 1619 project — has resulted in various attempts to pass bills prohibiting the teaching of the project, or critical race theory, in public schools. Michigan state Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, introduced a bill in May to decrease annual funding of public schools by 5% if critical race theory, or related content like The 1619 Project, is included in school curriculum. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., one critic of the project, has tried to prohibit it from being taught in public schools and
introduced a federal bill to do so in July 2020.“(The) 1619 Project is a racially divisive, revisionist account of history that denies the noble principles of freedom and equality on which our nation was founded,” the bill says. Jones dismissed the project’s critics, defending the research behind her project. “I have to say I think I’m a pretty good journalist, but I didn’t know how a single word of journalism in the New York Times could threaten the very integrity of the United States of America,” Hannah-Jones said. Jones criticized the American education system for inadequately critiquing the social inequities that underlie the country’s history. “They really want propagandistic history to be taught in the classroom,” Hannah-Jones said. “A classroom that teaches American exceptionalism, when really, of course, the classroom should be teaching us to question and have skepticism.” LSA freshman April Hamilton, who attended the discussion, said she is frustrated with the hyperfocus on critical race theory in conversations about public school curriculum. “There’s so many other issues that we could be focusing on,” Hamilton said. “But this is something that the Right has really fixated on.” Public Policy graduate student Jessica Hartshorn said she thinks the reality of American history that Hannah-Jones portrayed cannot be disputed.
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BUSINESS
Target officially opens ‘small-format’ store at 231 S. State St.
New location provides groceries close to campus EMILY BLUMBERG Daily Staff Reporter
A Target location officially opened at 231 S. State Street in downtown Ann Arbor on Sept. 21, the former location of an Urban Outfitters. The “small format” store, standing at 12,000 square feet, was first announced in December 2020. These scaled-down stores provide a specifically curated selection of goods designed to appeal to students on campus, according to A Bullseye View. Similar stores have opened on college campuses across the nation, including at Michigan State University, New York University and the University of Southern California. University of Michigan students have previously raised concerns about the lack of a more affordable grocery store within a walkable distance to campus. The addition of this Target will offer students a walkable, convenient grocery option, according to Tricia George, a team lead for Target. “I think it’s going to have a huge impact,” George said. “What I’ve been hearing just in the last half hour, I’ve talked to some of the guests, the grocery is the biggest thing that they’re so excited about because there’s not really a grocery store within walking distance for a lot of the students.” Store Director James Newbill said he hopes the new Target will not only be a place where the students
can buy groceries but where they can find community as well. “It was really important to us that we entered this community, because the students don’t have a place that’s really quick for them to get those fresh food options, and we’re able to provide them,” Newbill said. “The service piece is super important to me in our entire store, making sure that students are being helped because sometimes it is really fast-paced around here. And they don’t really get that service that they need.” Newbill said he encourages students to be actively engaged in the process of curating Target’s product collections so that the store satisfies customers’ needs. “I want people to tell me the collection that they want because we can order things,” Newbill said. “We can get a different assortment, but it’s literally just to serve students on campus. We can get items that they normally can’t get shipped here or to their dorms.” LSA freshman Jessi Hinterman said she is looking forward to having a grocery store within walking distance from her dorm. “I’m excited to not wait in Walgreens for anything,” Hinterman said. “I mean, we have (a Target) at home, and it’s the nicest thing. I’m there all the time. Honestly, (it’s) convenient. So having one here is amazing.” Daily Staff Reporter Emily Blumberg can be reached at emilybl@ umich.edu.
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Glass Animals perform for 8,000 undergraduates on Sept. 23 in a University-sponsored concert.
CAMPUS LIFE
British band Glass Animals performs for new students at Crisler Center
‘Welcome to Michigan’ concert was free for 8,000 undergrads in attendance RONI KANE
Daily Staff Reporter
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f the city of Ann Arbor needed any further indication, the musical “Heat Waves” radiating from the Crisler Center on Sept. 23 made it official: The Wolverines are back on campus. As the first “Welcome to Michigan” Concert in recent years, Thursday night’s event featured British indie rock band Glass Animals and was completely free for the more than 8,000 University of Michigan students in attendance.
Darin Martin, assistant director for the Center for Campus Involvement, wrote in an email to The Michigan Daily that Big Ticket Productions — the University’s concert production organization — chose Glass Animals to play at the Crisler because of their rising popularity worldwide. “Big Ticket Productions’ mission is to bring quality, big name entertainment to campus that students want to see and can enjoy at an affordable rate,” Martin wrote. The concert was a stop on the band’s international “Dreamland” Tour, showcasing Glass Animals’
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latest album released Aug. 7, 2020. On Sep. 11 of this year, their song “Heat Waves” peaked at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot Alternative Songs list. Glass Animals performed “Heat Waves” as the final song of the night, turning the mic to the crowd during the chorus to encourage students to sing along. LSA sophomore Rié Vander Schuur attended the concert and said she was only familiar with “Heat Waves” and one other Glass Animals song going in. Still, Vander Schuur said she enjoyed watching Daya’s opening performance and being exposed to some of the lesser-
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known numbers on Glass Animals’ setlist. “My favorite part was definitely the ending because ‘Heat Waves’ … is their most popular song, so it was fun for everyone to sing along and jump around,” Vander Shuur said. The University first announced the concert Sept. 12, with tickets — one per student — at first only being available for first- and secondyear undergraduate students at the Michigan Union Ticket Office and online beginning at 10 a.m. on Sept. 14.
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KATE HUA/Daily Artist Rashaun Rucker discusses his new exhibition “Never Free to Rest” in the Institute for the Humanities Gallery Wednesday Sept. 22.
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GOVERNMENT
President of Latvia talks foreign and domestic policy during UMich visit
Egils Levits speaks at event hosted by Law School, Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia KATE WEILAND Daily Staff Reporter
The President of Latvia, his Excellency Egils Levits, discussed several key issues regarding foreign and domestic policy at an event hosted by the University of Michigan Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia and the University of Michigan Law School on Sept. 23. The talk included Geneviève Zubrzycki, WCEE director and professor of sociology, and Daniel Halberstam, Eric Stein Collegiate Professor of Law and director of the European Legal Studies Program, as moderators. Levits has held office since July 2019. He previously served as vice prime minister, minister for justice and Latvia’s ambassador to Hungary, Austria and Switzerland. Levits was also the first Latvian judge at the European Court of Human Rights from 1995 to 2004 and a judge of the European Court of Justice from 2004 to 2019. Next year will be the 100-year anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Latvia. Frederick Coleman, the first ambassador of the United States to Latvia from 1922 to 1931, obtained his bachelor’s and law degree from the University of Michigan. The event began with Levits discussing the history of Latvia and its road to independence. The Soviet Union occupied Latvia during World War II until 1990 when the state was restored. “Democratic movements were very important, not only in regards to the restoration of (Latvian) independence
but also in changing the European political map,” Levits said. “The Soviet Union broke up as a result of the independent movements of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.” Levits also addressed the current situation between Russia and Belarus, where there has been a repression of democratic movements since World War II. He said Latvia supports demands for new, free and fair elections in Belarus. Levits talked about current events, including Latvia’s involvement in the European Union. Levits said he would like to see more effective European policy with the “no harm principle,” in which every country is taken into consideration when taking political action. “We are for further development and deepening of the European Union, of the common market,” Levits said. “We are also for more visible European foreign policy.” According to Levits, Latvia is working with Estonia and Lithuania to ensure a strong community and address the issues in Belarus. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Aiva Rozenberga, a public relations advisor to Levits, said transparency in the European Union is especially vital for small countries like Latvia, which has a population of less than 2 million people. “Transparency is very important because being a smaller country, as Latvia is, it’s important that all the 27 member countries have the same voice so that everybody can participate in this process where you make decisions about the whole continent,” Rozenber-
ga said. Halberstam asked Levits to speak on the relationship between the European Union and the United States, citing President Biden’s recent decision to stop consulting European allies on Afghanistan and the Australian Submarine Agreement as well as his meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the White House Wednesday. Levits explained the importance of collaboration between Western countries to maintain power and democratic values, especially as China continues to grow both economically and politically. “The United States and Europe are based on the same democratic values, and this is very important when we have so few centers of power in the world,” Levits said. “We should work together in order to defend the threats to our fundamental beliefs — for democracy and for rule of law.” Rozenberga talked about the importance of good relations between the United States and Europe, regardless of changes in the administration. “It’s very important for the Baltic States, not just for Latvia, but for the whole region to have very strong transatlantic ties,” Rozenberga said. “It means very active political dialogue, and it means active contact in the economic sphere and in the military as part of NATO. When the situation changes geopolitically still, we know that we are one family.” Rackham student Anna Tanalski, a second-year student in the Masters of International Regional Studies program, said she was honored to be able to attend the event and found Lev-
its’s focus on democratic values to be impactful. “I think the most impactful subject that he touched upon was maintaining allyships and relationships with neighboring countries and their unity in the face of collective difficulties, whether it be the crisis of refugees or whether it be kind of this general resistance to a feeling of some people wanting a return to Soviet values,” Tanalski said. During the open Q&A section of the event, an audience member asked Levits about the state of Latvia’s judicial system, which he referred to as “one of the weakest institutions” due to the inefficiency of the courts. Levits responded, explaining that over the past 10 years, the judicial system in Latvia has become much more efficient. He plans to continue this growth by introducing a change in criminal procedure law that allows judges to deliver judgement. Levits said this change will contribute to further developing an efficient court system in the country. Rozenberga said Latvia had to build its legal system from scratch following its restoration of independence from the Soviet Union. “It has been a very hard job, and as the President stated today, we have a very strong legal system, except a few technical things that we still have to fix and he’s currently working on that,” Rozenberga said. “Being a lawyer and judge in his previous professions, he really knows what needs to be done.” Daily Staff Reporter Kate Weiland can be reached at kmwblue@umich.edu.
Regents announce pay raise for Schlissel
Board heard from Anderson survivors at first in-person meeting Daily Staff Reporters
Survivors of Dr. Robert E. Anderson — a former University of Michigan doctor with hundreds of sexual abuse allegations against him dating back to the 1970s — spoke to the Board of Regents about their experiences with Anderson while they were students at the first in-person meeting for the Regents since March 2020. The meeting was held at the Postma Family Clubhouse on the University golf course. Regent Ron Weiser (R) showed up 30 minutes after the start of the meeting, and Regents Paul Brown (D) and Katherine White (D) joined the meeting virtually. A crowd of more than one hundred protested the University’s handling of Anderson prior to the start of the meeting, and during the public comment period, speakers recounted their experiences with Anderson and called on the University for accountability. Dozens of University employees were alerted to Anderson’s abuse throughout the decades, according to a report by the law firm WilmerHale commissioned
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by the University. The University has received backlash for their handling of the Anderson allegations. University alum Jeffrey DesCamp, the first public speaker, said he was abused by Anderson while receiving a Federal Aviation Administration medical examination, a test he needed to take to receive a certification to become a student pilot. Anderson mandated that DesCamp continually return to his office before he could receive his certification, visits in which Anderson left DesCamp shocked by the magnitude of the abuse he experienced. “I was savaged by (Anderson’s) insatiable desire to do as he pleased, while tears from my eyes streaked down my face from the pain he inflicted upon me,” DesCamp said. “I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t believe any human being could do what he was doing to me.” David Share, another survivor of Anderson’s abuse, stood before the Regents to ask them to take accountability for the wrongdoings of previous University administrators. Share pointed to the University’s common slogan of “Leaders and the Best” for their community, emphasizing that inaction would be contradicting that
claim. “You will forfeit U-M’s right to the claim of being leaders and best if you sidestep accountability for the harm caused by the misdeeds and mistakes of University of Michigan leaders,” Share said. “For once and for all, you need to address these wrongs. I urge you to do so.” Other speakers, like former U-M football player Vincent Washington, described feeling silenced by University leaders and appalled at the University’s seeming protection of Anderson. Through tears, Washington described why he felt discouraged to speak up about Anderson’s abuse and how the trauma has affected him in the years since. “The question I always ask myself is, ‘Why didn’t I put it together, or object, or say something sooner?’” Washington said. “Coach Bo (Schembechler) would always say that the enemy of learning was distraction, the enemy of winning was being a distraction. So, subconsciously, I knew that if I became a distraction, my career at Michigan would be over. I carry a lot of guilt for this.” Several former student-athletes have alleged in the WilmerHale report and publicly that they told
longtime head football coach Bo Schembechler about the abuse. Matt Schembechler, Bo’s son, said this summer that Anderson abused him when he was young but that Bo blew off his complaint. Other members of the Schembechler family have disputed that account. Former U-M hockey player Dean Turner said he felt that the University cared about their reputation more than Anderson victims like himself. “The University could have put an end to this and protected student athletes such as myself, but instead they protected a rapist and a brand,” Turner said. “I have and will continue to suffer the traumas of this rape, as you know. Healing doesn’t follow a timeline, and neither should we.” Regent Jordan Acker (D), chair of the board, thanked the survivors for speaking at the public hearing and maintained that the University is committed to preventing further abuse like that of Anderson. He said that he and the other regents were limited to what they could say due to the confidential mediation process going on in court.
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ADMINISTRATION
University finalizes new sexual misconduct policy Updated guidelines clarify reporting procedures, outline process for handling allegations
GEORGE WEYKAMP & DOMINIC COLETTI Daily Staff Reporters
The University of Michigan announced a finalized sexual and gender-based misconduct policy on Thursday that includes more concrete definitions of misconduct, clarifies ways to report misconduct and outlines procedures for addressing sexual and gender-based misconduct allegations. This policy replaces the interim umbrella policy, Standard Practice Guide and other related policies that were instituted in August 2020. The new policy will take effect on all three U-M campuses and Michigan Medicine on Oct. 1. According to Regent Chair Jordan Acker (D), the new policy has been in the works since he was elected to the
Board of Regents in 2018. Acker said the policy would aid in the University’s efforts to support victims of misconduct and prevent misconduct from occurring in the first place. “President Schlissel and the Board of Regents have been focused on making sure we improve our policies and procedures around sexual misconduct for as long as I’ve been on the Board,” Acker said. “This new policy and accompanying procedures will help us prevent sexual misconduct, but also protect survivors from unnecessary trauma. Although we have more work to do, this is a significant step forward and I want to commend all in the community who have worked to make this change happen.” The University has grappled with numerous instances of sexual misconduct in recent years, including the cases of late U-M athletic doctor
Robert Anderson and former Provost Martin Philbert. Allegations of sexual misconduct against professors in the Computer Science and Engineering department have also recently surfaced, prompting further investigation into the department’s climate and culture. University President Mark Schlissel said in a press release that the new policy reflects the University’s commitment to preventing sexual misconduct and supporting victims. The new policy is a result of feedback obtained from the University community, Schlissel said. “The Board of Regents, the university’s leadership team and I remain sharply focused on continually improving the ways in which we prevent prohibited conduct, support survivors in our community, and promptly investigate reports of mis-
conduct,” Schlissel said. “This policy reflects important feedback from our entire community, including students, faculty, staff and alumni.” The new policy also refers specifically to the Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX Office that was announced in July and replaced the controversial Office for Institutional Equity. ECRT handles the same allegations and cases that OIE did while providing more “support and prevention” measures, according to Schlissel. Tamiko Strickman, the former OIE director, currently serves as the executive director of the ECRT. Strickman has faced scrutiny over the past years for two lawsuits that were filed against her and officials at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for mishandling of sex discrimination and misconduct cases. In an interview with The Daily ear-
lier this month, Schlissel said he hopes the ECRT would be able to provide better support for the University community. “We took the Office of Institutional Equity apart and rebuilt a new organization (ECRT), covering the functions of the old OIE but in a different way — one that’s designed to provide better support, more outreach, better education and integrate prevention efforts along with our other investigatory efforts,” Schlissel said. Schlissel said the new policy, which was originally planned to be implemented by July 2021, was delayed because of new sexual misconduct federal guidance from the Biden administration. The policy creates two distinct categories for individuals with reporting obligations, giving them slightly different responsibilities.
The first category is individuals who have the ability to perform “corrective action,” including regents, executive officers, head coaches, executive officers, chancellors and deans. Individuals in this category are required to report any and all information they receive about prohibited conduct, regardless of how or when they received it. The second category includes assistant and associate deans, administrators, supervisors and faculty members who accompany students on University-related study abroad programs. Individuals who fall into this category are required to report instances of misconduct if they became aware of the misconduct as part of their work for the University.
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From the Editor: I’m taking a break, and here’s why The Michigan Daily’s Editor-in-Chief took a step back from her duties from Sept. 23 to 30
CLAIRE HAO Editor-in-Chief
Recently, I’ve learned to use two phrases. I can’t, and I won’t. “I can’t” means I am unable to any longer. “I won’t” means I choose to protect myself from reaching this point again. So now, hear me out: I can’t, and I won’t, accept burnout anymore. For one week starting today, I am taking a break from The Michigan Daily. I’ll be stepping back from the entirety of my job’s responsibilities, deleting all of my social media and staying away from any contact related to The Daily. This is not a decision I make lightly. I wouldn’t be doing this unless absolutely necessary, because since my first day here I’ve cared about The Daily more than for myself. But after almost going to the
hospital when leaving The Daily’s office alone late Monday night, I refuse to keep allowing severe panic attacks as part of my day-to-day routine. I refuse to keep losing more hair, weight and blood and as nearly as much sleep. Yesterday, I told a friend my work at The Daily is ever-so-rapidly destroying my physical, mental and emotional health, not to mention my interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships or my dedication to my academics. He replied this destroying can lead to a “violent and deeply entrenched burnout.” I was comforted when he said this, because I now finally have language for what has been happening to me. Violence. You may scoff at that and call me dramatic, call me weak. But I’ve disparaged myself more times than you ever will. Or perhaps you’ll share this and call me inspirational, call me brave.
It won’t change the fact that my job is unsustainable and no longer possible in its current form. At the end of the day every day, what I really am is tired. So tired. I take home $150 a month to work roughly 70 hours a week, apparently an outlier even among other college newspaper editor-in-chiefs. On top of being a part-time student, a daughter, sister, partner, roommate and friend. Lately, the kind of workload I’ve shouldered dozens of dozens of times before makes me crack. I’ve deemed myself lazy, soft, less capable than all of the leaders who’ve come before. My best friend reminds me I’m doing this during an unprecedented pandemic. I counter that The Daily was around during the 1918 Spanish flu. But it’s not just the pandemic that’s exacerbated the difficulties of my role. It’s The Daily’s 130-year-old problems with racism, sexism, classism and ableism that affect me intimately and
near constantly. It’s running “the only daily newspaper in the county” and being prepared to be called into duty at any moment in case of breaking news for almost two school years now with no days off, not even on the University of Michigan’s “well-being break.” It’s not ever escaping the uncomfortable reality, no matter how much I want to, that I’m presumably the first woman of color to lead this organization. It’s my desperation to prove myself despite my achievements and qualifications after hearing some say there have been too many women editor-in-chiefs and after being told multiple times to my face I am where I am because of “diversity.” I know The Daily’s problems, and it’s not that I haven’t tried to fix them. In fact, I’ve done nothing but try. I ran for this position in hopes of making The Daily more accessible; those who work here know that’s essentially my buzzword. I’ve delegated all the
responsibility possible that I can think of without overwhelming someone else; created new structures, processes and positions to make sure my adjustments last. A week and a half ago, I initiated a conversation on burnout among editors, and we’ve been practicing setting boundaries. I’ve been heartened to see improvement, slow but steady. But institutional and cultural change takes time, and my health can’t wait any longer. Honestly, in our heavily decentralized organization of 450 people at its peak, assuming the lion’s share of this burden only makes it worse, because I hurt when I see The Daily hurt someone else. I usually doubt my every decision, but I’m confident in taking this step back. Because as I’m writing this, for the first time in 48 hours, I’m no longer worried about falling into a panic attack at any moment. For the first time in several days, I finally feel at peace.
I was most hesitant to write this because I truly don’t want to scare others from joining or remaining at The Daily. Because despite it all, at this very moment, I can sincerely say that I love and care deeply about this place. More than any other organization, The Daily has changed the trajectory of my life and shapes who I am and want to be. It gives me identity and purpose, pride and joy, resonance and perspective, community and solidarity and memories and lifelong friends. Even on my toughest days, I’m honored to run a platform that houses stories that may otherwise not have a prominently public space. And that’s why quitting The Daily is the last thing I’ll do. Because for now, and even now, this place is worth staying for. So I will be back, and when I am, I won’t know what’s next. But I will be more able to work with my staff to reimagine a better way.
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Arts
Wednesday, September 29, 2021 — 4
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
‘Euphoria’ is Gen Z’s looking glass JADEN KATZ
Daily Arts Writer
Content warning: Addiction, substance use “Euphoria,” Gen Z’s favorite show about Gen Z has just announced plans for its second season. Based on creator Sam Levinson’s “own experience with anxiety, addiction and depression,” HBO’s racy drama about high school follows a group of students as they grapple with their own post-pubescent hurdles, from the pressures of athletic and academic stardom to deceit on dating apps. It’s called “Euphoria,” but “a feeling of intense happiness and excitement” is not what you feel as you begin the first episode, observing footage of the World Trade Center attacks. “Euphoria” begins the same way Gen Z was thrust into the world: amid the violent ruins of post 9/11 America. The unrelentingly heavy tone of the show, which depicts subjects such as drug use, violence and revenge child pornography, has made it equally loved and hated for what fans see as accuracy and what critics see as glorification of its subject matter. The backlash can perhaps be interpreted as an example of what happens when art imitates life a little too vibrantly, and here, Gen Z’s own trauma is projected back to us in moody technicolor. “Euphoria” stars Rue Bennett, a 17-yearold teen struggling with addiction, who in an ironic twist is played by Zendaya (“Dune”), our generation’s favorite Disney star. The students are revealed to us through Rue’s unreliable narration, and we experience the highs and lows of high school as Rue does. As a result, while the harsh realities of drug use and addiction are made clear (in
the second episode of the first season, Rue is shown laying in a pile of her own vomit after overdosing), Rue’s altered state gives the trippy scenes in “Euphoria” the most beautiful visuals, music and cinematography in the entire show. Yet, somehow, these scenes maintain a balance between being heavily stylized and viscerally realistic. Ultimately, the way “Euphoria” deals with its heaviest topics is uncomfortable and shocking. “Euphoria” and its unapologetically bold depiction of mature themes have fueled many critics; some conservative organizations have even called for the show to be removed from the air due to what they see as the glamorization of violence, pills and sex. The Parents Television and Media Council, a U.S. Christian censorship advocacy group, expressed concern that “HBO, with its new high school-centered show ‘Euphoria,’ appears to be overtly, intentionally marketing extremely graphic adult content — sex, violence, profanity and drug use – to teens and preteens.” The media review platform Movie Guide has called upon its readers to sign a petition demanding HBO pull “Euphoria” from its programming, which it describes as “vile beyond belief.” It is perhaps due to all of this that “Euphoria” has already become a cult classic — Gen Z’s “Pulp Fiction.” In the years following the show’s release, Gen Zers have cultivated a so-called “Euphoria aesthetic,” using colors and styles emblematic of the show so fully and so frequently that it is hard to imagine our generation before “Euphoria” aired in 2019. Teens across the country began wearing glitter-tear makeup and dressing up as characters Cassie and Maddie for Halloween. The actors’ Instagram accounts have gained millions of
Design by Madison Grosvenor
followers, and many fashion brands catered towards Gen Z have adopted the bold style of the show’s universe. The way Gen Z has adopted the “Euphoria” aesthetic makes it feel as though the show is the mirror Gen Z didn’t know it needed. The generation’s embrace of the series is more about teens expressing their identity through technology and self-discovery and feeling understood than wanting to glorify substance use and sexual assault. Levinson claims that, for “Euphoria,” he “was just trying to capture that kind of
heightened sense of emotion when you’re young, and how relationships feel.” This decision, he says, was made to help older generations understand Gen Z, and for members of Gen Z to realize they are not alone as the gap between generations continues to widen and technology increasingly impacts how we live our lives. Like characters Rue, Jules, Cassie, Maddie and Nate, I was born into a post9/11 America. I, too, sat through lockdown drills, consumed media I probably shouldn’t have at my age. Though “Euphoria” is more
severe than my experience, for me and many of my friends, the series represents many of the problems that we face and accurately reflects our generation’s fears and anxieties. Unlike the multitude of other shows about high school for Gen Z that I’ve recently watched, seeing these issues, albeit in the show’s caricatured, melodramatic depictions, felt cathartic and validated my own struggles with anxiety and technology throughout high school. “Euphoria” is Gen Z, in all of its glittery, confusing, pixelated glory.
Messy on Main: The life and death of finsta MATTHEW EGGERS Daily Arts Writer
The pains of sharing a photo on Instagram are almost never ending. A pimple too big, a filter too “cheugy” and a smile too large can all be deemed a final flaw. Even after finding the right photo, there is still the aesthetic to consider — pulling and twisting a photo you love to fit into the dollhouse that is your profile page. This pre-post step is mandatory: You have to clean up the clutter in an image, so it can perfectly occupy an ornate frame like an open house nightmare.
To be honest, this elaborate process is all too much for me. I haven’t posted on Instagram in, like, a year. Or, well, I haven’t posted on my “main” account that is. During the summer, I cultivated my “fake Instagram,” a.k.a finsta, as a chaotic conglomeration of bad poetry and midnight escapades to all 10 of my followers. This smaller, private account allowed me to vent about my feelings and post about private life in a way that my main account could never allow. Why in the world would I want my aunt — one of my many main-Instagram followers — to know when I’m clubbing, cruising and crashing? Unlike Facebook, there is a level of
anonymity that is fostered on Instagram. You’re allowed to have multiple accounts under the same contact information. In fact, these accounts aren’t considered connected to each other, giving the Gen Z user the freedom to make as many niche, obscure accounts as their heart desires. And the birth of finsta was inevitable after Instagram became mainstream. When you have hundreds of followers, finding a post that makes everyone happy is overwhelming. What might be funny to your college friends is “blasphemy” in the eyes of your uncle. As opposed to these anonymous, niche accounts, the level of reality depicted on
main Instagram accounts is abysmal. There is a saturated market for face editing apps. There are websites that will create special instagram caption fonts for your next post. On some apps, you even have the ability to track how and when your followers frequent your account. But running a personal Instagram shouldn’t feel like being a marketing manager. Consolidating photos that are cohesive to your account’s “aesthetic” can look super cute, but is it true to oneself? To get those photos means leaving parts yourself out of the picture. Setting up photos at brunch feels a little artificial if you wouldn’t be caught awake before 1 p.m.
Design by Madison Grosvenor
on a weekend. Social media shouldn’t feel limiting. Posting on your main page shouldn’t feel like adding set pieces to a retail display. It should feel like sharing what you love with people who care. Sure, I have that sense of authentic closeness among my 10 finsta followers, but at what cost? Why lead this Hannah Montana fantasy — with girl-next-door Miley on a finsta and popstar Hannah on the main — when it is easier to just cultivate an authentic digital persona on one main account? Crusty dog photos, crying selfies and all? Gen Z has taken note of these questions, and Instagram culture has shifted. People don’t use their finstas as much, maybe because the pandemic showed just how tiring performing on social media can be in the end. Now, mains are messier — in a good way. It starts out small. A post of a sunset is met with a Vine (a.k.a. an extinct TikTok predecessor) quote. Suddenly, Twitter screenshots are used to punctuate the ends of slideshow posts. You repost content from @umichaffirmations more often. Insta stories are now home to Spotify recommendations and blurry candid photos. I appreciate the candidness of the people I follow. Their mains are messy in a way that a room is lived in. Sometimes you don’t make your bed, and that is okay. Sometimes you have pit stains when taking a selfie, and that is also okay. Your pit sweat shouldn’t kill your happiness just like the assortment of cups that adorn your room isn’t clutter, but chic. I mean, my room right now is college-core, raccoon-eye chic; interior design is not my main concern. The spaces we exist in shouldn’t be ready-made store displays. Instagram shouldn’t feel like the dorm room shown to you during a campus tour. Social media is not the room where all your dirty clothes, mismatched socks and retainers are thrown in the closet. That is so 2015. Let the chachkas you love and collect bathe in the sun. For so long, I thought social media was a thing to be graded or gawked at. But it can be something to explore and grow into when you get messy on main.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 29, 2021 — 5
The dystopian reality of ‘White Women’s Instagram’ BEN SERVETAH Daily Arts Writer
“Latte foam art. Tiny pumpkins. Fuzzy, comfy socks …” Four months ago, comedian, musician, writer, actor and filmmaker Bo Burnham (“Promising Young Woman”) released “Inside.” Today, the internet is still grappling with how to feel about it. Unlike Burnham’s previous specials, “Inside” is more of a political art piece than a comedy. Subtle wit is done away with altogether, and in its place Burnham has created something that feels as crude and hopeless as being in quarantine during a global pandemic. And for the most part, his artistic transition from standup to existential fantasia has been met with applause. However, there’s plenty of warranted criticism to be made about the tone Burnham employs while satirizing the hypocrisy of the digital age. Mainly, he can be guilty of the same performative activism that he condemns. Accordingly, it’s perfectly reasonable to find his patronizing attitude offputting. In fact, that’s exactly how I felt the first time I watched “White Woman’s Instagram”— a satirical music video from “Inside.” The song pokes fun at shallow social media posts, commonly found on young, white women’s Instagram pages. At first, I wasn’t sure if the joke was funny enough to warrant what appeared, at the time, to be notes of misogyny. Yet, Gen Z seemed to embrace the song. I found it all over my TikTok feed the day after Burnham’s special was released, with many users joining in on the joke. It stuck with pop culture, and surprisingly, it stuck with me. Not because of its arrogant dismissal of white women, but because of the opposite: Bo Burnham cares about why we, as
a generation, can’t overcome our need to post content. There’s a Bo Burnham interview that I always think about. In it, he talks about how young people right now are perceived as a “me, me, me” generation, when the truth is that it’s far sadder than that. For the first time in history, celebrities are no longer these massive icons on Mount Olympus. Thanks to social media, everyone is on a spectrum of celebrity, and by the time you reach middle school, you probably already know where you rank. Hence, every time a so-called “Gen Zer” feels the need to post about how much fun they’re having or who they’re hanging out with, they’re not screaming for attention. They’re begging for acceptance. “White Woman’s Instagram” is simply a caricature of this devastating, generational phenomenon put to music. This need for approval does not only impact women, of course, but throughout American history and beyond, it’s no secret that women have been forced to be aware of themselves in ways that men have not. Social media apps like Instagram and Tiktok are specifically designed to reward attractiveness — measured by standards that aren’t even human. As a result, the entire self-worth of teenagers right now is dependent on their ability to achieve likes in this twisted, virtual world. The insecurities of awkward 13-year-olds are being tapped into in ways that previous generations couldn’t have imagined. Burnham later touches on this in his wonderfullysarcastic monologue: “Maybe allowing giant, digital media corporations to exploit the neurochemical drama of our children for profit, you know, maybe that was a bad call by us. Maybe the f lattening of the entire, subjective human experience into a lifeless exchange
of value that benefits nobody except for, you know, a handful of bug-eyed salamanders in Silicon Valley … maybe that as a way of life, forever … maybe that’s not good.” In “White Women’s Instagram” and several other “Inside” tracks, the world is a late-stage capitalist dystopia nearing its apocalypse. This is evident in Burnham’s song “That Funny Feeling,” where he lists off the strange contradictions of modern America — “Deadpool’s selfawareness,” “Bugles’ take on race,” “stunning 8k resolution meditation app.” In our pursuit of human evolution, we can’t even tell the branded, virtual world from the real one. Understanding this context casts “White Women’s Instagram” in a whole different light. It’s not about the ridiculousness of white girls. It’s about the commodification of human life. “A novel,” “a couple holding hands,” “fresh fallen snow on the ground.” These are real, meaningful joys that life has to offer. Yet, instead of getting to experience them, the existence of social media has changed them into something else: a potential Instagram post. A chance to earn status. A piece of social currency. I cannot imagine something crueler to take from our generation than the simple beauties of the world. That’s not to say that in “White Women’s Instagram” and other tracks like it Burnham is being fully sympathetic to our generation. After all, he technically rests in the Millennial age range, and as a result, much of his criticism is directed toward individual shallowness and the loss of challenging art due to social media “aesthetics.” However, like all great satire, Burnham has a level of empathy here that makes the song so much heavier in significance than it seems on the surface.
For instance: Throughout the majority of “White Woman’s Instagram,” black bars appear on either side to keep the images in a neat, square dimension, mimicking Instagram’s popularized format. About three quarters into the video, Burnham assumes a character who has lost her mother. As she speaks earnestly about her grief, the bars descend to the sides, depicting a shift away from the digital world and into a more honest, human one. Before
of the most hilarious, well-informed, open-minded people in history. Yet my heart breaks for how anxious, insecure and straight-up depressed we have become due to our hunger for genuine human experience. I hope, perhaps with naivety, that these are just symptoms of being the first generation raised on iPhones. Maybe when Gen Zers become parents, our understanding of the internet’s true dangers will inform our kids in ways that our parents
Design by Mellisa Lee
she can get too sincere though, the bars come back, reconstructing the Instagram framing just in time for “a goat cheese salad!” In this scene, Burnham challenges us to consider how social media compels us to prove our happiness to others. Rather than being able to face grief in a natural, healthy way, emotion is numbed through the forces of constant entertainment and artificial self-branding. If it wasn’t clear already, I love the people of my generation. Growing up on the internet has made way for some
just didn’t have the experience to. However, American life under capitalism means that things will always keep going. Our children will likely grow up in new, virtual worlds that we aren’t able to comprehend — potentially ones even more dangerous than ours. I know that’s a pretty depressing note to end on, but keeping with the spirit of “Inside,” sometimes confronting the truth is a terrifying thing to do. If we want real change, we can’t keep chugging ahead. We need to slow down.
Kissing and Tiktoking: Gen Z girls reclaim the hookup story KAYA GINSKY
Daily Arts Contributor
In the middle of a blue LEDlit dorm room housing a gaggle of first-year girls, a phone blares the elementary ABCs. “Stand up if you’ve been with a J,” a girl yells when the letter passes over the phone’s screen. Every girl shoots up and poses for the video, collectively groaning about their romantic experiences with the stereotypical, thoughtless “J-named boy.” TikTok trends like the “ABC hookup list” embody how Gen-Z girls are reclaiming their sexual and romantic lives. Similarly, Gen-Z girls post humiliating dating, flirting and hookup stories set to Seal’s “Crazy” and “Are they hot or are they just (insert adjective here)” videos — in which they illustrate the niche traits they find attractive in a love interest. By being honest on social media, recongizing both the triumphs and pitfalls of hook-ups and love, we erase the shame baked into the female experience. Thanks to TikTok, these conversations are broadcasted globally for girls to empathize with.
Older generations tell us what is “too mature” for our age and the media tells us what is “too prudish.” We are taught to laugh when Sandy wears both a long-sleeved cheer costume and a tight leather set in “Grease” and to sneer when Taylor Swift meets “yet another boyfriend.” Boys high-five their guy friends and stare at their girl friends when rumors about sexual encounters spread in the halls. When society shames young women for their sexual or romantic histories, we internalize our struggles, desires and experiences as wrong or abnormal. If society were to destigmatize and recongize female sexual and romantic histories, we would be more equipped to accept and embrace our sexuality and ourselves. Until then, we are stuck in a vicious cycle, held to unattainable standards wherein sex and abstinence, being noncommittal and being romantic and fooling around and monogamy are all “wrong.” As we internalize these norms, nothing really feels “right.” Teenage girls deserve an outlet to discuss their personal experiences with hookup culture. We find that outlet on Tiktok, where there is little shame in telling our story.
Design by Maggie Wiebe
In dorms across the country, teen girls have been commiserating in each other’s romantic woes for decades. Digitization makes these conversations (set to music ranging from City Girls’ “Twerkulator” to the ABCs) more
casual, open and funny — within the dorms and also on a global level. In TikTok trends like the “ABC hookup list,” girls blush as they stand for 26 letters or zero letters of the alphabet because others tell them it’s
“too many” or “too few.” But within these small circles of laughing girls, removed from the pressures and expectations of what is “normal” for a teenage girl, there is no judgement. With secrets out in the open and set to a soundtrack of bouncy music, girls can have real, honest conversations. We can find solace in the fact that others go through the same things we do. We learn that sex and romance are personal, and we are all simply doing what is “right” for us. As my roommate stood for “M,” she told me about a high school crush who was far more than a crush. As I stood for “A,” I told her about my h sumiliating first kiss. We told each other we would look out for one another as we navigate college love with rosecolored glasses. These lovestruck conversations are just as important as the basic roommate inquiries: “When do you go to bed?” and “What’s your favorite movie?” Tiktok started these conversations. When Gen-Z looks back with horror at our old TikToks, I hope we can be proud that we worked toward destigmatizing love, sex and adolescent absurdity via a 30-second clip set to the ABCs.
Gen Z’s bucket list RUSHABH SHAH
Daily Arts Contributor
Picture this: a lazy Monday afternoon. I’m sitting on my couch in the 100 degree weather of Mumbai, India, scrolling through Twitter. Now, every few days, I’ll see the occasional insightful Tweet, but none stuck with me quite like this one: “Gen Z will drink one medium caramel latte, not eat a single thing till 4 p.m., verbally abuse a racist, crack a joke about their mental health and pick up a tear gas canister with their bare hands, but get nervous when they have to call to make a doctor’s appointment.” As blunt as it is, the tweet’s author makes a valid point here: Gen Z is brave and unapologetic. Gen Z doesn’t take ifs, buts or maybes when it comes to something we believe in. Be it the Harry Potter community’s swift cancellation of its formerlybeloved writer, or the collective antiEuropean Super League outrage of soccer fans across the globe that had the highest-ranking officials in the sport quaking in their boots or the countless social media pages that try to amplify voices that need to be heard, Gen Z will stubbornly fight for
what is right, even if it means turning against the things and people we love. And it’s not just about what is right for society, Gen Z-ers know what is right for us. Is it selfish to put your needs first sometimes? Absolutely not. It’s 2021 and mental health is at the forefront of our conversations — in large part due to Gen Z’s willingness to reject doing things that do not bring us happiness. That is what makes Gen Z such a force. That being said, there are some things we just will not do and it is hilarious. So, inspired by my mystery twitter hero, here is The Michigan Daily’s Bucket List for Gen Z: a nonexhaustive list of all the things Gen Z should be able to do, but simply cannot. - Make a doctor’s appointment - Send food back at a restaurant - Use either Insta stories or Snap stories, but not both - Drink water (Just five glasses a day, it’s not that difficult) - Be into comic books and anime (It’s always one or the other, never both) - Order black coffee - Cope in ways other than comedy - Delete TikTok for more than a week
- Wear a color other than black, white and grey (and the occasional navy blue) - Not form an entire opinion around a topic upon learning the slightest thing about it - Not make fun of Millennials - Write a bad Yelp review - Leave a below-20% tip - Abstain from thrifting right after donating clothes - Make a Spotify playlist without that one song (Yes I get it, Taylor Swift is amazing, but you can’t put “You Belong With Me” on a workout playlist) - Have more than one go-to fast food chain Now, these things seem straightforward — some of them are as mundane as tasks get. So, why can’t Gen Z do it? As a member of this fascinating generation, I’d probably lean towards the “we care too much about the sentiments of others” argument, but that answer seems way too simple. Members of older generations might resort to one of their many regular, anti-Gen Z complaints, including but not limited to: “They can’t take responsibility,” “They’ve had it too easy, they don’t want to get out of their comfort zone”
Design by Mellisa Lee
or my personal favorite “Pfft, kids nowadays *cracks knuckles* they’ve gone soft.” So, I don’t know. I don’t know why Gen Z hesitates from doing things well below their pay grade and seemingly included in a sane person’s comfort zone. It is intriguing and amusing, but I guess that could be said about a lot of things this generation does. What cannot be argued is that we
keep you on your toes. With Gen Z, you never know what’s coming next. Gen Z will carry society into the future and I have no doubt that we will do a spectacular job. But I’d sleep a little easier knowing that our water intake is a bit more regular, “Sweet Caroline” doesn’t make it onto our “study music to focus” playlist and we can actually call the doctor when our friend’s knee pops out.
Michigan in Color
6 — Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Taylor Swift as a means of healing
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
What is anti-racist public health?
SARAH AKAABOUNE MiC Columnist
EASHETA SHAH MiC Columnist
I spent much of my adolescence in a lockedin, exhausting, clawing, screaming one-sided war with Taylor Swift in the same way I had spent much of my childhood in the same kind of battle with the color pink. Taylor Swift sings about boys too much and Taylor Swift lied about Kanye West and Taylor Swift makes music for little girls and for girls that can’t throw and for girls that worry about breaking their nails, and I’m just not that kind of girl you know? I don’t worry about breaking my nails and I wear blue jeans and did you know I don’t own even a single dress and I retch and gag every single time one of her songs come on the radio and scream CHANGE THE STATION my EARS are BLEEDING mostly because I don’t like myself. And perhaps more than anything else, it was a raging, crawling sort of sick, a crippling envy, an aggressive jealousy that fueled the war I began with myself and by extension, Taylor Swift, because I felt like a huge, gaping fraud every single time I listened to her. Understand that when you have never been allowed to be a woman, your womanhood is no longer an inherent part of yourself, but rather, it becomes a commodity, something meant to be bought and traded, stolen and taken from you against your will. It is put up to trial and dangled in your face as an untouchable, convoluted sort of construct a million times over, so that in time it becomes easier to reject the very notion of being a woman rather than dig and dig until your palms weather down to the bone, beg for penance and sell your dignity in search for a reason why. Womanhood no longer belongs to you, no longer presents itself as immovable, unshakable, tangible, something wholly and unequivocally yours in the same way you own shoes, or your nose, or your work or your words. Know that when you take away ownership of womanhood, you take everything attached to it, you take innocence and care, you take grace and love, you take the spine, so that soon you are denied existence as any kind of woman, a loud-mouthed woman, a stubborn woman, a greedy woman, a woman that likes the color purple so much she painted the kitchen lilac and the living room lavender and the dining room violet. Things become harder and flawed, infinitely more difficult to navigate after the fact — because womanhood has never been as simple as a derivation of the physical body. To lack in this way, or more so, to be made aware of this lack and to be treated as if you are a problem for asking for more, to be treated as if you are the very
Over the course of the past year, local and state governments have urgently declared racism as a public health crisis. On Aug. 5, 2020, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive directive to this end and created the Black Leadership Advisory Council as an advisory capacity to develop and direct racially equitable policies and actions in Michigan. These declarations were long overdue, and both the COVID-19 pandemic and the surge in state-sanctioned violence in 2020 brought to light the historical failures of our institutions which serve as a constant threat to the health of marginalized populations. Health inequities, or systematic differences in the health status of certain population groups, are driven by social determinants of health. “Healthy People 2020,” a federally supported prevention agenda, describes social determinants of health as “conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health … outcomes and risks.” In other words, if an individual is born into a neighborhood that has poor access to health care, they do not have the appropriate means to maintain their health. These kinds of barriers are man-made, enforced by legislation that has been historically exclusionary. Thus, stark disparities across these factors must be traced back to their root cause: systemic racism. Systemic racism is the foundation for the nation we live in today, but what does this ultimately mean for public health? What does this mean for future public health professionals as we strive toward a more equitable world for all? This past weekend, Public Health Awakened (PHA)’s Michigan Chapter hosted its first-ever public webinar promoting community education and engagement in a two-part series to discuss “AntiRacist Public Health: What it is, What it is not, and What it Could/Should be.” PHA is a grassroots organization that came together in response to the 2016 election. Since then, it has grown into a “national network of public health professionals organizing for health, equity and justice” — all the way from California to Washington, D.C., to Michigan. As a national project of Human Impact Partners, PHA focuses on incorporating the skills and
Courtesy of Atiya Safi Farooque
antithesis of anything feminine and a thorn in a million and one sides, a chewed-up pen cap underfoot, is to become dead while you’re alive. And instead, anger, grief, volatile pain are directed at women like Taylor Swift because she is everything you have never been and everything you have never been allowed to be. In healing, reckoning and reconciling with yourself are perhaps the most difficult tasks. You begin to lead a gritty, rock-hard, mucky existence fraught with disbelief so that livid rage turns spite into grief because to heal is to recognize that you were never an angry woman but you were a grieving woman, in grief over all the things that were taken from you, and the kind of woman you could’ve been and the kind of woman you could be if the way you loved and the way you were loved was anything other than what it was. And to write about it is the most assertive thing one can do and where do you go from here after letting the world know? Where to start and where to begin and how to tie everything back together, and do you stitch it up or do you pack it deep in a cardboard box and bury it under the time capsule in your backyard or do you give it to the wind or tie it to the sort of special balloon that could break the sky? And more than anything else, in healing, the answer lies with Taylor Swift. I didn’t like Taylor Swift for many reasons. First, because I didn’t like country music and then because I didn’t like pop music and then because I didn’t like her Reputation Era because who writes an entire album in the deep dark sewers of social cancellation after being subsequently canceled and Kanye and Kim were right and she was wrong. I didn’t
like Taylor Swift because I thought she didn’t make music for women with one foot here and the other over there, women who existed in the ill-conceived derivation of purgatory that comes with feeling not enough of something and too much of something else, women that wrestled and fought and begged for space and understanding and humility and to be taken as they were, and mostly, for women like me. I didn’t like Taylor Swift because I didn’t like me. It’s easier to find flaws in a woman like Taylor Swift than to ever question why you found them, why you picked at them, had your fingers ready to unravel snags in every album she had ever put forth or her fanbase or her lyrics. It’s easy because she’s Taylor Swift and she won’t hear a word you say or ever put you in your place except she’s Taylor Swift and she’s been questioned and ripped apart not just by you, but the whole world so much that either people rabidly love her or hate her. I listened to Taylor Swift for the first time in seven years a month before my 19th birthday. Her lyrical genius was mesmerizing, fantastical, so extraordinarily well put together that I’d counter Taylor Swift is a writer before she ever is a singer. Her albums are never an “open and shut” case, but rather an evergreen testament to the sort of love and outrage that we never seem to forget because nothing is over until it’s really over. I understand now what it means to truly listen to Taylor Swift and to not feel like a liar or a phony or a fake in doing so, in knowing that she too, has had to piece herself back together and that to heal is to listen to Taylor Swift and feel like enough, and mostly, to love yourself to the moon and to Saturn.
backgrounds of its members as people in public health to social justice movements across the nation. Locally, the Michigan chapter has been actively involved in voting initiatives, harm reduction programs and the development of educational toolkits. Importantly, PHA practices antiracist public health to move beyond performative measures and create true, lasting change. For the organization, this entails an explicitly abolitionist agenda, which involves conscious re-education and coalition building, as well as a transformation of prison and policing systems from the inside out. Chapter members Jannah Bierens and Vanessa Fry kicked off the first part of this series by discussing the importance of historical context when considering health today. By raising awareness of the dominant narratives that justify current policies, Bierens encouraged attendees to dig deeper into the root causes of population health. “History does not end,” Bierens reflected, “If we don’t know our history … We are missing a large part of our narrative.” Re-education demands critical analysis of past legislation and how it continues to affect population outcomes. For example, FDR’s New Deal aimed to stimulate the economy through mortgage loans, but this aid only extended to the white population. Ultimately, the federal program legitimized housing segregation and left predominantly Black neighborhoods divested from further widening the racial wealth gap. The policy’s aftermath is still present in cities today that have poor access to nutritious food, high exposure to pollution and unsustainable infrastructure for natural and man-made disasters. Addressing public health is acknowledging racist history and power dynamics. At its most fundamental level, holistic public health must be actively anti-racist. In the second part of the series, PHA invited guest panelists Maria Thomas and Jordan X. Evans to speak about their fieldwork in a Q&A moderated by Jannah Bierens. Thomas is a public health activist who works with the Washtenaw County-based organization Liberate Don’t Incarcerate, whereas Evans is a racial equity consultant and Black Lives Matter organizer from Lansing.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
The Mid-Autumn Festival VICTORIA TAN MiC Columnist
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Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
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Release Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2021
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1 puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com
ACROSS 1 A third of XXX, maybe? 4 Rorschach image 8 Make oneself decent, so to speak 13 “That’s rough” 15 Clothing store website category 16 Spunk 17 Colombian coin 18 *Steam 20 One in a Hollywood crowd 22 Yoko who voiced a self-named character in 2018’s “Isle of Dogs” 23 Sedate, say 24 *Western capital 28 PC file suffix 29 Skip over 30 Come clean, with “up” 32 __ buco 34 Paul who founded a pet food company 37 Utterly lost 40 *Systematic rumor spreading 43 “Buffalo Stance” singer Cherry 44 Fail to enunciate 45 Love of money, to all evil? 46 Faltering step 48 Condescend 50 “So pretty!” 52 *Wite-Out alternative 57 Made fun of 59 Zero-__ game 60 Hyundai sedan no longer sold in the U.S. 61 Hikers’ starting points ... or what the ends of the answers to starred clues can be? 65 Work on text, maybe 66 They’re rarely worth splitting 67 Blue prints, e.g.? 68 Do a fall chore 69 Tear up 70 With everything in its place 71 Young guy
DOWN 1 Records, oldstyle 2 Siri counterpart 3 Daydreams 4 Munich-based automaker 5 Bucolic setting 6 En pointe 7 Taiwanese golfer Yani __, youngest to win five majors 8 It’s known for lines, briefly 9 Fork locale 10 Steel guitar device 11 Dakota tribe 12 Suit material 14 Postgame griper 19 It may be pitched 21 Provençal pal 25 Dog in the comics 26 Raises 27 Half-moon tide 31 Telescope toter 32 Come clean, with “up” 33 How __-crab soup 27 some taxes 35 Commonly injured ligament for NFLers
36 Riyadh native 38 Freudian focus 39 Carpenter __ 41 Singer Collins 42 TV’s talking horse 47 “Don’t be silly!” 49 Brewpub initials 50 They’re taken on stands 51 Daytime TV mogul 53 Knight adventure
54 MSG flavor 55 “Get Out” actress Alexander 56 Like books on goodreads.com 58 Very serious indeed 62 Drug whose effects are similar to psilocybin 63 July 4th letdown 64 Pigs’ digs
PUZZLE: ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
09/29/21 09/22/21
By August Miller ©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/29/21
WHISPER “How many subs?”
“It’s pretty siiiiimple, man.”
It was so dark that I could barely see to the end of the driveway. The porch lights illuminated the chirping crickets and fireflies fluttering around. Eight-year-old me had no idea why my mom had interrupted my cartoons and dragged me and my brother outside in the middle of the night. My dad tried to light some candles but the frigid autumn wind kept blowing the flame out. When he finally managed to light them, we put them inside a bright red whale and butterfly lantern that dangled on a long plastic stick. I quickly forgot about how low the temperature outside had dropped as I ran around the driveway with the shining lantern and playing with sparklers. I still remember my mom watching me nervously, afraid I would fall and somehow catch on fire — which, knowing my klutziness, was, and still is, a likely possibility. At the time, I assumed that we were playing outside because it was Halloween or someone’s birthday, but as I know now, it was actually the Mid-Autumn Festival. This celebration falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar (Sept. 21 this year) and is also known as the Moon(cake) Festival or Lantern Festival. It is celebrated in Northeast Asian countries like China and South Korea as well as Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore, where my parents are from. I have heard this day be referred to as “Chinese Thanksgiving,” but in reality, the two holidays have little in common aside from the time of year it is celebrated and family reunions. There are many versions of the story behind this day, but the common retelling I learned is that the Earth was being scorched by 10 suns and no vegetation could grow. An archer named Hou Yi saved everyone by shooting down nine of the suns with a bow and arrow and was rewarded with the elixir of immortality. However, he didn’t want to live forever without his wife Chang E and gave the elixir to her for safekeeping. Hou Yi earned many followers for his bravery, but one of them found out about the elixir and attempted to steal it. Instead of letting him take it, Chang E drank the elixir herself and flew to the moon, the closest place to Earth in heaven. Hoping to someday reunite, he would present the moon with mooncakes every anniversary of that day. It is said that the full moon shines the brightest on this day. Traditional mooncakes are typically round and golden-brown with ornate
patterns stamped on top of them. During the Ming Dynasty in China, secret messages were hidden in mooncakes and used to pass information between resistance forces during an uprising against the royal court. Today, these pastries are typically filled with dried fruit, nuts, sweet red bean paste, white lotus paste or my favorite, green tea paste. Since the mooncakes tend to look identical from the outside (much to everyone’s annoyance), I remember sneakily taking bites out of several ones trying to find those filled withgreenteapasteand white lotus paste. Some mooncakes even have savory fillings such as Chinese sausage or radish. Other unique flavors I have come across include peanut butter, chocolate, ice cream and durian. When I was younger, I remember being offered ones filled with a salted egg yolk. To this day, I’m still not on board with this traditional flavor and will eat around the yolk when given one, but needless to say, this filling remains one of the most iconic today. Water caltrops, known as “lihng gok” in Chinese, are also associated with the MidAutumn Festival. These bizarre-looking black nuts are boiled to become soft and reveal a white, slightly sweet nutty interior when peeled. This snack resembles a bat, which is considered auspicious because the Chinese character for the word “bat” is a homonym for the character of the word “prosperity.” My family celebrates this day by enjoying a special dinner together. Every year, my mom wants family pictures with all the food and my dad repeatedly asks, “Can we eat yet?” My brother and I sneak food into our mouths when my mom isn’t looking. And there’s nothing quite like the coziness you get from being surrounded by steaming dishes when the weather is chilly outside. As far as I know, there is no one specific food associated with this meal like we would usually associate turkey with Thanksgiving. The main purpose is to reunite and enjoy each other’s company. My family in Malaysia will bring a table outside and put joss sticks and candles on it and pray to the moon. Neighbors will chat, enjoy mooncakes, drink tea and gaze at the moon together. Children will play with sparklers and bright red lanterns in animal shapes after it gets dark. My mom says that she remembers bringing in toilet paper rolls for arts and crafts time in school to make their own lanterns when she was growing up. People will barely be able to make each other out in the faint moonlight, but you can hear laughter and chatter for miles.
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Michigan in Color
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Wednesday, September 29, 2021 — 7
The lessons in the stride LEEN SHARBA MiC Columnist
My perfect morning goes like this: I’m awake at least two hours before any commitment, class or meeting. I pour myself a glass of water and make a cup of coffee. I drink my coffee while snacking on almond-stuffed dates for energy. I change into my running clothes, slip on my shoes and make sure I use the bathroom. I stretch, put in my Airpods, hit play on my Spotify playlist and take off to the “start workout” command from my MapMyRun App. With my back straight, my shoulders pinched back and my elbows bent and stationary at my side, I start running. My feet hit the pavement one after the other, while my shoulders move in synchrony with my legs. Right shoulder with left leg. Left shoulder with right leg. My breathing soon follows as I get into a pattern matching my strides. Just like that, I enter a meditative state. With drum beats blasting through my ears, my feet against the pavement and my breathing steady, my mind is at peace. I feel gratitude in running, pride that I am a runner and dedication to make this run a meaningful one. I am interrupted only by my phone announcing the distance and speed at which I am running. It’s one of my favorite feelings in the world. Back at home, I quickly get myself into the shower hearing my brother’s “Leen you smell so bad” and my sister’s slightly kinder “Were you running?” with a hand over her nose. For the rest of the day, I carry a certain openness in my chest and lightness in my step. I absolutely love running. Yes, I am one of those people. I’m not very good at it, but I love it. Running has been an integral part of my life for the greater part of three years. Anyone who only knew me before that would be astonished that I am a runner. I tried running track in high school and quit after two weeks thinking that running was not for me. But during the winter semester of my sophomore year of college, I came across a video of a woman challenging herself to train for a marathon in 10 weeks. There was something very inspiring about the mental strength needed to train for and run a marathon. The runner in the video had trained her mind as much as her body to fully prepare herself. I remember texting my friend “I want to do that,” and with that text, my running journey started. For the past two and a half years, I have continuously fallen further in love with running. It got me through quarantining, MCAT studying, family arguing and countless other challenges. Having made it through those challenges and reflected on those experiences, I have learned a lot about myself through running. Here, I wish to share some of those lessons: Lesson number 1: You don’t have to be the best at something to claim it as
yours. I became a runner the moment I decided to put on my shoes and leave the house. I have come across many runners who don’t claim this status until they’ve reached a certain mileage or pace. To me, it does not matter how fast you are running or how far you go. If you run, you’re a runner. It was important to rid myself of expectations that force me to reject activities I deem myself not good enough at. Because of this lesson, running has opened many doors for me. Picking up running as a hobby has allowed me to pick up painting as a hobby as well. Nothing I paint could sell at a museum but that has never stopped me from picking up my brush. This brings me to my next lesson. Lesson number 2: Anyone can run, All you need are running shoes. There are countless guides on the internet discussing which running shoes to buy. For me, I bought my first pair off the clearance rack at Marshall’s. Only after getting to long distances did I start using orthotic inserts from my doctor. Those same shoes stayed with me until my 18-mile run before I finally switched them out. Lesson number 3: Caffeine and good music can help Part of the reason that running is fun for me is the music I listen to. Research has shown that music can boost preparation for, performance during and recovery after a run. Multiple studies have found that listening to music can ease the effort exerted during running. When it comes to caffeine’s effect — both physically and cognitively — on athletes, the scientific community is in overwhelming agreement that it can improve performance and speed during runs as well as help recover muscles and enhance circulation after runs. Lesson number 4: You are a lot stronger than you think During periods of intense physical activity, our bodies resort to anaerobic respiration, or the production of energy without the use of oxygen, to generate the energy we need. During anaerobic respiration, a mixture of compounds builds up in the muscles exerting activity. In 2014, researchers at the University of Utah injected that same mixture into human subjects’ resting thumbs. Without exerting any effort, their thumbs started to feel tired, achy and even shake. The researchers found that these metabolites activate neurons that give our muscles the sensation of pain and fatigue even when they are in perfect condition to keep exerting. I think about that study every time I am struggling to push myself, whether it’s on a run or off. Without fail, I have always gained the reward of achieving a task I didn’t think I could do. When training for a marathon, after completing my 6-mile run, I knew
Graphic by SoJung Ham
that I could hit any distance I set my mind to. Every time I thought to stop, I reminded myself that I had completed a 6-mile run so I could do anything. If I am strong enough to run all this mileage, then I am strong enough to finish this homework assignment, have that dreadful conversation or ask for help. Lesson number 5: Running is not pretty On any given run, I have sweat, mucus, spit and sometimes dead bugs on my face. If I have a nose bleed on a run, there is blood. If it’s a particularly emotional or difficult run, there are tears. My face gets red and my frown lines begin to show. I am in fight mode. Pushing yourself past what you think you can do is never pretty. It is exhausting, ugly and uncomfortable. But when I make it to the other side, the reward and the confidence gained from my accomplishment makes all the trouble worth it. Lesson number 6: No one can take that strength away from you Once you realize lessons 4 and 5, you possess something that is yours and yours only. No matter what is happening in my life, when I put on my shoes and get out the door, I can block all of it out even if for just the duration of my run. The strength that allows me to run beyond my comfort is the same strength I carry with me in every challenge and that is something nobody else has access to but me. Lesson number 7: Every uphill is followed by a downhill I think every runner develops an intuition to detect uphills. No matter how fit I am, uphill running is a lot
more difficult and to be avoided at all costs. However, what gets me through each uphill jog is my certainty that a downhill will emerge. It gives me comfort that my agony will end, no matter how long it lasts and a wellearned downhill will follow. I hold on to this principle whenever I am experiencing adversity — it is only a matter of time until it is over and I get to enjoy the ride down. Lesson number 8: Your mental health is intrinsically linked to your physical health Many studies I have mentioned explore the differences in performance when we trick our brains to work harder and run further demonstrating the great impact our minds have on our bodies. Though people generally associate runner’s high with the rush of euphoria following activity, recent research has found that runner’s high is caused by receptors in the endocannabinoid system. These receptors are present in the lungs, kidneys and bone marrow and affect your immune response, reproductive health and pain modulation. Not only does runner’s high affect our mind and feelings, but it is intrinsically connected to our physical health. In my experience, running helps my mental health in the same way that meditation does and I feel much better after my runs. However, there have been days when I have had to skip a run because I was losing confidence in my ability to perform. Which brings me to my next lesson. Lesson number 9: Knowing and listening to your body is key to successful running I cannot emphasize this point
enough. Learning when to test your limits and when to rest is one of the most fundamental skills to build as a runner. It is absolutely necessary to continuously acknowledge cues from your body and mind as to how you are doing and trusting the messages they are sending. Research can guide us in learning what our bodies are doing at different points during our training but establishing that knowledge needs to happen on an individual level. Learning about and trusting my body allows me to put up boundaries and set goals better suited to my abilities. Lesson number 10: The most important part of a fitness journey is finding a workout you enjoy If you have been on TikTok or Instagram reels recently, you have seen videos that preach discipline over motivation. I agree with the sentiment — discipline establishes a regimen that takes the thinking out of making choices. Discipline allows me to run the number of times a week that I do; however, it makes a very big difference when I wake up excited to run and give it my all. It’s not to say that I have never dreaded a run and in those moments when motivation is lost, discipline keeps me running. On and off the running course, a balance of discipline and motivation is essential for growth. ***At the end of this article, I would like to acknowledge the privilege allowed to me as a white-passing woman of color that allows me to pursue running as a hobby. I want to remember and honor Ahmaud Arbery, Mollie Tibbetts, Karina Vetrano and the countless other people who have been killed while running due to racism, sexism and other forms of bigotry.
What the walk reveals KARIS CLARK MiC Columnist
By Andrew Nakamura, MiC Columnist When Venus trines Neptune, you will form much more intimate connections in both your romantic relationships and your friendships.
The Venus trine Neptune transit might cause you to fantasize about romance, especially since Neptune is in your 12th house of subconscious. Venus’s trine with Neptune is encouraging you to explore your creative interests. A reward for the time and energy you’ve invested in your home and family life will trigger an important period of rebirth for you when the sun trines Saturn.
The Venus trine Neptune transit presents the perfect opportunity to organize your romantic relationships or money matters.
Now is a great time to transform your living space as Venus in your fourth house of home and family trines Neptune in your eighth house of rebirth.
Your fantasies of love and relationships are running wild as Venus forms a trine with Neptune. The sun’s trine with Saturn indicates that you can learn a lot from elders in your family, and you should take time to talk with them more.
Venus’s trine with Neptune finally allows you a chance to relax and spend time getting to know new people. However, you’ll soon shift your focus back to work.
Venus’s trine with Neptune encourages you to think about your career goals in more detail so you have a much clearer image of what you are working toward.
Your mind is brimming with ideas, and this Venus trine Neptune transit is the perfect time to organize and pitch these creative projects in your workplace.
Venus’s trine with Neptune is all about love for you. You may have buried your feelings deep within your heart in order to focus on work, but now is the time to let your mind fantasize about a relationship and socialize in order to discover the qualities you want in a partner.
Venus’s trine with Neptune is making you wonder how you can show more appreciation to your family through service.
Venus’s trine with Neptune allows you to relax and daydream of your ideal relationship or your next creative project.
At twilight, when the fulgent glow of the setting sun flickers with fleeting fatality, I often find solace in setting out, stride by stride, for a nice evening walk. It’s a wander of wonder. Sunsets, after all, in their evocation of quiet contemplation of celestial creation, alter our sense of time, making us meditate on meaning, prompting us to ponder our plight, as the night falls and the death of the day is at bay. Walking, for those of us who are able to do so, is an exercise of enormous spiritual potential, allowing us to view the vitality of all things around us as we meander through this monumental macrocosm of material existence. We might be prone to see walking as a rather arbitrary activity, devoid of any divine details, yet this could not be further from the Truth. In her book “Wanderlust: A History of Walking,” Rebecca Solnit describes walking as “the most obvious and the most obscure thing in the world, this walking that wanders so readily into religion, philosophy, landscape, urban policy, anatomy, allegory, and heartbreak.” Many of us have profound childhood memories of walks. I still hold memories of walking through the busy Toronto streets on my dad’s shoulders at age 4, moving through the Detroit Riverwalk with my grandparents at age 8 and tirelessly trekking to the bus stop every day at age 12. I recall the regular route I would take in typical teenage trepidation, as I trampled my way around corners in the cold at 6 a.m. Even now, I vividly maintain the memories of those early rises — moving with haste (dressing with no taste), cheap wired headphones on, show tunes in my ear
going off. Those early morning walks were a hallmark struggle of my middle and early high school years. Yet they remain key moments in my attempts to mitigate my adolescent anxiety as I anticipated the fateful day(s) ahead. When we walk, there is a continuum of choices to be decided upon, as events quickly unfold much like the unwinding path before us. One misstep has the power to create major complications with its implications. Enchanted by the allure of detour we may find ourselves under the dictates of fate as our footsteps lead us astray, but ultimately on the way to new people and places, destinies and dooms. On our walks we encounter a mirage of faces and fits, with a flash of sonder following, as we ponder the rich and intricate lives of those we meet on the streets. Walking gives way to a tension found in the perception of the self and the perceiving of others. An assortment of vessels enters into our vicinity. Eye contact, in passing, evokes an evanescent intimacy. We cross paths with close friends, new crushes and old flames as separated souls synchronizing, meshing in the moment, only to diverge in dissolution and disarray. Walking also carries with it a great particularity. We become attached to certain paths, certain locations and taking a certain path to those locations at specific times of day. Walking a favored or familiar path can evoke an eeriness — a numinous nostalgia within us as we reminisce on our earlier encounters in those spaces. I go to the Arb, and I’m reminded of all the instances I’ve traversed the very trail — day and night, alone or with company, sober or well …
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Opinion
8 — Wednesday, September 29, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
“Genius” is a myth LILY KWAK Opinion Columnist
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All states should institute nonpartisan redistricting LYDIA STORELLA Opinion Columnist
O
n Sept. 2, the University of Michigan hosted the first of a series of meetings of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) held at college campuses around the state. These meetings are intended to offer a space for Michigan residents to voice their perspectives on the state’s ongoing nonpartisan redistricting process. MICRC was first instituted in 2018 following the approval of Proposal 2 by Michigan voters. The proposal took the power of redistricting away from the state legislature and placed it in the hands of an independent commission, which now has the authority from the Michigan Constitution to redraw congressional and state legislative districts. This redistricting cycle is the first in Michigan to be led by an independent commission, and many other states have already instituted similar commissions to lead nonpartisan redistricting. Proposal 2 was intended to reduce gerrymandering in Michigan, something that historically prevented Michiganders from being accurately represented in Congress and the state legislature. It is commendable that Michigan voters in 2018 recognized that the quality of our democracy would improve if a nonpartisan entity was in control of redistricting. But even though Michigan took this major step toward ending gerrymandering, many other states still allow their state legislatures to control congressional redistricting. Gerrymandering aims to divide voters in a way that favors the party in charge. It does this in two
ways: Legislators either pack the opposing party’s supporters into as few districts as possible or divide them into many districts to prevent them from gaining a majority in those districts. While there are general guidelines for redistricting — including compactness, preservation of communities’ boundaries and contiguity — states often ignore these guidelines when redistricting. This can lead to oddly shaped districts, such as Maryland’s third congressional district, which a federal judge said was “reminiscent of a broken-winged pterodactyl.” Some of these obscenely gerrymandered districts led to lawsuits that forced states to draw new maps prior to mandatory redistricting after the 2020 census. It is understandable why partisan state legislatures gerrymander; parties want to give themselves the best possible chance to win seats, and legislators who draw these maps want to protect themselves and their seats as well. But this partisan practice gravely harms democracy in the United States. Any steps taken to intentionally prevent voters from having their voices heard in government is an insult to democracy. It is important to note that gerrymandering is not a partisan issue — both parties do it. Currently, two of the most gerrymandered states in the U.S. are Maryland and North Carolina, whose legislatures were respectively controlled by Democrats and Republicans, in 2011. Both states intentionally gerrymandered for their party’s gain, causing each party to gain additional seats in their states relative to the vote share of each party. North Carolina was so badly gerrymandered that in 2017 the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the
state to draw new districts in 2017. There are two ways to prevent partisan bodies from drawing district lines. One is for the federal government to ban gerrymandering through legislation. The For the People Act, or H.R.1, attempts to do just that; but, it will likely fail to pass in the Senate. The Supreme Court could also act, but recently “ruled that lawsuits over partisan gerrymandering raise a political question that is beyond the reach of the federal courts,” according to The Hill. This leaves the decision to the states, which is far less promising. A federal law or Supreme Court decision would force every state to comply rather than leaving it to state lawmakers or asking citizens to organize ballot initiatives. There is little incentive for lawmakers to ban gerrymandering themselves. But it must be done to ensure American elections accurately represent the voice of the people. However, eliminating gerrymandering would not solve the whole problem. Because Democrats are tightly packed in cities large and small, and Republicans tend to be more spread out, it is difficult to draw districts that adequately reflect the vote share in states. While ending gerrymandering would not completely eliminate the problems in our democracy, it must be done to ensure as equal representation as possible at the state and federal levels. The current system in many states, in which partisan legislatures draw the maps of their own districts, encourages politicians to play dirty. A mandate to end gerrymandering, either from the state or federal level, would allow Americans to be fairly represented and would allow their voices to be heard.
How 9/11 changed U.S. foreign policy SAM FOGEL Opinion Columnist
T
he United States recently mourned the 20th anniversary of one of the largest and most destructive terrorist attacks in history — the Sept. 11 attacks on the Twin Towers. Ever since that attack in 2001, 9/11 has remained a fixture in the American ethos and foreign policy. Former President George W. Bush launched the “War on Terror,” forever changing the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. Carnage followed, with nearly 900,000 civilians in the region killed, alongside 38 million people displaced. The terror attacks on this country were indeed terrible; I make no pretensions to the contrary. But the ensuing chaos and destruction has been incalculable. When President Bush first declared the War on Terror, he said “America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world, and we stand together to win the war against terrorism.” Despite that rhetoric, this ‘War on Terror’ brought no peace or security to the Middle East. The first target of America’s wrath was Afghanistan. The United States asked the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, operated by the Taliban (whose existence can be blamed on the United States — a topic I wrote about here), to extradite Osama bin Laden. The latter denied this request, so the U.S. invaded.
The Taliban were temporarily pushed back, and the U.S. propped up its own administration. The U.S. wreaked havoc in the country after failing to find bin Laden and continued to do so even after finding him. The most recent example of this was the failed airstrike on Aug. 29, killing 10 innocent civilians. Other targets included Yemen, which the U.S. has been dronestriking for nearly two decades. The number of strikes in total is 374, with civilian deaths numbering up to 150. While President Joe Biden hasn’t himself launched a strike against Yemen, he continues to support Saudi Arabia’s invasion of the country despite promising not to do so. Another war started by the United States was the invasion of Iraq in 2003, in which the U.S. armed forces and other allies overthrew Saddam Hussein’s government. This particular conflict was based on allegations that the Hussein regime was developing weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical or nuclear weapons. The evidence for this was completely fabricated, and the U.S. entered into a conflict based on lies. Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. After the U.S. severely damaged the country, it left in 2011. It then re-entered Iraq in 2014 to combat the rise of ISIL, which itself formed as a splinter group of al-Qaida after the initial U.S. invasion. Despite these two major invasions — among many more — one glaring hypocrisy stands out: U.S. politicians’ refusal to examine the possibility
of the Saudi Arabian government’s involvement in the 9/11 attacks. If we really wanted to hold the perpetrators of 9/11 responsible, we would’ve taken action against the Saudi oligarchs who allegedly funded the operation. Rather than actually doing that, though, president after president let the autocratic regime continue without punishment due to the U.S.’s favorable relations based on oil and their strategic importance in the Middle East. Recently, President Biden declassified an FBI report that details the relationship between Saudi nationals and the hijackers. Osama bin Laden himself was connected to the wealthy Saudi family, and 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is also the center of Wahhabism, a fundamentalist movement in Islam funded by the House of Saud. Al-Qaida and ISIL were both founded on the principles of this extremist ideology. The United States wreaked havoc upon the Middle East, whether through intentional maliciousness or unintended consequences. We used the deaths of 2,997 people on 9/11 to justify the slaughter of hundreds of thousands more. The government has abused the memory of the deceased to justify their own conflicts, whether it be for oil, war profiteering or other imperialist machinations. In the wake of 9/11, two decades later, the smoldering ruins of the twin towers loom large in American memory. The subsequent 20 years of destruction ought to as well.
E
instein wasn’t a genius. Neither was Mozart, nor was Beethoven. But society’s brilliant masterminds and superhuman performers share one thing in common: a spark that ignited their soul and lit an eternal fire under their rear. Let me explain. Innate genius is not a new concept. Homer credited the greatness of composer and singer Demodocus to divine gifts in the “Odyssey” nearly three millennia ago: “Call in the inspired bard Demodocus. God has given the man the gift of song.” In 1790, philosopher Immanuel Kant argued in “Critique of Judgement” that artistic genius was of “nature’s elect,” a “natural endowment.” Today’s media continues to reason that skill is derived from innate talent, fueling the romanticization of “genius.” Netflix’s most-watched limited series, “The Queen’s Gambit” (which boasted 62 million viewers within its first 28 days) tells an alluring story of an orphaned chess genius conquering a male-dominated industry while processing the effects of mental illness and addiction. Similarly, “The Imitation Game” featuring the legendary WWII cryptanalyst Alan Turing grossed more than $200 million worldwide and won the Academy Award for bestadapted screenplay. Vogue’s piece “Why Are We So Obsessed With Geniuses on Film?” entertains the idea that we are averse to the ordinary. The dichotomy of wanting to be extraordinary while simultaneously maintaining its impossibility — the lust for something we can’t have — ties us to the myth of genius. Genius entertains and mystifies us. More dangerously, it has the potential to limit us. The summer before I began my college applications, I pondered whether to continue studying the piano (the longest and biggest love of my life) or to pursue a liberal arts education and discover an academic interest (that holds more job security). Since the age of six, I had dreamed of holding the stage as an internationally touring concert pianist and painting stories and feelings through music, but I questioned my talents compared to the sea of child geniuses that surrounded me. A part of me felt like I was too normal; I didn’t have the “something special” that could make me one in a million. I wondered
if this period of rumination was a moment where I could reaffirm my commitment to music or if I was just delusional to consider the odds. I signed up for a class called “Deliberate Practice” that month. During the first session, my instructor put up a portrait of violinist and philosopher Shinichi Suzuki on the screen. Beside him, a quote that I can’t fully recall, but that stuck with me. In Suzuki’s “Nurtured by Love,” though, he writes, “There is no such thing as natural ability, no such thing as a child born without talent. … Talent is not inherited or inborn, but learned and trained. ‘Genius’ is an honorific name given to those who are brought up and trained to high ability.” Today, there are mountains of accumulating modern research falsifyingancientphilosophers’theories and demystifying the age-old social construct of genius. One of the greatest studies is Cambridge University Press’ 2006 publication, “The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance.” The 900 plus-page handbook includes contributions from more than 100 leading scientists on expertise and top performance in surgery, acting, chess, writing, computer programming, ballet, music, aviation, firefighting and more. The real magic is not genius; it’s the marriage of three components: intrinsic motivation, deliberate practice and expert coaching. Daniel Coyle’s book “The Talent Code” explains that results are tangible in a neural circuit insulator called myelin, a layer of fatty tissue that accumulates whenever someone focuses intensely on a specific circuit corresponding to a specific skill; with more myelin layers, signal strength becomes stronger, faster and more accurate — ultimately building skill. Some great works I found in my research were: “The Making of an Expert,” “The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance,” The Talent Code, Talent is Overrated and Deep Work. Here is what I gathered on three of history’s mammoth figures: Golf giant Sam Snead insists on telling a different narrative of “naturals” than those assumed by popular lore: “People always said I had a natural swing. They thought I wasn’t a hard worker. But when I was young, I’d play and practice all day, then practice more at night by my car’s headlights. My hands bled. Nobody worked harder at golf than I did.” Snead echoes researchers’ findings that deliberate practice is
not inherently enjoyable, though ultimately rewarding. Mozart — who began composing from the young age of five, gave public piano and violin performances at eight and produced some of Western culture’s greatest masterpieces by 35 — is the leading counterargument to the anti-talent thesis. Here’s my response: Wolfgang’s father, Leopold Mozart, was a composer, performer and widely-acclaimed pedagogue. The original “tennis father and tiger mama,” Leopold demanded intensive training in composition and performing from 3-year-old Wolfgang as a way to improve his family’s fortune, claiming “Wolfgang’s good fortune and success will be our sweetest revenge” (written by Leopold in “The Letters of Mozart and His Family”). As for young Wolfgang’s compositions, “Talent is Overrated” notes that his manuscripts were suspiciously written in the hand of his father, and as a teen, his pieces were often rearrangements of other composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach (often regarded as the father of classical music), whom Wolfgang studied with in London. Today, Wolfgang’s first real masterpiece is said to be his Piano Concerto No. 9, composed at the age of 21 — the result of eighteen years of deliberate practice and intense coaching. When teenage Benjamin Franklin, a primary school dropout, endeavored to improve his writing, his method did not depend on passive reading. Rather, he dissected issues of the popular British publication The Spectator, and days later, practiced reconstructing them from memory, matching subtle hints in sentiment and expression. Franklin would then compare his version of The Spectator with the original and correct his faults. He sharpened weaknesses in vocabulary and variety in prose by translating articles into rhyming verse then verse back into prose — the mentally demanding work of deliberate practice. Despite modern research and historical accounts which aim to loosen the media’s grip on the notion of the born-genius, we are slow to change long-held and deep-rooted beliefs, and it is only hurting society and its progress. I urge you not to bow your head under the ceiling of “genius.” Ask yourself not, “Am I good enough?” but, “Am I willing to do the work?” Ignite your soul with an obsession — only that can fuel tireless, unending willpower to learn and become better. Rage to master.
Individuals are not to blame for climate change KEONI JONES Opinion Columnist
O
ver the last few decades, climate change and pollution have become an ever-increasing cause of concern due to the threats they pose, be it floods, hurricanes, habitat destruction or any number of natural disasters. Due to this increasing concern, there’s been a huge push for individuals to cut down on their personal impact. This can be seen everywhere with initiatives like Save the Turtles, the increasing popularity of electric cars and many advertisements generally pushing for people to decrease both their waste and carbon emissions. This is fantastic; living in a cleaner and more environmentally friendly world is something that positively impacts every aspect of our life. But the tendency to push the blame for climate change and pollution onto individuals is not only wrong but intentionally malicious on the part of massive energy and fossil fuel companies, the entities truly at fault. This last year has shown many just how devastating the coming climate crisis will be, be it the floods in Louisiana and New York, or the “hell portal” that came as the result of a ruptured pipeline. These events underscore just how dire the fight against climate change is and sadly how individuals really can’t do much to help. This is because the vast majority of global emissions are created by just a small handful of fossil fuel and energy corporations. To be more exact, around 71% of global emissions are put out by just 100 different companies. This number makes one thing very clear: it is up to these corporations and the governments that regulate them, not individuals, to curb climate change. The issue is that historically, strong enough action hasn’t been taken. Fossil fuel companies always look after their own interests, and
then they pay politicians to support them as well. What this means is that before society can even think about stopping climate change, there must be a total shift in how both governments and businesses operate. First, companies must be held fully accountable for every single bit of carbon emissions and pollution that they create, and the only way to do this is to completely rework how lobbying and corporate interest are structured, both in America and around the world. Big oil has a stranglehold on American democracy, and this greed will soon destroy the entire world. Some may argue that the only reason these businesses are producing emissions is that individuals create the demand for it. People drive cars that use fossil fuels, use lights and devices that use electricity and wear clothes that
on energy production and increasing funding for research into renewable energy. While corporations are the drivers of climate change, this does not mean that the average person can’t do anything to combat it. First, people can try to live as carbon neutral as possible, either by using motorized vehicles less frequently, eating less beef or using less electricity. But an even greater way to help is to strongly advocate for the solutions that will create an even more significant change. This can include protesting, directly contacting public officials or doing public outreach. While a massive portion of global emissions and pollution does not come from individuals, there is still a lot of work to be done by those same individuals to save the world from a global crisis. People must be
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create far more emissions than one might expect. While this argument is partially true, many of these emissions come from attempts to make production as convenient as possible for these corporations: A purposeful lack of research into renewable energy makes fossil fuels a much more convenient form of energy for production. This twopronged issue could be solved by implementing stronger regulations
vigilant in changing institutions and systems that have let the world get this close to the brink of a complete climate disaster in order to stop the corporations that have done it. While it may already be too late to completely keep the world from seeing the damaging effects of climate change, everyone must be involved in making sure it doesn’t get any worse, especially those at the top.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 29, 2021 — 9
S T A T E M E N T
MACKENZIE HUBBARD Statement Columnist
I didn’t expect it when the trailer for the third season of “Sex Education” showed up in my Youtube recommended feed. I didn’t expect the plunging feeling of longing and sadness that followed either. The show had been a godsend during my freshman year of college, getting me through my first and only winter on the East Coast before I transferred to the University of Michigan. The connection also carried into my sophomore year at the University, as it was also a touchstone of friendship between myself and the group of friends I became close with when I arrived in Ann Arbor. And though a year had passed since the release of the show’s second season, when the long-anticipated third season was announced, I had immediately texted my friend group. I couldn’t wait to spend days and nights watching the season together. But between the initial announcement and the trailer, my friend group fell apart. By now, the season has premiered and I still haven’t even watched the trailer. *** While I don’t watch a ton of movies, I consume television and other forms of media far more than I’d like to admit. If you looked at any of my “continue watching” pages on any streaming platform, you’d see everything from “Kim’s Convenience” to “Outlander” to “Castlevania.” There are shows like “Schitt’s Creek” and “Peaky Blinders” that I’ve rewatched countless times in their entirety. There are even shows in Norwegian and Spanish sitting on my “to watch” list. My tastes, when it comes to shows, vary drastically, which is why I use them as a way to connect with people. It’s very easy to talk to someone you hardly know when you both can quote every single
line from a Jack Whitehall comedy special or make an obscure reference to “Travels with my Father.” “What other comedians do you like?” “Have you watched ‘Elder Millennial’?” “Have you gotten to the second season of *insert any sitcom here* yet?” Conversations spark and friendships ignite. To some people, this may seem incredibly natural — of course, that’s how you start a conversation — but when you’ve struggled with social anxiety and panic at the idea of speaking with other students in a class, good small talk topics feel like currency. And sometimes that’s someone referencing a show you just finished watching and being able to play off of their words. *** In the fall of 2019, the Doc Marten-clad girl who helped me move into my residence hall after my parents left (with hardly more than a wave goodbye) texted me. It had been several weeks since move-in, and she and I, along with two other girls from our dorm, had become fast friends, sharing the intimate details of our personal lives as if we’d all been close for years. One night she told me that she was having a panic attack — something both of us were intimately acquainted with. Both of our coping strategies typically consisted of distracting ourselves until they ended. So, I went to her room, and we put on the most distracting thing we could think of: an episode of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” a show we had collectively seen too many times to count. The plan was a success, and after this night, the remedy became a tradition. Any time either of us had a bad day, we’d go to one of our rooms, eat cookies and put on something familiar to watch. But then the pandemic made it impossible to do such a thing. We were sent home and had to readjust to life without each other. At the start, my group of friends tried our best to keep in contact. We had an ever-running group chat
filled with dog photos and laments over our baking fails or rants about how our professors decided to assign us more work than usual because everything had gone virtual. A few nights we even tried a group FaceTime and I introduced them to my sisters. Those conversations tapered off, though, until the threads grew silent. We all returned to campus the next fall, but something had changed. The girl who I’d seen through panic attacks and who’d seen me through depressive spirals hardly ever spoke to me anymore, and when she did it was short and clipped conversations. Maybe we just grew apart. Maybe this was inevitable. Maybe it was how deeply rooted my religious trauma is and how she was a bornagain believer. Maybe it was the fact that her family was wealthier than I could ever dream of being, and I finally couldn’t keep comparing myself to her. Whatever the case, there grew a rigid and lengthy distance between us. And though we tried to watch the last season of “Schitt’s Creek” together, we never made it past the third episode. After several months of not speaking but not exactly disliking each other, I could keep going back to the shows we watched together. I tried to laugh at the jokes in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” the same way I once did. Now, thinking about the show at all makes me deflate a bit inside. I haven’t watched a comedy special in months, not when they were the first thing she and I bonded over. Now that that bond is gone, looking back at the connections and memories we shared over these shows only hurts. I have not been able to bring myself back to “Schitt’s Creek,” and the very thought of watching an episode of it ever again makes me feel a little sick. *** No one told me I could go to graduate school, not until I started doing research my junior year of college and my mentor told me that if I was even considering it, I should
start thinking about writing a thesis. I very quickly realized that my linguistics major wasn’t going to get me as far as I wanted in life unless I pursued a higher degree. I knew I needed to find something I could write 30-ish pages on and actually be excited about. Luckily, I quickly uncovered my topic of interest in the MidAtlantic/Trans-Atlantic accent, more particularly, modern representations of it. Think of all the characters in the first episode of “WandaVision,” or Effie Trinket in “The Hunger Games.” Or, think about what became my main focus: Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek.” I had pages of analysis planned out in my head for Moira Rose, examining the way Catherine O’Hara seemed to mimic the high-class, most desirable, golden standard of speech from a bygone era while bringing an element of comedy to it. I had thought through the socio-linguistic implications of her dialectic patterns and what it said about speech standards in television today. I considered its comparison to the images of Old Hollywood. I had it all planned out. But then the summer came and went, and a
Statement Columnist
I was eight when I first discovered fire in my brain.
Design by Megan Young
Why (not) consulting? LANE KIZZIAH
Statement Correspondent
Consulting is huge at Michigan — the job prospect is so popular and widespread that it’s even designated its own season. From August to November, a large section of the student body is busy sending out their resumes, getting in touch with alumni and practicing for interviews. When recruiters from major firms hold events on campus — most commonly in the Ross School of Business or Blau Hall (the University of Michigan’s premier business hubs) — students flock to auditoriums just to shake their hands. The goal is to network your way into an interview and prepare for possible “case” questions they could throw at you — tests on scenarios you might have to face at their firm. Students say, all-inall, it’s like adding another class load’s worth of work to your semester. But by Halloween, you start hearing about people signing with Deloitte or McKinsey & Company; by Thanksgiving break, the dust has all but settled. Everyone can hang up their suits until the summer when they either start the internship or start the whole
process over again. Despite all the stress and the work, the formula of consulting is apparently a part of its appeal: There’s a clearly outlined path to success if you’re willing to play by the rules. And if you’re lucky, at the end of the summer, there’s the all-important return offer. I’m a senior in the Ford School of Public Policy, and while it’s not the primary avenue public policy students take after graduation, consulting is always on the table. Around this time of year, my career counselor starts sending out emails about information sessions, consulting workshops and case demonstrations. While I have never been actively interested in consulting, there was a time where I was at least mildly intrigued by the prospect. Working on projects for short periods of time with people approximately your own age — it sort of sounded like school. Ultimately, I decided I didn’t want to do something so closely tied to business (partially because I do math at an eighthgrade level and partially because I want to do something more creative) and didn’t take it any further.
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In the gentle lull of summer, I awoke to a vice-like pain in my head, which slowly bloomed into a throbbing metronome directly behind my eyes. I yelled for my mom, who promptly provided Advil and water, neither of which did anything to curb the pain. I curled my body in a ball, wedged my head between two pillows and sobbed. The better part of eight hours passed, after which my weary second-grade self succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep. My parents have never been the type to make a trip to the doctor without serious cause; anything short of leprosy or spontaneous combustion was merely a chance to “tough it out.” Hence, when my mother booked me a doctor’s appointment the next morning, it was a surprise to all of us. It was my first indication that we were in uncharted territory; something severe and mysterious crept about the fringes of the horizon. We entered the quaint Vermont clinic as zombies might, weary from last night’s episode. Nonetheless, we knew what
they are released because of the inside jokes I shared with my group of friends about that show. Even the idea of watching the last few episodes of “Lucifer” makes me feel uneasy because that was the first show my friends and I watched together after quarantine. *** In the weeks since my circle of friends splintered, I’ve found myself gravitating more and more towards media that no one else I know watches. Movies I hold close to myself and tell nearly no one about out of fear they’ll uncover some part of me and judge me by the stories I love. I’ve discovered new TV shows that I watch by myself on weekends, silently enjoying the fan culture ever-present and easily accessible on social media. No one knows the kinds of music I listen to, or the books I read anymore — those I keep strictly to myself out of fear that connecting them to relationships could ruin them for me. There is a value in sharing these kinds of media or forms of art with other people: It can establish an easy connection, a bridge in an otherwise awkward conversation. But maybe there’s also value in keeping it to ourselves; loving something because it is authentically ours, undiluted by the fragility of relationships around us. Design by Madison Grosvenor
Migraines and other pyrotechnics DARBY WILLIAMS
friendship fell apart, and the thought of objectively examining a piece of media that I had such an emotional connection to became something I simply couldn’t bring myself to do. At a school like the University of Michigan, it’s not uncommon for students to put their academics ahead of their mental health — I’ve certainly done it. But this just wasn’t something I could justify. I wasn’t going to risk throwing myself into a depressive spiral over a paper. It just wasn’t worth it. *** For now, “Schitt’s Creek” sits in my “watch again” tab in my Netflix account, along with so many other shows I once loved but now can never go back to. I’m too sentimental to delete them from my watch history — possibly for the same reasons I collect text messages. When the “new episodes” notification came up for “Sex Education,” I wasn’t able to ignore the way it made my chest clench. It didn’t stop the impulse I felt to pick up my phone and text the friend I had once planned to watch it with. And I don’t think I’ll ever watch these episodes. In the same way,I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch the final seasons of “Peaky Blinders” when
I experienced was serious, and we were determined to figure out both what was wrong and how to fix it. It would take several doctor’s appointments, an MRI and an EEG (the process of attaching electrodes to the scalp to detect electrical activity in the brain) to gain any clarity on the issue at hand. In the spirit of medical ambiguity, there was good news and there was bad news. It would appear that I suffered from migraines. This was the good news, I suppose. It would also appear that there was no discernible cure in sight. There were medications, treatments and prevention methods,but I would likely experience these headaches for the rest of my life. The fire in my brain burned gently and steadily. Most days it was tame, docile even. Then, without warning: an inferno. There was no rhyme or reason to it, it consumed when it saw fit and dissipated as unexpectedly as it blazed. I quickly learned that the science behind migraines is conjecture at best. They may be the result of a faulty vascular system. Or perhaps a chemical imbalance. No, maybe it’s all due to some underlying central nervous disorder. The hypotheses are numerous and varied, all culminating in a truth as frustrating as it is elusive. No one knows for sure. As I grew older, the headaches worsened, often brought on by the hormonal shifts that accompanied adolescence. They evolved from mere headaches to full-on neurological disasters. I developed migraines with aura; in addition to the splitting head pains, I experienced visual and tactile disorientation. It was staring into the very center of a lightbulb for 10 seconds straight. A host of glaring, glowing specks reappeared with every blink, clouding my field of vision. Yet unlike the fleeting blows
of a lightbulb, these malignant blips refused to abate. They expanded, consuming my line of sight, sending my sense of depth perception topsy turvy. They persisted for hours, needling their way into my eyes, skull and brain. With the visual aura came its equally destructive sister, the tactile aura. She brushed your fingertips with a gentle tingling sensation, which gradually rippled throughout one half of your entire body. Half of your face, chest, hands and feet, completely devoid of sensation. You try to drink a glass of water, read, enter a lit room, all to no avail. You try to push through it, stick it out, only to find yourself vomiting in the middle school nurse’s office, one hand grasping the wrapper of a pill that didn’t work, the other limp with numbness. One side of your head blazes, the other feels nothing at all. Despite the mystery surrounding chronic migraines, every doctor you visit will encourage you to identify your triggers. They are multitudinous and ubiquitous. Anything from preservatives to changes in barometric pressure can set one-off. I was put on a number of elimination diets, changed my sleep schedule entirely and cut out caffeine. I did all in my power, and the migraines rolled in all the same.
adult life, I only deal with a serious migraine every two or three months. As a kid, I was less lucky. In addition to my migraines, I’ve dealt with anxiety for my entire life, which I’ve since identified as one of my primary neurological triggers. I now have
the autonomy to get the treatment I need to mitigate the adverse effects of mental and physical illness. I have the tools I need to adapt to life with migraines. But they came at a cost. In my senior year of high school, my anxiety was at an all-time high. By the final semester, I found myself waking up to a migraine nearly every day. I couldn’t read, study or even walk around without help. I was constantly nauseous, and the pain was excruciating. My grade point average plummeted, and my absences put me at risk of not graduating. Design by Katherine Lee
Unlike many, I’ve had the good fortune of sporadic and infrequent migraines for the most part. In my
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Sports
10 — Wednesday, September 29, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Notebook: Adversity, injuries and fatigue for the Wolverines JARED GREENSPAN
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan faces first bout of adversity When greeted with adversity for the first time in the 2021 season, the Michigan football team emerged unscathed. For three weeks, the Wolverines coasted to comfortable victories by double-digit margins. Neither Western Michigan, Washington nor Northern Illinois proved capable of slowing down their potent rushing attack. That feel-good success came to a screeching halt Saturday against Rutgers. And yet, in spite of a furious comeback attempt by the Scarlet Knights, Michigan proved victorious. Whereas the Wolverines simply collapsed in similar situations last season, 2021 is thus far telling a different story. “I think as a team, we didn’t flinch at all,” sophomore linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green said. “Offense, they know they’re going to clean their stuff up, but I feel they didn’t flinch, they did what they could do, and we did what we could do. We didn’t flinch at all and we got the win.” Junior defensive tackle Chris Hinton maintained that
the team remained poised and positive on the sidelines, even amid the persistent struggles. It’s a mentality that first formed during spring ball. “We just preached through the offseason, keep grinding through whatever, don’t flinch,” Hinton said. “Take the punches and respond when we need to.” Games like Michigan’s contest with Rutgers could serve as a launching pad moving forward. The success, particularly in contrast to last season’s failures, also points to the refined culture that the Wolverines constructed over the offseason. “Every game’s not going to be sunshine and rainbows,” Hinton said. “We just have to stay stout in tough times.” Ross injury forces others to step up Through the first half, Michigan’s defense held Rutgers’s offense in check, allowing only a field goal. Fifth-year linebacker Josh Ross was integral to that effort, contributing six tackles, including two tackles for a loss. But Ross left the game late in the second quarter with a “stinger” injury and did not return. In his absence, the Wolverines’ defense proved increasingly vulnerable,
a factor. Those kinds of things contrast to Don Brown’s former allowing a series of prolonged hamper defense The ineptitude of Michigan’s stacked up against them. (They scheme. On Saturday, the drives and turning a blowout offense on Saturday triggered were) on the field too much.” Wolverines rotated defensive into a nail biter. Through the first three line packages, pairing fifth-year With Ross sidelined, a two-pronged effect. Four three-and-outs games of the season, fatigue Donovan Jeter with sophomore freshman linebacker Junior consecutive Colson played alongside Hill- to begin the second half wore hardly mattered, considering Kris Jenkins and junior Mazi Green, while sophomore down a nicked-up Wolverine the fact that the starters were Smith alongside Hinton. The linebacker Kalel Mullings also defense, subsequently fueling often pulled from the game early secondary and edge rushers saw an increase in playing time. a Rutgers offense that had in the third quarter. But, it’s a also shuffled through players situation that will likely repeat with sophomore defensive Colson racked up six tackles, previously been listless. After the game, Harbaugh itself later in the season against back Jordan Morant and senior while Mullings recorded that fatigue more formidable opponents. defensive lineman Julius five. Hill-Green, meanwhile, conceded First-year defensive Welschof seeing the field. notched eight tackles and keyed had influenced the unit’s coordinator Mike Macdonald Macdonald’s tactic figures a series of late-game stops performance. “I think that’s part of it,” likes to rotate through swaths to bode well moving forward, that squashed a late Rutgers Harbaugh said. “That many of players as a way to keep them when fatigue inevitably emerges comeback. “We practice situations like three-and-outs, that’s gonna be fresh, a strategy that stands in as a variable. that all the time in practice,” Hill-Green said after the game, noting that Michigan had prepared for a similar scenario. “When your number’s called, you’re ready and do your job and step up to the plate. That’s what Junior Colson did; that’s when Kalel Mullings did. I’m super proud of those guys.” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said following the game that Ross is “going to be okay,” mentioning that he didn’t regain the requisite strength to be cleared following the injury. While it appears the injury isn’t serious, losing Ross for an extended stretch of time would be a sizable blow for the Wolverines’ defense. JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily Offensive shortcomings Michigan’s linebackers stepped up in the absence of fifth-year senior Josh Ross on Saturday.
SportsMonday: Don’t bury Michigan yet After senior kicker Jake Moody missed a 47-yard attempt to put the game on ice, Michigan’s defense took the field. Again. With the Wolverine offense KENT struggling to make SCHWARTZ an impact, Rutgers’s time of possession skyrocketed in the second half, totalling 17:42 of 30 total minutes. Now, with a chance to drive down and tie, or win, the game, the Scarlet Knights could take their momentum and drive past a weary defense. Instead, junior linebacker David Ojabo executed a spin move and stripped Noah Vedral, the ball ricocheting into freshman linebacker Junior Colson’s arms. A worn down defense found a stop. Michigan would win. “(It was a) gritty game,” Harbaugh said after the game. “It wasn’t pretty. But when they make a space for pretty on the scoreboard, then we’ll worry about that.” There are a lot of lessons to take from a game where the Wolverines beat Rutgers by one score and totaled just 47 yards of offense in the second half, drawing out fans and their shovels. But Michigan still won. It executed when it had to, sucking down time with an eight play, 33 yard drive (the only non-three-and-out of the half ) and coming up with that crucial turnover.
Not every team can do that. Look at Iowa State, or Clemson or Wisconsin. None of those teams executed when the time called for it. “I think we had a positive attitude throughout the whole game, through all the ups and downs,” junior defensive tackle Christopher Hinton said. “ I really like that about the defense and this team this year. We’ve just got to keep that rolling because every game is not going to be sunshine and rainbows. We’ve just got to stay stout in tough times.” Good teams win games, and this weekend the Wolverines won. At least, they’re probably good enough to match pre-season expectations, maybe more. A 20-13 win over Rutgers may not be too flashy, but it shows that even with poor performances, Michigan can put together a win. And that’s promising. Consider the 2015 Michigan State team, which scraped by every game it won and did so in an incredibly frustrating fashion. But that team made the College Football Playoff while looking not impressive in any way. Or consider Nebraska, who’s found increasingly funny ways to lose this year, always close but never finding the final push. Or Iowa State faltering and floundering to match the mountains of expectation heaped on them. Winning is a skill and a very difficult one to master. But once you figure out how to do it, it can carry you through rough patches like Saturday. Next weekend, we’ll see if
BARBARA GRAZIOSI
explosive plays through both the air and the run. In the first half, junior quarterback Cade McNamara showed what fans had wanted to see — he aired it out and found holes, doing what the fanbase desperately hoped he could. And the defense, who, despite being repeatedly forced into difficult situations, stopped the Scarlet Knights when it mattered most. A fourth down stop, a missed field goal and a fumble are no small tasks. Fans shouldn’t be too scared, with shovels in hand to bury their hopes again. In the team’s first big battle of the season it showed an ability to work through the pain, something that was foreign last year. Disappointment will, for now, wait a little longer: maybe just one week, maybe until the Wolverines go to East Lansing.
EMMA MATI/Daily Michigan’s victory Saturday showed it’s capable of grinding out tough wins.
THE GERALD F. ELSE LECTURE IN THE HUMANITIES
CLASSICS, LOVE, REVOLUTION: THE LEG ACIES OF LUIGI SETTEMBRINI
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 29, 2021 4:00 P.M. MICHIGAN LEAGUE HUSSEY ROOM,
2 ND
F LO O R
VONNIE C. MCLOYD
Ewart A.C. Thomas Collegiate Professor of Psychology
Tuesday, October 5, 2021 | 4:00 p.m. | Weiser Hall, 10th Floor
PROFESSOR OF CLASSICS AT P R I N C E T O N U N I V E R S I T Y
this Michigan team has really learned how to win. It’ll face a Badgers team that failed to execute against Notre Dame and is now having the question asked of whether they can beat good teams. “As a team, we’re not doing enough to give ourselves a chance to win and to beat good football teams,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said after losing to Notre Dame. “That’s something that we’ve obviously got to improve upon, and everyone’s got to find a way to move forward.” Wisconsin will pose a huge challenge, regardless of how it’s performed so far. It’s a program that’s used to winning and knows how to do it, unlike Rutgers. The Badgers will target the weaknesses the Wolverines showed Saturday, but Michigan has shown an ability to create
McNamara remains confident in passing JARED GREENSPAN
Daily Sports Editor
On Saturday, the Michigan football team’s offense limped through a scoreless second half against Rutgers. While the Scarlet Knights stymied the Wolverines’ rushing attack, junior quarterback Cade McNamara wilted, throwing for just seven yards across the final two quarters. Still, two days later, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh offered a positive review of McNamara’s performance. “For the most part, I thought he was pretty darn good,” Harbaugh said. McNamara’s first half, which included 156 passing yards and sustained two touchdown drives, was exceptional and made the late-game miscues all the more surprising. Speaking after practice on Monday, McNamara faulted Michigan’s offensive attrition on a lack of momentum. With four consecutive three-and-outs to begin the second half, the Wolverines was unable to develop any sort of rhythm. Having watched the film of his performance, McNamara wouldn’t concede whether the root of his problems were more footworkrelated or mechanical-based. He did, however, acknowledge that he rushed a few throws, including a would-be touchdown in the final seconds of the first half, when he missed senior tight end Luke Schoonmaker in the corner of the endzone. Heading into a pivotal matchup against Wisconsin, McNamara remains confident in the passing game, in spite of the struggles. “I think throughout the season, our intermediate stuff has been really good,” McNamara said. “We’ve thrown it deep in the game (and) we’ve been able to do that really well, so I think we’re building. “... When we’re in those scenarios where we have to throw
our way back into a game, I think I’m more than capable of doing that.” The Badgers will certainly test that declaration. Through four games, the Wolverines’ passing game has played second fiddle to their rushing attack, averaging the second-fewest passing yards per game in the Big Ten. When Rutgers stacked the box with an eighth player, McNamara and company could not engineer the offense by themselves. For the first time this season, the opposition successfully carried out a gameplan to stop Michigan’s offense. Wisconsin, which boasts the top rushing defense in the Big Ten, seems well-equipped to follow that blueprint themselves. “Really stout, really good,” Harbaugh said of the Badger defense. “Guys that have played a lot of football. Experienced, solid, physical, athletic defense that knows the scheme and they’re very dialed in.” That unit will place McNamara further underneath the microscope. Still, Michigan’s second half woes cannot solely be attributed to McNamara — suspect playcalling and the receivers, who dropped several catchable balls, are equally to blame. But, the Wolverines’ fate may very well hinge on McNamara’s ability to develop a consistent passing game and establish the momentum that he lamented. It’s a task made more difficult by the raucous environment inside Camp Randall — not only has Madison emerged as a house of horrors for the Wolverines in recent years, but McNamara is yet to play a road game in front of fans, a byproduct of the pandemic. “Overall, I’m gonna have to do a better job, or really just a louder job, of communicating whatever the protection is or whatever I’m asked to do,” McNamara said. “Just me being louder, whether that’s doing stuff with more signals, we’ll see, but I’m ready for the challenge.”
LSA COLLEGIATE LECTURE A public lecture and reception. For more info, call 734.615.6667 or visit events.umich.edu/event/86627. Livestreaming will be available. Please visit lsa.umich.edu/classics for more information.
A public lecture and reception; you may attend in person or virtually. For more information, including the Zoom link, visit events.umich.edu/event/84262 or call 734.615.6667.
JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily Michigan junior quarterback Cade McNamara threw for 163 yards.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Front row improvements spur Michigan past Michigan State NOAH KINGSLEY
For The Daily
Down 24-23 in the second set, sophomore outside hitter Jess Mruzik stepped up to serve. She took a deep breath, tossed the ball up and promptly hit it into the tape. As the ball came crashing down to the ground, a look of disappointment washed over the Michigan players’ faces. After cutting an 11-point deficit to one, the issues that had plagued the Wolverine’s outside hitters early in Sunday’s match returned to cost them. Plenty of hitting errors stemming from Michigan’s outside hitters, combined with inefficient blocking, constantly put the Wolverines behind early in sets. It didn’t help that Michigan State outside hitter Sarah Franklin rarely missed
her kills early on, further highlighting the issues on the Michigan front row. But despite early-set struggles, the Wolverine’s front swung momentum back in their direction. Led by Mruzik and senior outside hitter Paige Jones, who combined for six kills and a service ace in the span of 14 points, Michigan nearly came back from a 21-10 deficit in the second set, ultimately succumbing to a 25-23 defeat, tying the match at one set apiece. “I wasn’t swinging aggressively and that kind of got me into trouble,” Jones said. “(Michigan coach Mark Rosen) came up to us and told us that we need to start banging it out in trouble. Most of the time you get some good touches off of that ... so I just went up and
BECCA MAHON/Daily Paige Jones had 16 kills in Michigan’s win over Michigan State.
Sports
swung away.” Michigan’s front row continued to improve in the later sets, building off the momentum that they had created on their second set run. Junior middle blocker May Pertofsky began to get more involved, recording eight kills and four blocks. “Late in the game May did a great job of coming in and helping block a couple times,” Rosen said. “Even though there was speed around her, she was able to ignore that speed and go get the big hit.” The Wolverine front row finally brought it all together at the end of the fourth set. Tied 25-25, freshman middle blocker Jacque Boney showed her mettle. Boney got up close and personal with the Spartan attackers, earning the point on a powerful block. Just two points later, Boney did it again, giving Michigan a 27-26 lead. The Wolverines closed it out on the next attack, claiming the fourth set and the 3-1 victory. “She’s a young player and she still has a lot of things to learn, but she just has an innate ability to block balls.” Rosen said. “Those were huge points ... but she does that a lot. It’s too many times to be an accident.” Michigan’s slow start up front led to a dropped set and a heavily contested match. The front row’s turnaround then became the anchor to their victory. For the Wolverines to find success, their middle blockers and outside hitters need to begin each match at the level they ended it on Sunday.
Added edge at practice fuels Michigan as season looms PAUL NASR
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan hockey team has learned to take nothing for granted. Six months ago, on the eve of the beginning of NCAA tournament play in Fargo, N.D., its season abruptly ended due to COVID-19 concerns within the program. The cancelation was a devastating blow for the Wolverines, who had a promising season and overcame multiple pandemic-related pauses to make it to that point. Eyeing the start to what is expected to be its first full season in over two years, Michigan isn’t looking back. The team is controlling what it can control, starting with practice. “The practices that we’ve had have been very competitive,” Michigan coach Mel Pearson said. “Very high paced, very high spirited, right off the get go. This (is my) 40th year now at the Division 1 level coaching … and I can say that this year, it’s been as competitive on the ice as any of them.” For a team loaded with NHL talent — including five 2021 first round picks — but lacking postseason experience, intense practices are vital to preparing the team for the demands of the season ahead. Given that the previous two
NCAA tournaments were canceled due to COVID-19 and the Wolverines failed to qualify in 2019, a vast majority of Michigan’s roster has never partaken in NCAA tournament action. Moreover, the Wolverines’ young core — featuring sophomore defenseman Owen Power, sophomore forward Matty Beniers, freshman defenseman Luke Hughes and sophomore forward Kent Johnson — have yet to play a college game in front of fans. To compensate, Michigan has relied on its leadership to set the tone throughout the preseason. “You have so many guys who just want to get better every day,” senior defenseman and captain Nick Blankenburg said. “That’s huge just coming into practice because you see how hard guys are working and how hard guys are trying to earn spots on the roster and you love to see it every day.” With such a deep roster, Pearson will have to make difficult decisions each game as to who to dress. Players further in the depth chart are hyperaware of that and are spurring improvement amongst the star-studded first lines in the process. “I think tensions might get a little high sometimes,” Blankenburg said. “Just because guys are so competitive, but
that’s a good problem to have.” Seemingly secure roster positions, such as the goalie position, remain a daily competition at practice and are exasperated by the heightened competitive nature. Although sophomore Erik Portillo is the expected starter, sophomore Noah West and senior Jack Leavy are both capable players vying for playing time. Michigan will battle Bowling Green on Saturday in an exhibition, with the regular season beginning the following weekend in a series versus Lake Superior State. The Wolverines look to balance intense practice sessions with tactful management of their bodies as the first full season nears for many members of the roster. “Our biggest concern right now is to just make sure we stay focused on the task at hand, and control all we can control,” Pearson said. At least for the immediate future, the task at hand for Michigan is practice. As preparations wrap-up for the Wolverines, their added edge leads the way. “I’ve seen it the last few weeks,” Beniers said. “We’ve been going hard. … We were going off the ice one day and some of the guys were like, ‘I think our practices are harder than some of the games we play,’ which is kind of just a testament to how it’s been going so far.”
JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily Michigan sophomore forward Matty Beniers has 24 points in the 2020-21 hockey season.
Wednesday, September 29, 2021 — 11
Wolverines sweep weekend on Championship anniverary DAVID WOELKERS
For The Daily
After a successful road trip to Ithaca, N.Y, the Michigan field hockey team (8-0 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) enjoyed a return to Ocker Field as they faced No. 25 Michigan State (6-2, 0-2) and No. 23 Kent State (5-3). The two games played vastly different for the Wolverines, but ultimately they swept the weekend series, beating the Spartans 6-1 and the Golden Flash 2-1, to remain undefeated on the year. Against Michigan State on Friday, Michigan burst out of the gate with a familiar aggressiveness, scoring twice within the first five minutes of the game. Sophomore midfielder Anouk Veen added the second goal via a penalty corner shot inserted by senior midfielder Kathryn Peterson. “The past few weeks I’ve had some frustrating misses off corner shots,” Veen said. “It was good to finally score and finally convert.” Mere seconds before the halftime buzzer, the Spartans took advantage of a blocked shot bouncing back to their forward Hannah Jarvie, who sent it to the back of the net and cut the score to 2-1. That score would hold until Veen converted another penalty corner shot in the 40th minute to make it 3-1. From there, the f loodgates opened for Michigan’s scoring, as three different players added goals. By the end of the game, a tight contest became a 6-1 blowout. “We’re a very deep and
versatile team,” Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said. “We ask the girls to give it their all as long as they can because we have the depth to relieve them when they get tired.” In contrast to the offensive performance that won out against Michigan State, the Wolverines seemed unable to find a consistent posture against the Golden Flashes. Michigan was held out of the goal column the entire first half, a first in the young season. “They played tough, and we knew they would,” Pankratz said. “We had to stay patient when we weren’t getting the opportunities we wanted.” Kent State dominated the second quarter’s possessions, holding Michigan to zero
shots while adding four unsuccessful shots of their own. Ultimately though, it was the third quarter that provided the majority of the game’s scoring, with a Michigan penalty corner from senior midfielder Sofia Southam being quickly answered by a Kent State equalizer. The game was finally put away on a 52nd minute penalty corner, converted again off the stick of Southam. Southam finished the weekend at 13 total season goals, tied with North Carolina forward Erin Matson for the most in Division I. “Most of my goals have come off great team work and team passing,” Southam said. “Having that team dynamic is huge for us.”
ANNA FUDER/Daily Michigan Anouk Veen scored two goals in Michigan’s two weekend wins.
‘M’ battles to scoreless draw LILY ISRAEL
Daily Sports Writer
The No. 18 Michigan women’s soccer team found itself in a place it has been three times this season: tied at the end of regulation. The Wolverines (7-1-2 overall, 1-0-1 Big Ten) battled Wisconsin (7-1-3, 2-0-1) for 90 minutes, but staunch defense and limited offensive opportunities on both sides forced the game to overtime. After a lackluster first 90 minutes, the two overtime periods offered both teams a chance to gain momentum and muster out a win. But the defensive stalemate continued, forcing the game to a scoreless tie. Although Michigan has plenty of overtime experience, it could not channel that into a win, settling for one point in a highly contested Big Ten. “Our league is really really difficult,” Michigan coach Jennifer Klein said. “Every team is going to be tough. Every game is going to be a battle and they’re going to push you to the very, very end. ... I think overall it’s just we’re getting a point on the board today which is really key for us within the league.” Michigan entered the game averaging over 23 shots per game, fifth best in the country. However, throughout the game, the Wolverines found themselves searching for shots on goal. Senior midfielder Meredith Haakenson took the first shot for Michigan 16 minutes into the game. The Wolverines only forced the Badgers to make one save throughout the game and never produced any real offensive pressure. Despite junior defender Jayde Riviere’s breakaway speed and superior ball handling, she never created enough separation to deliver a good shot. This was emblematic of the rest of the team’s struggles to get good chances in front of the goal. The Wolverines had 13 shots and only one on goal, a far cry from their usual average. This was the second game this season Michigan has failed to score, despite notching a clean sheet for the fifth time. Given the sparing shots on both sides, neither team gained any real momentum throughout the game. The
Wolverines controlled the ball in the midfield and in their offensive third for the majority of the game, but Wisconsin’s defense thwarted any offensive attacks. “Wisconsin’s a gritty team,” fifth-year goalkeeper Hillary Beall said. “They’ve always been a gritty team. I think that they just bring that extra step when we play them. Their energy is pretty good.” Michigan’s defense was a key part of why the Badgers never scored. Wisconsin also managed only one shot on goal, with 10 shots in total. The ball was cleared out of the Badgers’ offensive third quickly and efficiently throughout the game. “I think our centerbacks did a phenomenal job of stepping up and really getting in there with grit,” Beall said. “(Graduate defender) Alia Martin and (senior defender) Sydney Shepherd played high top. I’m so grateful to have them back there.” The Wolverines relied on their depth, consistently rotating players in. The team returned all of its starters from last season, enabling it to jell quickly and get off to a good start thus far. This helped the team withstand the 110 minutes of gritty soccer. “Something that we’ve been preaching to our team is that we are a team very fortunate with depth,” Klein said. “... We were able to keep going, put players on, try to rotate. I think it allowed us to keep the momentum and push, just unfortunate that we didn’t get a goal today.” Michigan’s depth was tested
in the first overtime period when Riviere took a hard hit to the head. Wisconsin midfielder Emma Jaskaniec received a yellow card for the hit and Riviere did not return to the game. “Jayde is a player who is always going to bring something special when she’s on the field,” Klein said. “Whether it’s just her tactical ability or her ability within, speed and everything like that. When you lose that player it definitely takes something away, but I am still really proud of the players that we put on.” The most exciting action came during the second overtime period when the Badgers took three consecutive corner kicks. Each time, the Wolverines stacked the box and cleared the ball out successfully. Down their best player and having already played 100-plus minutes, Michigan looked to have ceded the momentum. Still, the Wolverines held their ground and didn’t allow a goal despite three close calls. They took a possibly game-changing set of plays to force the momentum back to their side. With the offense sputtering, Michigan’s defense played a pivotal role, allowing the Wolverines to muster out a point. “We’re in the hunt for a Big Ten Championship,” Beall said. “We didn’t drop a game, we obviously got a point out of it. Definitely defensively killing it the past few games. Defending, we’re just doing great and I think if we can get on the board we’re going to be really great.”
DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily Michigan fifth-year goalkeeper Hillary Beall kicks the ball.
12 — Wednesday, September 29, 2021
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