2023-04-05

Celebrating Women’s History Month with Ann Arbor businesses

From yoga to tteokbokki, The Michigan Daily sat down with five female business owners based in Ann Arbor

Women are at the forefront of a new wave in entrepreneurship, with one survey finding that nearly half of all new businesses in the United States in 2021 were founded by women. Despite this growth, women continue to face barriers to entry and growth while women business owners remain underrepresented at large. To celebrate Women’s History Month, The Michigan Daily’s business beat spent March sitting down with five female business owners based in Ann Arbor to discuss their stories and experiences.

Phillis Engelbert – Detroit Street Filling Station, The Lunch Room and North Star Lounge

You may not know her name, but there’s a good chance you’ve wined and dined at one of the three prominent Ann Arbor establishments run by Phillis Engelbert: Kerrytown staple Detroit Street Filling Station, the recently-opened North

Star Lounge and The Lunch Room Bakery & Cafe in Huron Towers. With a focus on locallysourced produce and community organizing, Engelbert’s restaurants provide an assortment of eclectic vegan fare for their patrons.

Eve Aronoff Fernandez – Frita Batidos

Floor-to-ceiling glass panels and a stark white interior beckon Main Street passersby into the Cuban-inspired burger and “batido” joint, Frita Batidos, owned by Eve Aronoff Fernandez. The indoor picnic tables, reminiscent of a cozy backyard gathering, are often completely filled with patrons indulging in Cuban comfort food, including the signature frita burgers and batidos milkshakes the restaurant is named after.

Aronoff Fernandez opened Frita Batidos in Ann Arbor in 2010, and a secondary location in Detroit nine years later. But before she crafted the best burger in the city, Aronoff learned about cooking from her Jewish mother in New York. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Aronoff Fernandez said her passion for cooking stems from a long line of Jewish mothers who instilled the importance of nurturing through food in her.

Diana Marsh –Thistle & Bess

Whether you are shopping for classy gold jewelry, sparkly cocktail-themed Christmas ornaments or realistic foodshaped candles, owner Diana Marsh promises that you don’t have to look any further than Thistle & Bess, a funky store full of surprises. Located on Ann Arbor’s 4th Avenue on the outskirts of the Kerrytown District, Thistle & Bess opened a physical location in 2015 after making its mark as an online antique jewelry store.

Ji Hye Kim – Miss Kim

Nestled in the heart of Kerrytown, Miss Kim, an award-winning restaurant operated by Ji Hye Kim, serves traditional Korean cuisine with a contemporary twist. Kim opened the restaurant in 2016 as a part of Zingerman’s Community of

Businesses through their Path to Partnership program, which allows anyone, regardless of previous business experience, to apply to either join an existing Zingerman’s business as a partner or, in Kim’s case, start their own.

Jessie Lipkowitz – aUM Yoga / Polarity

Jessie Lipkowitz has a journey full of twists and turns that led her to become the owner of aUM Yoga and Polarity, a yoga and pole studio located on South University Avenue in Ann Arbor. Lipkowitz said yoga has been a transformative

Read more about these five businesses at michigandaily.com

practice for her and she hopes it has been for the other people who step into her studio as well.

“Yoga saved my life,” Lipkowitz said. “In no way am I saying that yoga is a cure, but it is definitely a tool and a tool I’m very passionate about sharing.”

GEO commences strike against UMich last

Wednesday

Ann Arbor community members gather in support of the Graduate Employees’ Organization strike against UMich at 10:24 a.m.

A few thousand graduate students, undergraduates, lecturers and Ann Arbor community members rallied on the Diag at the University of Michigan Wednesday in support of the Graduate Employees’ Organization’s decision to strike following months of unsuccessful contract negotiations with the University’s Academic Human Resources Department.

The walk-out started at 10:24 a.m. to call attention to the fact that GEO is “walking away” from their current salary, which is just over $24,000. It was intended to mark the official start of GEO’s strike, which will continue until further notice.

The strike comes after months of activism by GEO, including filing an unfair labor practice charge, rallying at the February and March Board of Regents meetings, protesting University President Santa Ono’s inaugural procession and holding work-in at Haven Hall.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily before the strike rally began, Rackham student Amir Fleischmann, chair of the GEO Contracts Committee, said graduate students want the University to bargain in good faith with GEO to address the issues graduate students are facing.

“I think we’re at a point in negotiations where things really aren’t moving quickly enough,” Fleischmann said. “Grad workers are very frustrated. They’re struggling to pay rent. They’re struggling to afford childcare. They lack access to gender-affirming care. And I think we’re saying enough is enough. The University needs to give us a fair contract now.”

GEO

At the start of the rally, GEO President Jared Eno spoke to the crowd and emphasized that the organization is on strike to fight for a better future for graduate students and the entire campus community.

“We are here right now because we know that a better world is possible,” Eno said. “We know that if we fight and we fight together, we will win.”

Following the opening speeches from GEO leaders, demonstrators marched across campus, starting at the Diag and ending at the Alexander G. Ruthven Building, where U-M administration offices are located.

In an email to the campus community on March 24, Ono and University Provost Laurie McCauley wrote that the University may take legal action against GEO because

they alleged that the work stoppage constitutes a breach of contract.

“The University will take appropriate lawful actions to enable the continued delivery of our educational mission in the event of a work disruption,” McCauley and Ono wrote. “Those actions will include asking a court to find a breach of contract and order strikers back to work, stopping the deduction of union dues, filing unfair labor practice charges, and not paying striking GSIs and GSSAs for time they do not work.”

In a press conference at the end of the rally, Eno said the University has yet to take any legal action against the union.

“The University has sent (GEO) multiple threatening letters,” Eno said. “We are not afraid of the

Meera

The Forward Together Party’s candidates for CSG president and vice president were elected for the 2023-2024 academic year

Public Policy junior Meera

Herle and LSA sophomore

Bipasha Ray of the Forward

Together party are projected to be the next CSG president and vice president, according to preliminary results obtained by The Michigan Daily Friday morning.

Herle currently serves as the CSG president’s chief of staff and has previously served as CSG senior policy advisor for environmental justice. She has engaged in CSG projects such as the clothing exchange and the grocery bag drive.

Ray previously served as an intern for the chief programming officer and later became the chief programming officer for CSG in 2022. Her involvement included organizing events such as Winter Wonderland and the CSG clothing exchange with Herle. The Forward Together Coalition aims to engage all three University of Michigan campuses by expanding Student Legal Services, broadening CSG’s textbook exchange program to include preparation materials for standardized tests and removing the GPA requirement for HAIL Scholarship recipients on the Dearborn and Flint campuses.

University that would take us to court rather than pay us a living wage.”

In an interview with The Daily, University spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald confirmed that no legal action has been taken yet.

“There are some legal steps that we can take and I know the (legal) team’s carefully considering those right now,” Fitzgerald said. “(No legal action has been taken) that I’m aware of. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t taken place.”

LSA senior Kayla Tate, speaker for the Black Student Union, attended the rally and told The Daily she wanted to be there to support graduate students.

“We know this University is not a victim,” Tate said. “Rather, it is an active perpetrator of systemic injustice.”

Persian Student Association hosts 23rd Annual Nowruz show

In celebration of Nowruz, U-M community members gathered to watch the Persian Student Association’s annual show

RYAN KERSTEN Daily Staff Reporter

About 500 attendees gathered in The Power Center for the Performing Arts Saturday evening for the Persian Students Association’s 23rd Annual Nowruz show. Corresponding with Nowruz, a Persian holiday celebrating the new year of the Iranian calendar, the annual show always occurs during late March. Saturday’s event featured a variety of sketches, poems, songs and dances in celebration of Persion culture.

As attendees entered the center, they passed by a HaftSin table set up in the lobby. The table is traditionally displayed during Nowruz and features a collection of symbolic objects. Engineering junior Mitra

Mokhlesi, who helped plan the show, told The Daily the event was intended to celebrate and spread Iranian culture.

“We have this show in order to … bring the Iranian community of Michigan together and also spread our culture … to the broader Ann Arbor community,” Mokhlesi said.

Taubman graduate student student Anahita Mojahed spoke with The Michigan Daily about her favorite parts of the show, which included an act from the fashion show showcasing outfits from different parts of Iran.

“The way they incorporated the different culture of the outfits and the music and the different choreography was great,” Mojahedin said.

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Herle, Bipasha Ray voted next CSG president and vice president

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strikes at 10:24 am, with members and leaders of the organization giving speeches on their motives and ultimate goals for the strike Wednesday.

GEO members and allies participate in a walkout and strike on the Diag Wednesday morning.

MILES ANDERSON & MATTHEW SHANBOM Daily Staff Reporters THE MICHIGAN DAILY NEWS STAFF

Sustainable Food Program hosts workshops for annual food justice summit

The UMich Sustainable Food Program hosted student-led “learnshops” as part of fourth-annual food justice summit

The University of Michigan Sustainable Food Program hosted student-led “learnshops” at the Michigan Union Saturday as part of their three-day student food summit “Rooting for Change.” The interactive workshops were hosted by UMSFP members and students from other partner organizations like the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, Student Sustainability Coalition, Sustainability Cultural Organizers and the Campus Farm.

The learnshops were the last event of the three-day summit, with more than 130 students and community members in attendance. The summit started on Thursday with “Bite-Sized Talks about Food Justice” at the Blue Llama Jazz Club, with student speakers and performers hosting short talks about different cultural approaches to food justice. The series also featured a keynote panel at the Michigan League on the economics, society and politics of food on Friday. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Chase Dautrich, LSA senior and co-president of UMSFP, said he hoped the summit would expose people to food justice organizations on campus and new ways of creating positive change.

“A big goal of (the Rooting for Change summit) is just bringing people together and showing them that there is a food justice community here on campus and that we do have a lot of ‘people

power’ when we all come together,”

Dautrich said. “Being exposed to new skills … is really powerful for shaping people’s mindset when it comes to imagining the ways that they can create change.”

In one of the sessions hosted Saturday, SSC members presented on the intersection of decolonization and global food systems, while other workshops included handson tutorials related to fermentation and composting.

Jasmine Paulk, LSA sophomore and a member of the Sustainability Cultural Organizers, hosted a learnshop on the concept of “cultural organizing.” Paulk cited Arts & Democracy’s definition of cultural organizing, explaining the concept as “a fluid and dynamic practice about integrating arts and culture into organizing strategies” and “organizing from a particular tradition, cultural identity, community of place or worldview.”

Attendees were invited to engage with cultural organizing by crafting a 3D abstract visualization of their culture with fabric scraps.

Paulk said she hoped the fabric crafting activity at the learnshop would allow participants to connect with their culture in a meaningful way while also giving the leftover fabric scraps and buttons a new life.

“I wanted to share with people what the concept of cultural organizing is and give them a window into how they can connect with their culture and sort of have fun doing that,” Paulk said. “I hope that they leave today thinking about what they’re most connected to, what’s meaningful to them, and then they’ll have a little physical

reminder of those things.”

Engineering senior Jordon Horton and Environment and Sustainability graduate student Naajia Shakir, the president and vice-president of MANRRS, presented on food sovereignty, a community-driven food system where farmers help craft food production policies to mitigate food inequity. They highlighted

organizations who practice forms of food sovereignty, such as the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network and Cadillac Urban Gardens, a one-acre urban garden located in southwest Detroit. Shakir said in an interview with The Daily she hopes people leave the learnshops with a better understanding of how to take control of the food system. She also

mentioned her personal experience growing up in Camden, N.J.

“Growing up around a lot of corner stores and fast food restaurants, I’ve always wanted there to be space with more affordable, equitable and accessible grocery stores,” Shakir said. “I just hope that folks know that there is a possibility to have control over … where your food is coming from,

(to) grow your own food and also connect with your community.” Shakir attended some of the other workshops and said she felt the summit was a good opportunity to connect with other students and organizations involved in food-related and environmental advocacy.

Annual UMich Tanner Lecture discusses intersectionality and oppression U-M community members gathered to hear from keynote speaker Sally Haslanger on intersectional oppression and institutional capitalism

About 50 University of Michigan students and faculty alike gathered in Rackham Auditorium for the annual Tanner Lecture Wednesday evening, which is funded by The Tanner Foundation, an organization that helps patients with neurological diseases. This year’s keynote speaker was Sally Haslanger, the Ford professor of philosophy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Haslanger’s lecture focused on intersectional oppression, “thick” social categories and institutional capitalism.

Haslanger teaches philosophy and women’s and gender studies at MIT and has published research on metaphysics, feminist theory and critical race theory. Haslanger’s collection of papers titled Resisting Reality: Social Construction and Social Critique have received critical acclaim, including the Joseph B. Gittler award for outstanding work in philosophy of the social

sciences. During her time at MIT, she also helped establish the Women in Philosophy Task Force and PIKSI-Boston, a summer program for undergraduates hoping to study philosophy from underrepresented groups.

Haslanger began the lecture by providing an overview on what both discrimination and social formation mean. In the lecture, she questioned how the formation of social groups revolves around shared identities between different people.“Intersectionality, as I understand it, is the result of the different dynamics at work in the system that produce social groups,” Haslanger said. “These different dynamics, and others, embed ‘logics’ of capital, gender, race, citizenship, disability and the like. They play out in historically complex ways.”

In an interview with The Michigan Daily at the event, LSA freshman Ellen Drejza discussed her motivations for coming to this year’s Tanner Lecture. Drejza said her International Studies 101 professor encouraged her class to participate in any U-M lecture or

event related to course material, and she chose to attend this one.

“I thought that this talk just really covered all the bases because it’s just all about social injustice and different topics that tie into international studies,” Drejza said. “She talked about so many important social issues and economic issues.”

LSA junior Sabrina Kahlon said she found the discussion of intersectionality to be particularly interesting. Kahlon told The Daily that Haslanger’s explanation of how local systems, such as child protective services, can create oppressive social constructs,encouraged her to think about historical inequity in a new way.

“I think it was interesting how she discusses the social structures and oppression in society, whether that’s due to race, gender, sexuality, etc.,” Kahlon said. “Also, when she discussed intersectionality involving child protective services in the criminal justice system, that was very interesting.”

Kahlon said she would encourage other members of the

Naloxone initiatives continue to expand on and off campus

became the first over-the-counter nasal spray to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration on March 29.

campus community to attend talks like the Tanner Lecture to participate in conversations surrounding important educational issues and societal topics.

“I think they’re important, but I would only go if you’re actually

interested in it, not just for a class,” Kahlon said.

Kelly Campbell, chief administrator in the Department of Philosophy at the University, assisted in the organization of the lecture. In an interview with The Daily, Campbell said the

department chose Haslanger to give this year’s Tanner Lecture due to her admirable qualifications in the field.

“Professor Haslanger is at the top of her field in thinking about different effects of human values,” Campbell said.

Michigan Medicine to use drones for prescription delivery in 2024

The Emergency Medical Services Club at the University of Michigan recently launched an initiative to install boxes containing Narcan — a naloxone nasal spray that reverses the effects of opioid overdose — around campus, starting with fraternity and sorority chapter houses. The initiative also offers a 20-minute presentation on recognizing opioid overdoses and administering Narcan.

In April 2022, the Ann Arbor District Library installed a vending machine that dispenses free Narcan at their downtown branch. Since then, the program has expanded to other AADL branches. Narcan also recently

The recent initiative was proposed by Kinesiology junior Sophia Ghayur, a member of the EMS Club. Ghayur told The Michigan Daily she was motivated to pitch the project after students in her hometown of Boulder, Colo., overdosed on fentanyl. After seeing other universities like the University of Arizona implement similar programs, Ghayur said she decided to reach out to EMS Club’s executive board members about the idea.

Narcan boxes have since been introduced to five U-M fraternity houses: Lambda Chi Alpha, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Phi Gamma Delta, Triangle and Sigma Nu. The club is currently working to expand

the program to all fraternity and sorority houses at the University.

“(We’ve) already gotten the funding for both (fraternity and sorority houses) through Central Student Government,” Ghayur said. “(The University) is obviously a huge school, so we just chose to start out with fraternities at first. And we’ll be installing them into the sorority houses soon as well.”

Though Narcan has been found to be highly effective in reversing overdoses, a lack of knowledge about the drug has impacted its use and availability.

LSA sophomore Shane Ross, Phi Gamma Delta fraternity brother and EMS Club member, spoke with The Daily about how a critical part of expanding Narcan access is education.

Michigan Medicine announced March 15 they will be partnering with Zipline, an autonomous drone delivery service, to distribute prescription medications to some Washtenaw County patients’ homes in 2024. The partnership aims to help deliver pharmaceuticals across the county and is projected to double Michigan Medicine’s prescription fulfillment. The partnership is a part of Michigan Medicine’s broader strategy to expand specialty pharmacy services, which provide medications to patients with complex diseases. In an interview with The Michigan

Daily, Dana Habers, chief innovation officer of Michigan Medicine, said using a drone delivery service allows the healthcare system to address multiple goals at the same time.

“We are on a continuous quest to provide … care to our patients at the lowest possible cost,” Habers said. “We’re also looking for ways to improve our carbon footprint and provide a more environmentally friendly series of services to our patients. And finally, of course, we’re on a relentless pursuit of open access and allowing patients from all different backgrounds … to access our services and get the care of our worldclass pharmacist team. So all of those things came together when we met Zipline.”

When the Zipline service launches, a new pharmacy facility

in Dexter will host chargers and loading ports for the drones. Patients living within a 10-mile radius of the facility will be able to elect to receive their prescription drugs by drone. According to Habers, drones will provide faster delivery than the current system, where medications are packed to stay fresh for 48 hours and are sent to homes through delivery truck services.

“(The Zipline system) could be much more real-time,” Habers said. “(A patient) could hang up with the pharmacist and know their plan and then have the drug that day or within a much shorter period of time. So that 48-hour window we think will be significantly shorter with this kind of instant delivery model.”

Ann Arbor Film Festival 2023: ‘Berbû’ explores the intersection of war and womanhood

“Do you think it will be war?” young bride-to-be Gûle (Kajeen Aloush, debut) asks her older sister. A pause.

“It already is war,” her sister replies.

So begins “Berbû,” Sevinaz Evdike’s dazzling directorial debut, which had its American premiere this Thursday at the Ann Arbor Film Festival.

“Berbù,” which clocks in at just 70 minutes, is a deeply personal portrait of the ongoing Syrian civil war. The film is set in Serekaniye, a Syrian border town constantly besieged by neighboring Turkish forces. The film opens in Gûle’s tidy family home, where preparations for her upcoming wedding are in full swing. The everyday bustle is brought to a halt when her fiance and his family arrive to pose a single question: Has the war become bad enough to postpone the wedding?

The war answers that question for them. Turkish shelling begins, driving Gûle and her family from their home. As they join a stream of fleeing residents, the focus shifts to another young evacuee, Barin (Barin Resho, debut). She has just gotten married and is swept into the desert still wearing her billowing white wedding gown. She watches numbly as her family continues to squabble while they’re carted off to a refugee center. At the film’s midpoint, a final protagonist is introduced. Nazê (Nebeer Khanem, debut) is another resident of the refugee camp

and is young and frequently petulant. She resents her situation and overbearing mother and harbors a crush on a fellow refugee, a quiet young man whom her mother desperately wants her to marry. These three young women share the film’s attention, forced to contend with both the immediate horror of war and the more subtle discomfort of womanhood. The film takes its time, letting viewers rest with each character as they struggle to reconcile their new identities as wives. Gûle hides, listening to the men of her family discuss her fate through open windows and from behind walls. Barin runs, wandering alone into the open Syrian desert as her husband’s family fights over the technicalities of the new marriage. Nazê resists, refusing to help her mother with even the most basic tasks. If she doesn’t accept her situation, she hopes that it won’t become real. Evdike is an exacting director. She uses small moments to emphasize innate human responses to distress. The weight of marriage isn’t expressed in outbursts or vows, but in the knit of Nazê’s brow as she tries to do her hair in a shattered mirror and the flash of sorrow in Gûle’s eyes when her fiance refuses to look at her. Evdike maintains this exacting ethos in her treatment of the larger war. Children do handstands against halfdestroyed walls while soldiers march by. A boy casually throws up a peace sign to passing cars as he evacuates his besieged neighborhood. There are no guns or tanks — just humanity

continuing to fight for the right to exist in the midst of intense destruction.

This personalized examination of violence is far more compelling than a typical war film. “Berbû” focuses not on soldiers but civilians — the people whose agency and livelihoods the surrounding violence strips away. Evdike draws parallels between the collective dehumanization of war and the individual degradations that marriage often entails. Gûle, Nazê and

Barin are caught up in a wave of refugees united in their lack of agency. Even within a demographic hyper-aware of how terrible it is to be powerless, the young women are forced to renounce their autonomy in the name of marriage.

“Berbû” draws a simple conclusion — war emphasizes the worst parts of society. But unlike traditional war films, “Berbû” doesn’t rely on gore or soldiers. Evdike frames the tragedy of war through several

young women to show how communities continue to pedal traditional beliefs and desires even when torn apart and displaced. War does not cause change; it does not transform or rewrite. Instead, people cling all the more strongly to the things they are certain of — even if those things are cruel or antiquated.

War does not free Gûle, Nazê or Barin. It does not send them on adventures or make them stronger. It only more tightly traps them in a life they will

never fully own — a life that will play out in an even more ruined setting than that of their predecessors.

“Berbû” is a classic war film in that it condemns violence as futile and foolish. It is also a rare piece that combines that moral with feminism. It reminds viewers that war is not just composed of weapons and violence but also of real humans — and that those humans deserve a chance at something greater than the world in which that war has trapped them.

Remi Bader at Michigan’s Fashion Media Summit: The epitome of positivity

This past Friday at the University of Michigan’s Fashion Media Summit, influencer Remi Bader took the stage. While her interview was entirely virtual, presented on the large projector in the Ross School of Business’ Robertson Auditorium, her message was still clear. Famous for her “body positive” platform, Bader has inspired her followers to reach new levels of confidence and self-love. The interview lasted half an hour and was led by MFMS co-Presidents Talia Potters and Hannah Shipley.

Beginning with a discussion of Bader’s background in public relations and marketing, and finishing with her hopes for body inclusivity in the fashion industry, Potters and Shipley took us through Bader’s story, in Bader’s words, with ease. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bader was let go from her job and, like everybody at the time, downloaded the TikTok app. This was the first time she saw “curvy” girls and plus-sized fashion in a media setting, Bader said. Inspired by this, and in a search for more confidence, Bader started producing content, what she called “silly” try-on clothing hauls. These videos she called “realistic hauls” — where she would order several outfits from well-known brands such as Zara, PrettyLittleThing or Fashion Nova and compare the size and fit to the website pictures. Now, she moves beyond realistic

hauls and into topics such as mental health and her day-to-day life.

When asked how she would describe her transition into social media, she firmly said, “I never wanted to be the ‘spokesperson’ for body positivity. I just wanted to show my life and be a positive inspiration.” And that she did.

Several years into her new career, Bader has amassed a following of over 2.2 million on TikTok, and 540,000 on Instagram. In the interview, she mentions how lucky she feels to have this large of a platform, and that her “blow up” was as unexpected as it could’ve been. She believes that TikTok has become more saturated with body positivity content now, relative to the time of her “blow up.” To her, timing was everything.

Aside from a social media career, Bader has also transitioned into clothing design and line curation. Her collaboration with Revolve, a popular online shopping website, was indeed the first time the company had up to size 4X in a line. It all began with one of her “realistic Revolve hauls” in which Bader beseeched the company to “do better.” Upon the video’s upload, Revolve instantly reached out to Bader, asking if she would be interested in designing her own line. When developing the line, she started with the design team, working on silhouettes and body shapes, with a variety of loose-fitting and tighter clothing depending on consumers’ level of comfort.

“Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality.

~Belva Davis”

“If you dream it, you can make it so.”

SKYLAR WALLISON Daily Arts Writer

Taylor Swift has been widely hailed as one of the greatest songwriters of her generation. Not only are her songs catchy and meaningful, but they almost always tell an incredible, lively story. In particular, the songs that describe beautiful relationships and heart-wrenching breakups reach a level of storytelling that few other artists can aspire to. And because these songs tell such descriptive stories, it’s only natural that fans might apply the songs to other circumstances — other characters, other couples, other stories. And so, with The Swiftie Project series, Swifties within Daily Arts break down every romantic Taylor Swift song from every released album and match them to various fictional couples. The sixth part in this series contains songs from her sixth album: reputation. Most songs from this album have been included, although “I Did Something Bad,” “Look What You Made Me Do” and “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” have been omitted, due to their more personal, non-romantic stories.

Warning: Spoilers for various TV shows, movies and books are included in the following article.

“…Ready For It?” — Emma Swan and Captain Killian (Hook) Jones, “Once Upon a Time” Knew he was a killer first time that I saw him / Wondered how many girls he had loved and left haunted

Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison, “House”) and Captain Hook (Colin O’Donoghue, “The Right Stuff”) are hands-down (pun intended) the best couple of “Once Upon a Time.”

When Emma and Hook first met, she was a savior, the ultimate representation of goodness. He, on the other hand (again, pun intended), was a pirate, a scoundrel who knowingly went after a married woman in his past. “…Ready For It?” is undoubtedly a sexually charged song, which fits Hook, whose sly comments and innuendos in season two solidified him as a memorable character. In “…

Ready For It?” Swift sings, “Knew

I was a robber first time that he saw me.” Emma had a dark past of her own, which involved stealing her iconic yellow Volkswagen and, of course, her short-lived relationship with Neal (Michael RaymondJames, “True Blood”). Hook and Emma’s first adventure together was stealing a compass from a giant. By the end of the series, these two were thick as thieves.

Mina Tobya: Daily Arts Writer

“End Game” — Peter Parker and MJ, Marvel Cinematic Universe

Reputation precedes me, in rumors

I’m knee deep / The truth is it’s easier to ignore it, believe me

No one’s reputation is as “knee deep” in rumors as Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland, “Uncharted”) after he’s revealed to be the face behind the Spider-Man mask. Luckily, the brave and brilliant Michelle ‘MJ’ Jones (Zendaya, “Euphoria”) isn’t deterred by the swarms of people flocking around him or the bricks thrown through his window. When their world is thrown upside down, MJ is always by Peter’s side, ready to face whatever threat comes their way. Their love story was built on a solid foundation of friendship and mutual trust, but a wrecking ball destroys that when MJ’s memory

The Swiftie Project Part Six: reputation

is wiped of all traces of Peter Parker. With “words on the tip of (his) tongue,” he walks out of her life. Instead of choosing to refresh her memory of him, Peter chooses to let her go so she can have the happiness she deserves. Without him, she is free to excel at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and live without the imminent danger of being Spider-Man’s girlfriend, but she feels the absence of her first love.

The many iterations of Spider-Man affirm these two to be legitimate endgame. They’ll get through this trial, like all the rest, because they’re just meant to be.

Lola D’Onofrio: Daily Arts Writer “Don’t Blame Me” — Anakin Skywalker and Padmè Amidala, Star Wars franchise

I would fall from grace / just to touch your face

Love can make you crazy. When you really fall for someone, you’ll do pretty much anything to keep them safe. Jedi prodigy Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen, “Little Italy”) takes this logic to the extreme. Padmè Amidala (Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”) is the love of his life. When Anakin starts getting premonitions of her death, he turns toward to the dark side to protect Padmè. This leads him directly toward his eventual transformation into the sinister Darth Vader. It’s ultimately a tragedy — Anakin becomes so consumed by the dark side that he forgets his love for Padmè, killing her in the process. But before the two eventually fall apart, there’s a brief and undeniably awesome period of time where Anakin is wildly in love and indiscriminately destructive because of it. Enter “Don’t Blame Me” by Swift — a song all about that thin line between love and insanity. As Anakin paces the Jedi Temple, planning the lengths he will go to save Padmè, he walks this very line. He struggles to maintain the appearance of an upstanding Jedi knight, a “halo hiding (his) obsession”. But as things escalate, Anakin ends up cracking, turning against the Jedi. You can picture him thinking wildly that “love made me crazy.” All of it is worth it for Padmè. Every time he sees her, his eyes soften. He “falls from grace” without a second thought just to “touch (her) face.”

Sabriya Imami: Daily Arts Writer “Delicate” — Kat Stratford and Patrick Verona, “10 Things I Hate About You”

My reputation’s never been worse / So, you must like me for me Swift was painted as a bad girl during her reputation era — she was canceled, derided and misrepresented. And yet, during this time, as she faced the #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty, the fallout of her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, and cutting remarks about being a boy-crazy, heart-breaking “serial dater,” she was actually falling in love. “Delicate” encompasses this dichotomy perfectly. The world looked down on her, but the person she loved was only looking at her. Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles, “O”) was similarly misunderstood in “10 Things I Hate About You”; on the surface she seemed cutthroat and bitter, but she actually harbored a painful secret. Patrick (Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”) may have used deception to get into her good graces, but it didn’t take long for him to actually fall for her. And, yes,

things do get worse before they get better, in terms of their relationship, but there is a moment where Kat has to be very vulnerable in front of him. In some ways, Kat reading her poem in front of Patrick and the rest of the class is her “is it cool that I said all that?” moment, and we couldn’t be happier about it. Patrick looked past Kat’s reputation-era facade, and as a result, Kat let him see who she really was.

Lillian Pearce: Daily Arts Writer

“So It Goes…” — Eve Polastri and Villanelle, “Killing Eve”

You know I’m not a bad girl / But I do bad things with you

“Killing Eve” puts a whole new spin on the enemies-to-lovers trope.

Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh, “The Chair”) is a British intelligence investigator who is obsessed with female serial killers — and especially with the assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer, “Help”). Their relationship, born from violence and crime, is riddled with enticing and infuriating will-they-won’t-they energy. Eve’s obsession with Villanelle is further complicated by an attraction to her, which Villanelle uses to her advantage. “But when you get me alone, it’s so simple / ‘Cause baby, I know what you know / We can feel it.” The chemistry between the two women is just as poignant as the blood on Villanelle’s hands: Swift’s “So It Goes…” is eerily reminiscent of this peculiar relationship, with lyrics like “You know I’m not a bad girl / But I do bad things with you” that speak to Eve and Villanelle’s dysfunctional relationship dynamic. Graciela Batlle: Daily Arts Writer “Gorgeous” — Seth Cohen and Summer Roberts, “The O.C.” And I’m so furious / At you for making me feel this way / But, what can I say? / You’re gorgeous Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson, “Take Two”) is the epitome of the typical popular girl that the nerdy guys in her grade are intensely drawn to. In Summer’s case, her “cool mean girl” charisma manages to make the gawky Seth Cohen (Adam Brody, “Shazam!”) fall madly in love with her, while she doesn’t

even bother to bat an eye in his direction. However, it takes Summer roughly six episodes to notice that Seth’s quirks are not so repulsive after all … they’re actually very cute! However, she’s still mad that a nerd like Seth was able to win her over, which dooms their relationship to an endless rollercoaster of ups and downs. The playing field eventually becomes leveled, with Seth breaking Summer’s heart the same amount of times that Summer breaks his, but, in the end, no one is as gorgeous for the both of them as they are to each other. Even if Summer was furious that an uncool nerd like Seth managed to enamor her, she was left helpless because what can she say? Seth is, in Summer’s eyes (and mine), gorgeous.

Lillian Pearce: Daily Arts Writer

“Getaway Car” — Joe Goldberg and Love Quinn, “You”

It was the best of times, the worst of crimes

What song could capture the love shared between two psychotic serial killers better than Swift’s “Getaway Car”? “It was the best of times, the worst of crimes” — how lovely it must be to not have to hide your true homicidal self — “I struck a match and blew your mind” — because there’s no stronger sign of devotion than killing someone for your beloved. “While he was runnin’ after us, I was screamin,’ ‘Go, go, go!’ ” Ah, the memories. But, although one might think that Joe (Penn Badgley, “Gossip Girl”) and Love (Victoria Pedretti, “The Haunting of Bly Manor”) deserve each other, love is never so simple. Joe, though a murderer himself, starts to fear the lethal tendencies of Love (hypocrite, much?) and starts to plan his escape. (And by escape, yes, I mean his plan to kill her.) “We were jet-set, Bonnie and Clyde (oh-oh) / Until I switched to the other side, to the other side / It’s no surprise I turned you in (oh-oh) / ‘Cause us traitors never win.” It really does write itself.

Ava Seaman: Books Beat Editor “King of My Heart” — Amelia (Mia) Mignonette Thermopolis

Renaldi and Nicholas Devereaux, “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement”

And all at once you are the one I have been waiting for “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” has something the first film does not, and that is Chris Pine (“Star Trek”).

Princess Mia (Anne Hathaway, “The Devil Wears Prada”) must marry a man in 30 days or she cannot become the queen of Genovia. Eligible for the throne, Pine’s character, Lord Nicholas Devereaux, is (supposedly) attempting to steal the throne from Mia. Mia and Nicholas have a meet-cute turned flirtatious rivalry throughout the film — it’s enemies-to-lovers excellence. By the end of the film, Mia takes back her power and moves to abolish the law that states she needs a husband to rule, and she is crowned queen. As a native San Franciscan, Mia is literally an “American queen,” but more importantly, Nicholas was the king of her heart whom she was waiting for. Here’s hoping for a third film where these two are happily married.

Annabel Curran: Senior Arts Editor

“Dancing With Our Hands Tied” — Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa, “Six of Crows”

I could’ve spent forever with your hands in my pockets / Picture of your face in an invisible locket

If you thought I was done talking about the masterpiece that is Leigh Bardugo’s “Six of Crows” duology, you thought wrong. And since one masterpiece deserves another, there’s no better song than “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” to capture the palpable tension and trauma that characterizes the tragic yet beautiful relationship between Kaz and Inej. Both characters have pasts that are fraught with suffering and trauma that have left them wary and closed off to closeness or romance in any shape or form. Each haunted by their own histories and yet both inexplicably drawn to the other, they have no choice but to tiptoe around each other, playing a complicated game of avoidance

that is very much like a complex and alluring dance. Emotionally guarded against love and intimacy and each wearing their own armor and masks, it’s safe to say that these two hopeless lovers are indeed dancing dangerously with their hands tied.

Hannah Carapellotti: Daily Arts Writer “Dress” — Kate Sharma and Anthony Bridgerton, “Bridgerton”

Our secret moments in a crowded room / They got no idea about me and you Dearest reader (yes, I just did that),

There are few things more exciting to watch unfold than an enemies-to-lovers relationship: The obvious denial of feelings and the sweet payoff when a couple finally admits them is worth it every time.

Anthony (Jonathan Bailey, “Broadchurch”) and Kate (Simone Ashley, “Sex Education”) get off to a rocky start because of a misunderstanding, but the connection that exists between them — despite being the bane of each other’s existence — is hard to deny. Apart from their clear sexual chemistry, these two are far more alike than they realize. They have both lived their lives for other people and the one time they want to do something for themselves, it puts everything at risk. “Dress” captures both the excitement and the complexities of Kate and Anthony’s relationship. In fact, this author would argue that it’s one of Swift’s most romantic songs, despite the chorus being, “Only bought this dress so you could take it off” (although if you’ve seen the show, you know that line applies here, too). Great love requires great vulnerability, great risk. Swift understands that when she sings, “If I get burned, at least we were electrified.” Kate and Anthony both know they could get burned by taking that risk and being with each other, but they ultimately do, and it’s electric in all the best ways.

Design by Abby Schreck

I think makeup is one of the most exciting forms of art. Discovering techniques that complement different facial structures, emphasizing your favorite features and enhancing personal style all draw me to the beauty world, whether in everyday makeup or more creative, bold looks. My interest in makeup is reflected in the way I use social media — on Pinterest boards or my Instagram explore page, there’s bound to be some makeup-related content. So, when I first discovered Vogue Beauty Secrets — a series of YouTube videos starring different celebrities detailing their beauty routines — I was instantly enthralled. At first, I used the videos simply to learn more techniques and how to enhance my style. They soon became special to me in different ways.

Vogue Beauty Secrets quickly became my go-to comfort media, as I would unwind to “Stranger Things” star Natalia Dyer’s calming step-by-step through her sensitive skin routine, or

cheer up to Rihanna’s energetic guide to going out makeup.

I realized that there was an aspect of companionship and intimacy present in these videos that made them unique from any other beauty content I had seen at the time. This was because the celebrities in the videos not only showed how they do their makeup, they also gave details of their personal life that connected to their routines. For example, in Dyer’s video, she speaks about her relationship with makeup and skincare in her teen years, explains why she prefers natural looks over red carpet glam and reveals the emotional significance of things like perfume in her life. Small insights and stories about the lives of the celebrities make these videos feel personal, as if a friend was telling me about their day.

This feeling of authenticity was enhanced because of the variety of people and stories present in the collection of videos. In Emma Robert’s video “Mom’s-Night-Out-Glam”, she shows her makeup routine and how she treats her postpregnancy melasma, a common skin issue faced by people who

have been pregnant. Another video features 64-year-old Joan Severance, who gives tips for aging skin and talks about the vitiligo that she’s had since childhood. Having real stories and situations that many others can relate to in the context of these beauty videos makes them feel authentic and more personal. It also destigmatizes these skin types (such as varying textures and aging) by showing them as a normal aspect of their lives, rather than something to be ashamed of or hide. Seeing celebrities show off their acne and combat their oily hair is a comforting behind-the-scenes look, which makes me feel more connected to the content.

The best part of these videos for me is not fully encapsulated by their relatability or their older sibling mentor-y feel. It is also the way that they encourage the sharing of techniques, products and advice; it’s a space for pure helpfulness and positivity. Creating a forum for building up one another and celebrating companionship in a dominantly female space such as Vogue Beauty Secrets is important, especially in modern-day media where

pitting women against each other and trying to get ahead of one another is promoted. It seems like no matter where we look in the media, (especially in beauty-related media) there’s women being compared, fans of women degrading other women or women tearing each other down. A space of helpfulness and sincerity online is a refreshing change of pace in a world of Selena versus Hailey

and gatekeeping: a culture where I feel like the only option is to compete.

As my love for Vogue Beauty Secrets blossomed, I discovered that the reasons I am so drawn to these videos run a bit deeper than my interest in beauty products and techniques. The videos are prime examples of how to use beauty and fashion content for good, and they always leave

me with an abiding feeling of community and kindness. The videos have a variety of people and situations that aim to give bits of advice to others in similar situations. Fostering a sense of solidarity among the community of viewers, even if it is just through a smokey eye tutorial, is a small yet important step away from the competitive nature of the beauty world.

The early 2010s were a time in media like no other. You had to be there to understand the absolute chokehold young adult fantasy and dystopia had on society and, with “The Hunger Games” renaissance back in full effect, we seem to miss that era now more than ever. Whether you’ve been a fan since its release or are searching for something to reignite that YA-loving spark, “Shadow and Bone” is the perfect show to take you back to that iconic time of magic and adventure.

“Shadow and Bone” is inspired by two book series: the “Shadow and Bone” trilogy and the “Six of Crows” duology, both by author Leigh Bardugo. The series are set in the Grishaverse, an Eastern European-inspired fictional world where people are divided regionally in different countries and, most notably, by their status as Grisha or non-Grisha. Grisha

are those with elemental magical powers, and central to the plot of “Shadow and Bone” is the division. Season one introduced us to this world and followed our heroine, Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li, “All About Eve”), as she discovered her unique power of summoning light, an ability needed to destroy the Fold, a chasm of darkness dividing her country, Ravka, into two. While season one introduced us to this magical universe and its characters, season two picks up from the aftermath of a dramatic betrayal and a tough-fought battle as Alina prepares to take down the Darkling, aka General Kirigan (Ben Barnes, “The Chronicles of Narnia”), for good and restore peace in her country. The Crows, having just abandoned their quest to bring Alina back to Ketterdam, are sent on a new mission by Ravkan Prince Nikolai Lantsov

(Patrick Gibson, “The OA”) to retrieve a special weapon to help Alina destroy the Fold. With a season two plot that took viewers all across the Grishaverse

with heists, battles and hunts, there was hardly a moment that felt too slow. “Shadow and Bone” struck a perfect balance between its fast-paced action and slowpaced character interactions that made the show both entertaining and rewarding to watch.

“Shadow and Bone” closely follows the storyline of the books, making Alina one of, if not the, most important character. However, compared to season one, Alina’s character development fell slightly short — something that was somewhat expected given the broader focus of season two. In season one, Alina became more confident in her abilities as she learned how to control her powers and became more self-reliant, especially after Kirigan’s betrayal. At first, she constantly sought validation from him and the other Grisha, but gradually came to understand her abilities and how to best use her powers to protect her country. This season, however, she is intent on one thing only: destroying Kirigan and the Fold to save Ravka. There is much more emphasis on the physical journey she must take to unite her country rather than on her development as a person. It would have been nice to see more reflection on how she dealt with her emotions towards Kirigan’s betrayal rather than just showing her anger. After all, she and Kirigan shared a close emotional connection, so it would have been nice to see some of her sadness rather than just rage. She also had impossibly high expectations set on her to be the one person to save Ravka, and seeing how that weighed on her (something we saw in abundance

in season one) also would have made her a more fully developed character. I must note, however, that while I didn’t care for the plot twist at the end of the season (at least in deviation from the book), I am very intrigued to see what is done with Alina’s character, should there be another season, and how Kirigan has left an impact on her.

But season two gives us so many new characters — Tolya (Lewis Tan, “Mortal Kombat”), Tamar (Anna Leong Brophy, “Traces”), Wylan (Jack Wolfe, debut), and Nikolai — and so many new plots (literally everything that the Crows were involved with) that it seems to have been a necessary decision. While it would have been nice for Alina to get a little more character development, it would have come at the cost of other relationships and character arcs that needed as much time as they could to get established. For the most part, every character was given the necessary time and attention — maybe with the exception of Matthias (Calahan Skogman, debut) and his five seconds of screen time — while also participating in a detailed, high-stakes plot, making season two an incredible continuation of the series.

With many plots and characters to cover, “Shadow and Bone” took a strategic approach that mimicked the structure of the “Six of Crows” books with constant transitions between plotlines. A hallmark of the “Six of Crows” duology is each chapter alternates perspective to a different character so readers can follow along with the various parts of the fast-moving, multi-threaded

plot while gaining insight into each character’s mind. This structure makes it so that every book chapter ends on a cliffhanger and makes reading the books that much more enjoyable. Each character is almost always in a high-risk situation, so the sudden shift into an entirely new environment and different character leaves readers wondering what happens next and enticed enough to keep reading to find out. The show uses a similar structure, frequently alternating between the Crows, Alina and Kirigan. Just when you become invested in the current plotline, it switches and you pick up where you left off in an earlier plotline. Ending individual scenes in this high-stakes fashion makes it hard to press pause and contributes greatly to the watchability and binge-ability of the show.

What really makes “Shadow and Bone” special for so many is how good it is as an adaptation. Especially with as large of a following as “Shadow and Bone” and “Six of Crows” have, making an adaptation that still appeals to readers is extremely difficult. Not only must the characters satisfy the qualifications of a well-done show, but they must also adhere to the characterization that has been developed in the books and ingrained in the readers. And this is often where adaptations fall short: Showrunners fail to create characters that mirror those in the books, leaving readers disappointed. Anyone who is a fan of “Six of Crows” will tell you that what sets the book so far apart from others in the genre and what makes it a favorite for so many people is the book’s use

of the found family trope. The love between the characters practically seeps out of the pages and, with characters who are as perfectly developed and beloved as the Crows, “Shadow and Bone” certainly had its work cut out when adapting these characters to the screen.

Part of the show’s success as an adaptation likely stems from the fact that Bardugo is an executive producer on the show, involved with upholding the integrity of the books and her characters. It feels like the cast of “Shadow and Bone,” especially the Crows, were literally plucked out of the book and brought to the screen — you cannot convince me Danielle Galligan (“Lakelands”) is not Nina Zenik. The chemistry between the cast is phenomenal, and they make the found family trope present in the books feel real. Though the plot is almost entirely different from the books (but for the readers out there, why was half of “Crooked Kingdom”’s plot in this season?), because of how well the casting, scripting and writing was done, the characters feel consistent and hold true to the books, leaving fans of the books happy.

“Shadow and Bone” sets the standard for a good adaptation: It is enjoyable for both those who are new to the Grishaverse and for those who have come to think of it as a second home. It tells a captivating story with complex characters you can’t help but love, making it a show that is absolutely worth the watch (and the excessive rewatches, if you’re like me). “Shadow and Bone” is something special and one of the best series television today has to offer.

When I walked into the auditorium of the School of Kinesiology for the Ann Arbor Film Festival’s showing of “Darkness, Darkness Burning Bright,” I expected to watch a movie. Little did I know that I was in for a 70-minute experimental compilation of the natural world, distorted beyond recognition, plot lines be damned. The exhibition of wild cinematographic techniques was set to an eerie, clanking score akin to a creepily unorthodox rendition of “The Conjuring.”

“Darkness” prioritized exploratory film design over any sense of a moral or message. It was the most boring masterpiece I have ever seen. Every shot is its own work of art, worthy of analysis. A glowing white cow walks pensively toward the camera; the grass an alien neon green and the sky a ghostly silver. A bird rests on a tree branch outlined in a soft pink hue, the colors inverted like a film negative. It didn’t feel as much

like a feature as it did bizarre, animated photography. When I expected to see red, I saw green.

When I expected to see dark, I saw light. Had every shot been soaked in bleach, ripped apart with a chainsaw and left out in the snow for a few days?

Well, sort of. In an interview with Notebook magazine, “Darkness” director and writer Gaëlle Rouard (“Lafoxe”) explained her process. The film was shot on 16mm, creating a static-y, oldfashioned look. The shots were then treated to a chemical soup, rendering them misshapen and hallucinatory. Rouard calls it the trinity: “the quality of the light, the nature of the film stock, and the way of processing the film. The combination of these three things will make the image. I consider myself a plastician, a painter.”

She’s not shooting a movie — she’s sculpting a work of art.

There’s an inborn irony to “Darkness.” While Rouard chose to film the natural world, she artificially warped every image until it was unrecognizable. It felt like an abuse of nature. Who are these horses? Where did she find

them? Who signed their consent form to have their photos exploited like this? Do they know they’re being used as fodder for an avantgarde hellscape set in both 1924 and 2078? It was uncomfortable to watch these animals puppeted around the screen like demented figurines. But I don’t know if there was any intended message in “Darkness,” let alone one as complex as the media’s abuse of animals. The film seemed far more occupied with trying out new cinematographic and directing techniques, leaving little room for a deeper message beyond just looking funky.

There are obvious benefits of dialogue, characters and plot. There is also a wealth of treasure to be found in creative boldness: If every movie dogmatically adhered to the traditional structure and elements of film, we would get stuck in an eternal rut where zero progress was made. We need experimental films — even weird or mediocre ones — to push the entire industry forward and give audiences something

Design by Evelyne Lee

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of smiling at my phone.

My affair with the game started about six days before this past Christmas when I got a text from my uncle telling me that it was time to continue our annual tradition of me telling him what I wanted for Christmas — and that invariably being the newest version of FIFA. But this year, for the first time in a while, I didn’t want a video game. Instead, I wanted a subscription to Chess.com.

The ramifications have been frightening. It’s gotten to the point where I really can’t focus anymore. Be it in class, meetings or social situations, I’m constantly thinking about playing chess. I’m not very good, and there’s really no excuse for why I’m terrible at answering texts from loved ones but always respond to my chess notifications from a friend of a friend who I’ve hung out with twice. For better or worse, chess has become what I play when I’m bored, so I play it a lot.

However, the far more interesting part of my recent chess addiction is not what it says about me, but what it says about the game of chess itself. Because latent in the 1,224 games of online chess I’ve played over the past three years is an enormously successful partnership, a changing culture and the resulting massive resurgence of chess that I’m only

and the sudden resurgence of chess

1 million for herself on the same sites.

Chess found its stars in people like Nakamura, Botez and her sister, and the enormously popular Levy Rozman, also known as GothamChess. They weren’t picked simply because they knew how to play chess, they were picked because they were, first and foremost, entertaining people who would attract audiences. Their goal wasn’t to be the best at chess, but to be the best at making it funny, relatable and exciting.

“Medieval imagery is not very cool to a lot of people,” Brancato chuckled. “Chess kind of pigeonholed itself into this corner into being for old people for lack of a better word. So a lot of the work we did was to try to shed that image.”

In order to appeal to more people, chess could no longer be branded as a sport that took itself too seriously — and streaming allowed for that image to shift.

Nakamura, the second best player in the world, pioneered the sophomoric and utterly useless opening known as the “Bongcloud attack.” Rozman started screaming “THE ROOK” to his millions of followers, and slowly but surely, chess became less stuffy, less feared and more relatable.

a pawn in.

In 2020, the chess boom made sense.

For years, chess had been accessible through websites like Chess.com, lichess.org and chesscafe.com. Then, amid the height of the pandemic, Netflix released “The Queen’s Gambit,” and it was a massive hit. Sixtytwo million households watched the series within 28 days of its release. At a time when people were trapped and in desperate need of entertainment, chess was not only available, but visible: the game exploded.

Chess.com saw 100,000 signups a day, the sale of chess sets jumped 1,100% and in many respects, chess was back in the cultural psyche in a way it hadn’t been since the 1972 Fisher-Spassky world championship. People saw chess, romanticized it and wanted to play it.

The current chess boom, though, is much harder to explain. There’s no massive cultural touchpoint romanticizing the game, no major cause or effect, and frankly, no clear cut reason as to why the game of chess should have chosen now to become more popular than it ever has been before.

But in the past three months, that’s exactly what’s happened.

“I’ve been playing chess my whole life, and I’ve never seen as many people pull out chess on their phones or computers as they do nowadays,” Kevin Hass, former Michigan Chess Club president,

told me.

In all but five days of January 2023, Chess.com saw record numbers of sign-ups. On Jan. 20, the site hosted 31,700,000 games, and in February, one billion games of chess were played on Chess. com. Chess has exploded: the game is growing and reinserting itself as a cultural touchpoint.

Attempted explanations for this vary. Some cite the media uproar about Hans Niemann’s alleged cheating scandal and humorous yet prurient theories as to how he did so. Others refer to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s viral photo above a chessboard, and some even posit that Chess.com’s extremely powerful chess bot, innocently named “Mittens the cat,” fueled the spike in interest.

The real origin of the chess boom cannot be found in one moment or cultural touchstone, but rather in a brilliantly effective strategy that has changed the perception of and culture around chess. Chess is no longer simply accessible, or just visible; it has become relatable.

***

I, like many others, grew up with a very romantic — but also very stiff — image of chess.

I learned the game from my grandpa over a wooden board while sitting in a coffee shop. At 15, when I asked my Dad how to

get better at playing, he handed me a dusty copy of “Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess” so old that the pages dissolved into clumps of sediment as I turned them.

I didn’t learn much, and the book only furthered my association of the game with heroic qualities.

To me, chess seemed like a deep reflection of power struggles and battles of wit played by men in suits while smoking cigarettes.

And for much of its 1,500 year history, that was the image the game carried. Chess was seen as a highly academic and rigid pursuit. But in late 2015, a strategic partnership between the live streaming service Twitch and Chess.com was formulated, altering the age-old perception of chess.

“The really quick version is that Chess.com was already working on content and trying to get into the streaming game … like ‘how can we work together to make this bigger,’ Michael Brancato, Chess. com VP of esports and former Twitch Senior Manager, explained to me. “Twitch was like, ‘Oh, we see a lot of potential in chess, like why is nobody streaming chess or making content around it?’ … Those conversations just sort of progressed over two years and they turned into a partnership where both Twitch and Chess. com were putting up financial

resources to do whatever they can to make chess bigger on Twitch.

“Twitch had money, and Chess. com had money and they’re like, let’s just do whatever we can to make chess bigger. Like how do we get more people streaming? How do we incentivize them? How do we make more tournaments streamed on Twitch?”

So the two entities focused on making chess visible. Chess.com founded a streamers program — incentivizing those interested in streaming by promoting their content, providing them with free memberships and working with Twitch to get their streams on the front page. They created tournaments with monetary incentives — exclusively for streamers — and began streaming high quality chess tournaments with entertaining analysts.

Then, Chess.com took things a step further.

“There was also a big degree of outreach to people who we think could be good streamers,” Brancato said. “This is people like (Alexandra Botez) and (Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura). Back in this time, they weren’t streamers, and we thought that they had a lot of potential.”

Today, Nakamura boasts 1.7 and 1.85 million followers on Twitch and Youtube, respectively, and Botez has garnered 1.1 and

Streaming allowed chess to become a game that people could turn into memes — a contest that didn’t have to be so formal. Chess could just be a fun and funny game that fun and funny people played. And viewers find that appealing.

“There’s definitely this new day and age where more and more people are seeing that like, ‘Hey, I don’t have to be good to play chess,’ ” Joe Lee, Collegiate Chess League commissioner, told me over Zoom. “ ‘I can just play for fun.’”

Now, completely separately from Chess.com’s sphere of influence, chess streaming and culture has started to grow organically. Videos of online games, memes about blunders, jokes about players who aren’t skilled and even jokes about players who are too skilled circulate constantly on forums like TikTok, Instagram and Reddit. Chess has been turned into content that can be easily consumed by novices, and when people see the game in front of them in digestible bites, they want to play too.

“I think that (humor) is a part of the shift to chess going mainstream, and this has definitely not been a thing in the past,” Hass said. “Like, people did not like go into these places where you play chess and go around yelling ‘THE ROOK’ in a loud voice, or they did not play the Bongcloud. This is definitely a shift in the culture of chess.”

“This is like a new-age kind of chess culture.”

Sonder is a term that describes the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own; in essence, the word strikes a sense of not only sorrow due to meaning itself, but also comfort, an echo that radiates between the two syllables and connects the six letters into a hopeful hopelessness. When I first learned about the word, I was listening to my playlist as a new song by Brent Faiyaz popped up in my recommendations: “Sonder Son.” Intrigued, I pressed the play button, immediately enraptured by the smoothness of his voice and even more by the meaning behind the song title itself.

In Faiyaz’s song, as with the word, there’s a sense of sadness that reveals itself due to the idea that the stories and the lives of others will never truly be our own. While intriguing and also complex, this concept also renders a sense of sorrow that we can never claim as our own. Coined by John Koenig, the creator of the Dictionary of “Obscure Sorrows,” the word most hauntingly reveals that we are “merely an extra” to someone else’s story. Perhaps it is the awareness that our

What ‘sonder’ most beautifully reveals

part to play is not the leading role, that we are mere specks of grain in a grand cosmos, that we exist simply to fulfill the lives of others. These tumbling thoughts can send us spiraling into an existential, earth-shattering philosophical dilemma — at least it did for me.

As with most trends, social media has brought about new takes on and concepts that are repeated by those who are influenced by such videos or content. One particular idea that has surfaced over the past few years is that of being the “main character,” that we are indeed the lead stars of this show we call life and that everyone around us is merely a participant or side actor to each season of the series. Our story becomes the most important one because it is entirely our own, and therefore, everyone around us defines the timeline of our story. We stare out the bus windows listening to sad music so we feel like our pain means something. We order intricate coffee in aesthetically pleasing coffee shops where ivy hangs from the ceiling and fairy lights twinkle in the background. We read our books about self-care and positive affirmations.

Main character syndrome, as it’s been defined, may give the once unseen person a chance to

experience life through a lens of admiration and love of their own life, a romanticization and coping mechanism for the pain that life may bring. But at the same time, the reinvention of oneself into the main character may instead come with a lack of empathy, awareness and accountability. This is where sonder’s beauty and mystery come in. Everyone has a story, but the fact is that we will never know anyone’s story completely but our own. Telling someone our complexities, fears, triumphs and struggles is never the same as actually experiencing them. We each have our own heartbreaks, losses, pain and grief, but so does that person sitting right next to you on the bus. So does that person who sits near you in your psychology class, the girl whose tote bag is covered in eclectic pins, the professor who never smiles, the frail lady whose wrinkles hold mysteries and whose laugh lights up the sky.

It’s 8:30 a.m. I stand outside the bus stop while the chilling wind brushes against the side of my cheek, furrowing my hands deeper into my pockets.

As soon as the bus comes rolling down to the stop, people move closer to the doors, pushing and clamoring in an attempt to make it on the bus.

In a school with more than

40,000 students, one cannot help but feel like an extra to life. In the midst of the bustling crowd, there are the students with accolades and awards, the prettier versions of yourself, the better test takers, the more studious students and the less lonely. With such a school comes great unity, but also a prolonged sense of loneliness. The romanticization and main-character centeredness that many rely on for a sense of comfort allows one to feel special, in a sense, within their own way. Yet there again comes sonder, which reminds us that each of the 40,000 students here at the University has a life as varied, complex and rich as our own. Koenig takes care to describe sonder as “an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.”

One of the reasons that the realization of sonder often may strike a harsh chord is because humans strive so deeply to be distinct, to be unique and special from their counterparts. People who endeavor for a unique sense of

distinctiveness often search for opportunities where their uniqueness can be exhibited, and try to live as their most authentic selves. With this, however, also comes the sense of belonging, and the balance of self-authenticity and group identity is one of the most important aspects that plays into one’s selfesteem. Particularly, main character syndrome stresses the importance of individuality and living life as authentically as one can. Sonder reclaims this individuality as a concept that focuses on not one singular person but the unique experiences as the collective individual.

I grip the metal rail as the early, packed bus was quiet and loud all at the same time. In the back sits a person who cradles a half-eaten bagel sandwich in her hand, crumbs on the sides of her mouth while she talks loudly but tenderly on the phone with someone who I can only assume to be her mom. Next to her sits the person who watches Netflix on their phone, snickering every five seconds while some try to get a glimpse of what they are watching. Then, the bus driver: Humming the words of his favorite song under his breath while sipping his morning coffee. This right here is sonder: watching others experience

their daily lives through a lens of understanding, an almost type of frustration that one is unable to truly understand their story.

I’m not saying that sonder entails not feeling like your own life doesn’t matter. In fact, I believe quite the opposite. Sonder makes one appreciate the beauty that is present in one’s own life. It is a revelation, an exposition, an unveiling of the beautiful, the mundane, the terrible and the ugly. Sonder’s beauty lies in the fact that it is not all beautiful, yet that there can be beauty found in the not beautiful, that each of us is simply trying to live but also to be appreciated in all our complexity.

So maybe we are all the main characters. Because what sonder reveals is that all of us have a leading role, but also a much smaller part to play. Sonder makes us both appreciate the beauty and the insignificance of our lives. It allows us to look from an outsider’s perspective but also from an insider one, allowing us to open to various perspectives and revealing how not all of life’s mysteries need to be solved. Sonder, in the sense of the word, grants us the chance for connection with others in a way that truly allows us to feel and empathize. This is what sonder beautifully reveals.

To recognize and embrace oneself in a world bent upon one’s erasure is a radical and liberative act — an act that everyone in the MiC community bravely engages with every day. The experience is heightened for Queer minorities, who are buffeted by hate from their own communities, the white majority, and the white Queer community. Black Queer people are pushed out of spaces that they have created

— ballroom and cunt become appropriated by ravenous white mouths that try their hardest to imitate syllables that do not belong to them. In this storm, they must find solace in their own communities and histories. In this America, which profits off and encourages violence against their bodies, they must somehow create community and learn to love. “We are … queer bodies moving around in spaces that

Queer in Color

look less like a home and more like desperate lodgings, trying to make our beds with other people’s garbage,” Joshua Whitehead writes.

Queer people of Color understand that this country was built against them and works to grind them to the bones of their existence, that rainbowcolored corporate logos are pushing kin out of their homes and that countries that promise to give them rights are

May all things dissolve in an ocean of bliss

ANONYMOUS MiC Contributor

Before I knew of virtue, I knew of vice.

It’s not a stretch to say I grew up hand in hand with the knowledge of sin, from the fairly innocuous to the fairly extreme: to hurt someone is a sin, to blaspheme is a sin, alcohol, greed, sacrilege — the list goes on and on. But with the knowledge of sin came also an understanding of hierarchy, with some sins taught as permissible and others damning. All are sins against god, but some are excused, and others abhorred. Eating meat, sacrilege: it’s not exactly a problem. Even drinking, hurting others: it’s fine! Maybe a reprimand, maybe someone will be disappointed. But no one will ever be hated for those vices. No parent will ever put down an ultimatum, detest their child forever or weep in sorrow for them.

On the other hand, I was

taught early on of a supposedly unpardonable sin — being Queer. Yet as I became more cognizant of myself and the world, I began to revolt against this idea that I’d for so long been conditioned to revere as an axiom. And as a result, I’ve always unconditionally wanted to know, to ask god and attempt to understand the incomprehensible: If we can say that all love is intrinsic, why bestow it upon somebody at all? Why bestow upon somebody what’s considered an unpardonable sin that is simultaneously irrevocable and undeniable? Why are some people given a simple and easy love, and others not? Are we not all deserving of loving and being loved in return? Am I not deserving? I guess what I want to know is: If to love and be loved is our destiny, then how can we be expected to want to escape it?

It reminds me of these lines I once stumbled upon: “whether you love what you love / or live in divided ceaseless revolt

against it / what you love is your fate.” These lines make me think of something else I was once told by a friend, years ago: “if I had to choose between blissful sin or loveless eternity, I’d choose the former.” Back then I’d heard this and struggled to understand why. What’s temporary bliss to eternity? I understand their words so much differently now that I no longer see love as a temporary bliss — love holds so much more weight to me. As such, I want to say that I, too, would choose the former. But every time I find myself ready to concede to my fate, a part of myself I can’t seem to let go of unwillingly hesitates. Like all others, I want nothing more than to bask in the simple feeling of loving and being loved in return. Yet, simultaneously, I can’t help but yearn for the possibility of an eternity that outlives my mortality. And unlike other sins, I’ve been told for so long that I can’t have both, can’t coexist between vice and virtue. This one is given a clear ultimatum, which is: choose. One, or the other — virtue and eternity, or vice and love.

And what if I choose the latter? If what I yearn for is eternity, why is it that I must forever be trapped in a struggle against the very nature that god himself bestowed upon me?

flimsy covers for apartheid. In America, they speak and write in the language of colonialism, trying desperately to mold the garbage of English letters into spaces that can convey an inkling of their true selves. They are forced to turn words that subjugated entire civilizations into blankets and roofs.

“Queerness has a type of architecture,” Aisha Sabatini Sloan writes in her essay, “Borealis,” and this is the architecture of

Queerness of Color: redlining, pain, liberation, colonization, violence and love.

In the 2023 edition of Queer in Color, LGBTQ+ MiC staff and contributors have crafted architecture from the letters that once erased them. Seven new pieces, ranging from lyrics to articles, celebrate Queerness in all its forms, inconsistencies and beauty.

We are incredibly proud of the brave work these writers

of Color have created in order to share their stories with the world. During Ramadan, Michigan in Color is excited to celebrate a type of love that embodies the sacrificial, revelatory and liberatory spirit of this holy month. With great reverence, we present the 2023 edition of Queer in Color.

Sincerely, Safura Syed MiC

Managing Editor

Hopeless romantic

JAMES SCARBOROUGH MiC Columnist

Sweat seeps through my tank top, reaches the back of my dress shirt and crawls down the nape of my neck. It doesn’t slow me down. My feet continue to stomp the devil. The heat is something ferocious, but so is this music.

Women in ankle-length skirts and ornate hats sway to the sound of men’s palms on tambourines. Saints run across the church, hollering in a language only God can understand. There is no AC. I know they hot, but hell is hotter. So, we all dance.

My parents sowed the fear of God into me early. I was raised to shun sinful things – which makes becoming a sinful thing rather complicated. On Sunday, the pastor preached to his congregation that homosexuals will burn. Maybe that’s why I dance so hard and ignore the sweat: I’m practicing for everlasting burning.

Sunlit stained glass windows illuminate my dysfunctional family. A weathered Bible tells stories of my father and his son. The soprano choir girls are my sisters. The deacons with deep voices and even deeper pockets are my brothers. The woman smiling next to me every Sunday is my mother.

Anonymous Contributor/MiC

Yet if I choose the former, a love that is my fate, it’s practically the same as giving me the knife to place upon my throat. I guess what I’m really trying to get at is: Part of me revolts against this dichotomy because, despite it all, I truly believe I am deserving of both. And who’s to say I’m not? I want to be good. I want to live forever. I want to love. Maybe it’s enough that I think I can.

My mother is in rare form in these four walls. She talks to other churchgoers for hours, even when the pastor himself has already gone home. She wears her best outfits – sparkly long gowns – that I don’t think we can afford. She worships like nobody’s business. Lucifer halts when he hears her coming, for she slays demon-made dragons with a single prayer. A Black momma with something to fight for is more vicious than a black

mamba, fangs and all. Her high heels and high-pitched “hallelujahs” shield us from the underworld. When I was 15, I told her I was flammable, and she has been trying to save me from hellfire ever since. I don’t think she realizes nothing burns hotter than her rejection. In her mind, religion is a bulletproof vest. Each prayer is a protection. In my eyes, her Bible is the bullet. Each sermon is salt in the wound. I don’t want a warrior for a mother. The only protection I need is her embrace. I want her to believe in me like a higher power. Accept me like I am a Bible verse. God has enough hymns; sing to me instead.

Being closeted in a church means hiding love from a group that claims to worship a loving God. It means your “family” picking and choosing which parts of you are divine

A conversation in precedents

Summer of 2019: the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in Union Square Park. The parade started in Madison Square, swam past us, went down to the Stonewall monument in Greenwich and then flowed back up through 7th Ave to the AIDS Memorial Park. I don’t remember much, only that the pride flag cost $5 while the Bi flag was $7; I don’t get why it’s more money for less colors, someone had said to me. Nor do I remember the floats or the processions, because I didn’t see any. We were too early — there were only narrow streets filled with people in rainbow corporate wear waiting for a cue.

That summer I was green: fresh-off-the-boat kind of green, kissed-a-girl-and-I-liked-it kind of green, green like summertime ginkgo, like wet lawns and tender daffodils. Green as I was, just being there — sitting in the park and licking the vanilla ice cream that melted onto my fingers — filled me with self-importance. Back then, I would’ve preferred the word “confirmation,” but it didn’t really matter. Self-importance comes from confirmation, confirmation in the image of oddly-priced flags, rainbow prints and whoever, whatever else came before me.

Exhibits that summer: The MET had “Camp: Notes on Fashion” and the Brooklyn Museum “Nobody Promised You Tomorrow: Art 50 Years After Stone-

wall.” The color pink became a confirmation. So did Oscar Wilde’s portrait (his actual portrait; not to be confused with that of Dorian Gray) and Bjork’s swan dress. Then we went to Brooklyn. After walking past paintings of mangled bodies, Judy Chicago’s porcelain dinner plates felt warm to the touch. Echoing in the halls, the tables and the plates, someone sang: We have always been on fire / We have always been let down / We have always been an island. Confirmation comes from precedent: and as I walked out with too much pocket money to

spend, I bought something for myself from the museum store — a Queer of Color poetry anthology, with big names like Audre Lorde and James Baldwin and Ocean Vuong. I don’t remember reading it because I didn’t think I understood poetry. But I still kept the book on my bed stand, because the list of names that line the back cover proved that I have lineage.

Though I do remember one: Richard Blanco’s “Killing Mark.” I had read it in the gift store, with the final line echoing in my head as I made the decision to buy the

book. I die each time I kill you. And no writing on difference or exclusion or discrimination recognized me as clearly as a line about loving too much.

So: I modeled a poem after Blanco’s in high school. He wrote about a man he loved, and I wrote about a woman I missed. But I ended up scrapping it, because he said it better and in words that weren’t my own.

Some words that aren’t my own: Judith Butler thinks that gender is built from citations, and Maggie Nelson cites Butler in “The Argonauts.” Nelson also cites

Michel Foucault, Elizabeth Weed and Anne Carson. Anne Carson cites Sappho in the most literal form — by translation — in her 2002 collection, “If Not, Winter.” Shakespeare came up with 1,700 words that we still use today, and Gunnhild Øyehaug writes (400 years later) about how words are only words because we use them, and we only use them because they create meaning. When we stop finding those things meaningful, the words become obsolete.

In my journal: I recorded a line from a Fredrik Backman novel.

enough to hang on to, and which are demonic enough to be hung. The holy spirit won’t stop haunting me.

That’s why “sinful” love is so special to me. I am not just choosing to love someone. I am choosing their heartbeat over heaven. I am choosing their full-body smile over my family. I am choosing the erratic butterflies in my stomach over eternal life. I don’t need to worship a man in the sky. There are men on earth who’ve learned how to make music with my heartstrings. I will love them instead.

Sweat seeps through my tank top, reaches the back of my dress shirt, and crawls down the nape of my neck. It doesn’t slow me down. I continue to sway with his head on my chest. I barely even notice the entire room burning around us. The heat is something ferocious, but so is our music.

That’s the power of literature … it can act like a love letter between people who can only explain their feelings by pointing at other people’s. Below, I wrote how none of my feelings are original; I learned courage from “Water Margin,” jealousy from “Dream of the Red Chamber” and pride from my father’s emails to myself. Maybe these emotions existed earlier, but they were only realized within me when someone wrote it down, and when I read those words. Maybe all of our feelings are secondary and borrowed, I wrote, though I borrowed that idea from another book I read a couple months ago.

To keep borrowing: I am constructed from words. Words that aren’t my own — I only know that I am a writer because a professor called me one; I only know that I can like girls because another girl bravely declared, in the attic of a sleepover long ago, that she was in love with the female character in a video game. To cite Nelson, I think of citation as a form of family-making. I come from a long line of people who have recognized themselves in others, and that fills me with warm, warm selfimportance.

Last in a long line: Now it is winter, many years later. Some things are still new to me, though I am not as green as I was that summer. Once in a while, I come across another line in a book that I jot down, pen on paper, and what was alien is alien no more. With ink, I eat myself full. It is winter but snow is thawing. The soft, wet soil underneath sprouts young tulip stalks, tender and green.

AUDREY TANG MiC Columnist

Design by Abby Schreck

Audrey Tang/MiC

I can’t help but wonder, What am I doing wrong? It’s a question that carries a despairing, stomachdropping weight. A question that I let simmer in a sealed pot on the back burner of my brain. A question that will surely bubble over and create a pool of self-deprecation for me to drown in if I consider it for too long. But really, what’s my issue? Is it facial features that fail to fall into the typical conventions of beauty? Is it a body that takes up too much space to stand alongside anybody else? Is it mannerisms that are far too crass and abrasive to be digestible by a potential love interest?

As many times as I try to spin the wheel, I can’t seem to play the game of desirability correctly. I keep drawing the wrong cards and rolling all the unlucky numbers. I try to wear the cool outfits, say the funny things, style my hair in the most appealing ways –– but my efforts to abide by the rules of attraction are always to no avail.

Which brings me back to my original question: What the hell am I doing wrong? It’s much easier to play this hopeless cyclical guessing game than to come to the

To sit with myself

bone-crushing conclusion that I might just be undesirable.

When I first discovered that I could be seen as a sexual being to anyone besides myself, I saw no difference between romantic and sexual desire as long as I didn’t have to wake up alone in the morning. Hot touches and neck kisses in a lustful frenzy could always feel like true love if I squeezed my eyes closed hard enough. For a long time, warm, physical intimacy was enough to cover the icy occurrence of a one-night stand. On my 19th birthday, I sat with my back to the wall, knees bent to my chest and ankles weighed to the ground by the residual shame that lingered after an unfulfilling hookup. It left me unable to stand on my feet to face the people who gathered to celebrate yet another confrontation with my own mortality. I thrashed around in waves of regret, an almost palpable grime covering my body, and I could only figure that I was the problem. He strolled around my birthday party with an effortless confidence that can only exude from a man (or boy, really) who just got some. At the same time, I stood on shaky knees and forced an awkward smile as my friends sang happy birthday to me, all while my mind harbored thoughts

of another girl. This experience, along with self-reflection and excessive journaling, led me to the conclusion that lust and love were, in fact, two very different things. Being lusted got old and unfulfilling very quickly. There was no pleasure in being pursued by someone who only saw me as a passing conquest. Being hit on

by overserved men at seedy bars and being on the receiving end of flirtatious messages from women on dating apps became vacuous entertainment at best.

I no longer find satisfaction in superfluous passing interactions with people I know I’ll never speak to more than once. Now, I find myself far more entangled in my finicky crushes that come and go

with the seasons. Still, regardless of the time of year, my timing never feels quite right. I never seem to be able to realize and articulate my feelings until the clock has already ticked past my time to make a move, and I am forced to let it all go yet again. This is the only option I am left with, as I can’t help the slight internal cringe when a crush of mine mentions their own love interest, almost always someone who is nothing like me, and speaks of them in the highest regard. The unbearably heavy feeling I get in my chest when I see them with someone else makes me remember exactly why it’s called a crush. This is when I remember that it’s much easier to live within daydreams.

Sometimes it’s difficult to smother the selfish feelings of jealousy when I hear someone muse about their partner and talk about them as if they are more incredulous. Not because I ever desire their partner in particular, but because of the deep-seated longing to be talked about by someone with a voice that softens in tone and a stomach that fills with butterflies at the mere thought of me.

Between the lack of Queer women of Color in the media, frivolous Eurocentric beauty standards that are championed

Phallus and the fears of coming out (loud)

The penis, perhaps, in its most potent, primal state, might be one of the biggest (or maybe not so big …) mysteries unknown to man. At the sacral site of this sexual organ is an enormous world of imagination, pro-creation and pleasure.

Well-endowed with a complex narrative structure, relentlessly rising and falling, climaxing and relaxing exists this embodied enigma, eluding human culture since the dawn of time as seen in centuries of ancient imagery, symbolic myths, rituals, rites, stories and tales. Deep symbolic resonance can be attributed to every inch of our bodies. Our penchant for materialism and moralism prevents us from seeing the artistic expressiveness and figurative meaning behind the body, and thus our very being.

The phallus — or what Jungian psychotherapist Thomas Moore refers to as, “the penis mythologized and fantasized” — without fail serves as a symbol for the pure cosmic, creative energy inside each and every one of us — whether we possess the part or not. As Moore maintains, “The phallus is not an image of the male ego; it is a representation of earth’s potency and life’s capacity for creativity and pleasure.” The metaphorical, metaphysics of the phallus encourages us all to know intimately the ups and downs of arousal, the comedy and drama of our life story.

Our sexual energy is our creative energy, our embodied capacity to create. The poetics of the penis that the phallus portrays is displayed through the building of tension at any instance, the pulsating and throbbing energy in motion on the path towards a culminat-

ing, momentous peak, only to be brought back roaming wayward in the valleys. As the mainstay of masculinity, to know, to care and to cultivate one’s own phallus is a task of epic proportions commanding an ardent control over one’s somatic sensations, mental facilities, attention, spiritual willpower and ego.

It would only make sense, then, that to know the phallus of another man, as a man, is not a rejection but an embrace of one’s own masculine nature. Despite the antagonistic assertions of (male) homo-sexuality and Queer manhood being devoid of masculinity, or a myriad of other pathologizing misinterpretations, to be gay and a guy is to be in godly amalgamation with all aspects of our human nature. It is to not only caress completely the archetypal masculine, archetypal feminine, and archetypal Androgyne as Jungian psychotherapist Robert H. Hopcke describes, but to deeply explore the polarities within one’s own self through the meeting of an archetypal double.

As Queer men, we recognize our Self in an other through a union of sames, thus claiming in close proximity the bountiful riches of eros and intimacy by exploring the varieties of our masculine nature. This is not to say that Queer manhood, nor the phallus, is only representative of masculinity in itself. As Hopcke reminds us, Queer manhood remains in touch with the archetypal feminine and archetypal Androgyne as well. The camp humor, the colorful vernaculars, critical consideration for emotions (and thus the energetic aspects of things) and appearances of homo-sexual males are among the many ways Queer men combine the all-encompassing facets of our existence. While it does bear some questioning whether these

intrinsic traits or qualities persisting in re-action to patriarchal systems of oppression, it is clear that Queerness entails a kind of wholeness, a coming together of essences through coming out.

Sexual orientation is an intricate archetypal phenomenon speaking as Hopcke puts forth to the “indescribable multiplicity inherent in each individual.” Sociocultural conditioning has obfuscated our understanding of sexuality. Our ahistorical conceptions of anatomical gender, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic class have led us to believe our identities as broadly construed have always been considered as such. In reality, these constructs, including that of heterosexuality and homosexuality are relatively recent inventions imposed by the ruling class of capital over time. As American sexologist Alfred Kinsey asserts, “Only the human mind invented categories and tried to force facts into separated pigeonholes. The living world is a continuum.”

Should we recall that our biology does not beget our erotic desires, that beyond the mechanisms of mass programming, most people are what Kinsey calls “a mixture of impulses if not practices,” and that there are many mystical, primordial forces at play in every instance of attraction … then maybe we wouldn’t be so straight-up stuck in the nescience of normativity.

The illusory lines between homo-sociality, homo-eroticism, and homo-sexuality are far more blurred than many would like to believe. As philosophy scholar Jeff Casey puts forth, “Paradoxically, the embodied desire for heteronormativity depends upon homosocial relations that in turn often manifest homoerotic and even homosexual desires and behaviors.” In other

words, the gendered segregation of our modern society in attempts to ideologically socialize and condition us into patriarchal modes of relation have paved the way for same-sex spaces, which ironically lend themselves to engendering Queerness. English theologian Graham Ward asserts that “the relations between responsive bodies become increasingly eroticized through proximity.” Ward goes further to say that aside from touch, there is a tactile nature to simply seeing, as certain looks or exchanges from others enact mystifying sensory-affective experiences within ourselves. This is to say, Queerness can be conceived in the sheer, soulful eye contact of a split second, the infinitude of intimacy it begets through the dialectical, divine timelessness of apprehending another, enacting mechanisms of magnetism between two people who are left to ponder, pressed to

in both Queer and straight dating pools, and the several intersections that my identity is comprised of, it’s hard to imagine someone like myself happily partnered. I don’t match the portrait of those who I often see in relationships and I imagine that this thought is a byproduct of the hyperindependence that I’ve developed over the past 21 years. It’s easy to act like I don’t care under the notion that I’m just “working on myself.” I’ve done the self-growth and I’ve completed the healing processes (more or less).

I pretend that it’s a compliment when my friends say they don’t see me “being in a relationship with anyone.” It’s easier to interpret it as a testament to my resilient sense of self that I’ve spent my entire life trying to build rather than an inability to envision myself loving and being loved by anyone outside of a platonic context. I should take pride in this, really. There should be a sense of superiority here — that I’m so independent, so strong and so individualistic that I stand perfectly fine by myself. And maybe I do take a small bit of pride in this. But as is always proven to be true, my pride will surely be the silent death of me.

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linger in the sonder of seeing each other. As Ward states, “It is somewhere in the engagement between sight and touch that bodies become sexualized, somewhere in the junction between reception and response within the body’s own knowing. Such a desire for knowing or being with the other is simultaneously an attraction to the other.”

It is easy to see how the homosocial, homo-erotics of contact sports, gym culture, Greek Life, video gaming and nightlife while not necessarily culminating in a homo-sexual act but may very well be identified as Queer in themselves. These activities beget intimate knowing of another man, inviting us to be rough and rowdy but also tender, affectionate, playful and caring with each other. Between the blaring music, bingedrinking and boisterousness of a night out with the boys there also exists a comforting embrace, even

The secrets of an orange

There was once an orange that appeared on a child’s windowsill. Unexpected and foreign, they could smell the reek of it in their room. Their mother — and her mother, and her mother — claimed an allergy to oranges and all its cousins. They had never seen one in the flesh before then, and that day, they saw the way sunlight filled the pores of its sickly skin and felt their own arm prickle in shivers.

The child had immediately thrown the orange out for fear of a reaction and a sudden rising shame that their mother would find it in their room. But the next day, like magic, it reappeared. And the day after that, and the day after that. It continued to haunt them for weeks, and no matter how far they threw it away — the garbage outside, the neighbor’s trash, and once, out of the window from frustration — it returned, at the exact same sunspot of the sill.

Its scent continued to diffuse through the room in those weeks, finding a home on their clothes, their bed, their skin. It was a dance, almost, of citrus notes that demanded attention and a stubborn abhorrence that challenged it. But as the child danced along, the orange began to feel natural, its presence, its being. The way it filled their space and the way it stung their eyes if they got too close became a new comfort. They moved as one, in these moments, in a back and forth of secrets they hid from family.

They found themself whispering stories to it once the sun would set. They’d sit next to it, knees up to their chest, moonlight streaming in and blanketing them in a silent intimacy. They told it things they had never, and would never — thought they’d never — tell anyone. And the orange stayed quiet throughout, assuring them with the same fragrance they once hated. Bright clementine perfume, melodic, like a relieving sigh in the quiet of the night. They found it beautiful, then.

One night, doors locked, lights off, the child peeled its skin, felt its surprising smooth exterior and textured pilling whites. They grazed the thin film that protected its pulp, and finally — after months of trepidation — bit in. And the juices that burst into their mouth surprised the child so much they had to take a step back. Their eyes shut tightly from its acidity, seeing the same stars from the sky in their own room. It was dizzying, but became a new addiction. Again and again, they pulled apart its carpels and tasted it. They were gentle, nervous, exhilarated.

They repeated the same ritual every night. Despite consuming its fruit, they’d leave the skin on the same spot, and as the sun rose, it rebirthed itself and tasted sweet-

hugging and kissing each other in a fit of platonic passion. Sports and video gaming give rise to the transgression of societal norms, as bodies aggressively interact with each other on the field or on the screen with high-spirited intensity in the purposeful pursuit of a shared goal. Life at the gym lifts us up into temporal sites of alchemical transformation as men, clad in musclerevealing attire, become the aspired object of desire, envy and longing to other men in the process of getting into shape. All these activities are quite Queer at their core, containing the celestial forces of attraction, which, as Moore maintains, “is never simple or superficial.” Yet the expression of this attraction, especially within “straight” circles, stays stifled by the dictates of patriarchy which ultimately leaves them rife with misogyny, violence and ego.

er every time. It began to leave a stain on the child’s skin, and an eternal smell on their fingers. At a certain point, they couldn’t hide it. They would attempt to obscure it, with pockets, gloves, soap, but it made its mark and they were an extension of its existence. Merged together, tucked away in the corner of the child’s room, they created their own space.

Briana Fox/MiC

Design by Avery Nelson

ANONYMOUS MiC Contributor

Seedling those who sow seeds, side-by-side in the dark, would not wish the morning wood come sooner, as patient are they in the practice of spring, of springing vibrantly into action, of acting vigorously in visceral actuality, there is a finality — leaving nothing undone — these planters, having fallen fatally from grace, are no stranger to darkness no stranger than darkness, than divinity, should they remain grateful, graceful in the plight of night. indeed, their appreciation is penetrating in deed, in seeds planted deep in pitch Black apprehending space-time, these gardeners gayly gaming the systems, thus, find rhythm and rhyme in celestial soil amidst turmoil, their toil teams up with totality, tension reeling at the root of their intentions, vitally vulnerable, visualizing new worlds, reveling in the initiatory release of tender embrace, letting go/coming out, abnegating power in the darkest hour, the morning wood could not come sooner for such lovers whose limbs do dwell in dim lighting, interspersed and spread on botanical beds, these are temporal tombs, boldly sprouting blooming in sleep, fruitfully steeped in close encounters with the cosmos, lively drifting in dreamscape, a life in death (together) daringly, at dawn, coming out they proclaim, “c’mon!” like, “girl … it’s time to get up!” yup, sworn in at morn, in time, it is clear, that spring — is Queer — is that verve which revives, that early rise from past lives, the girth of rebirth, blessed at the bounty, a body in its most natural state erecting a resurrection … in preparation for the performance of a lifetime — at dawn, they don

The homoscarcity chronicles: Introduction

non-dual adornment in liberating fashion, fast and far beyond the boundaries of beauty, of binary — at dawn the blossoming, the blending of All That Is as Queer as the sky is blue, and if the morning wood came sooner, in sole isolation it surely would relegate irrelevance to the dark, depths of soulful, intimate jubilation, jeering to night, springing into eternity … instead, we are enlightened in Darkness, in Queerness, bustling about the contradictions, querying the demarcations to day — toward destiny.

Budding March, as they say, comes in like a lion, and (comes) out like a lamb. Mammal metaphors aside … that sounds a little fruity to me. Though, it seems this third month of year does miraculously metamorphosize, much like the advent of spring does immaculately ring with a rather roaring quality of Queerness. Forever in flux. Hard to define. In between binaries of hot and cold, death and life, dark and light. And rightfully so, as the cycles of existence so effortlessly reveal themselves in the poetics of their performance.

While the metaphysics of March remind us that we may exist abundantly with/in our multiplicity, that it is in our nature, our divine right to do so, the modern forces of conformity — white supremacy and late-stage capitalism prey upon our distinctiveness, collectively programming us to proclaim sameness, remaining unquestioning of the (illusory) reality of our human condition. These antagonistic entities usher us into the determining matrices of mass control in the material world, without any critical consideration of our existential origins, destinies, ways to realize purpose and find meaning in this life and beyond.

Such distractions from our true indescribable nature are most detrimental to racialized and gender minorities as well as Queer people who in the past have had our very being defined through deficit for hundreds of years. Thus Queer people of Color have been forced to live along the margins of a mar-

gin. Historical vestiges of colonialism have fundamentally shifted conceptions of gender, sexuality and race within communities of Color, leaving remnants of homophobic sentiment still expressed adamantly to this day. Despite our ancient origins, Queer communities of Color struggle to thrive in modernity, striving toward political and civil equality. As a result, the health and well-being of Queer men of Color continues to be under constant attack. But as spring is about revival, returning back to what

once was, it is now time for us to resurrect and reclaim our Queerness in its full form, shifting away from seeing our (homo)sexuality as scarce to abundant. Our mission with this interview series was as such — to create a multimedia cultural exhibition, an in-depth dialogical archive of the relational lives of eight Queer men of Color at the University of Michigan, thoroughly exploring the breadth of their experiences through a bounty of identities and backgrounds. In conducting these comprehensive confidential inter-

views, we considered a diverse set of backgrounds including race and ethnicity, body size, religious and spiritual affiliation, class and physical ability.

During this venture, we queried our communities of Color about the perceived lack of Queer people — on campus and in the world — or in other words, this idea of homoscarcity, that, as we maintain, has been manufactured by the mechanisms of capital and the white power structure, deluding us to believe that Queerness is rare, especially within communi-

THC Part 1: Performativity and pollination

You just have to do everything as planned. The way I grew up has been kind of opposite as a Queer man.

Queerness exists at the site of performance. We act as pollinators, allowing others to flourish, planting seeds of inspiration in the souls of others. Everyone grows when we show up as our true selves.

Content warning: mentions of sexual assault, drug abuse, racialized violence and homophobia. All names have been changed for the sake of anonymity.

While you read, listen to our collectively curated playlist of planted seeds/songs at your leisure!

Ezra Kim — Freshman — Kore-

an-American

Top 3 Songs/Seeds

“Never Wanna Fall,” by Talia Goddess

“Cool People,” by Chloe x Halle

“Inn Blue,” by Declan McKenna

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

How does your Queerness (or Queer identity) inform your other social identities (thinking along the lines of race, ethnicity, nationality, body size, gender, sex, spiritual affiliation, religion, class, physical ability, etc.)?

It’s mostly affected my religion.

I would go to church and hear that you shouldn’t be gay, and if you are, that’s OK, just don’t act on it. I was very active volunteering in my church so my journey as a Christian has been affected coming here. I grew up with a lot of religious trauma and my sexuality has made it more difficult for that.

I’m not really out to a lot of Korean people (in my community). It’s very tricky. Koreans like to talk a lot. In Korea, there’s very set standards and rules everyone follows; it’s very organized. There’s not really room to be exploring or open.

Even within the gay community, there are such set standards for what a gay man should look like. There’s a beauty standard that everyone follows or longs for in a partner that’s made me, especially going into the arts, more aware of how I present myself. Sometimes, I wonder, “Do I look good? Do I look gay enough?” But also like … “Do I look straight enough?” … ‘cause I don’t wanna be like out, you know, so you’re always like aware of the way you’re presenting yourself.

How has Queer representation in media informed your sexual orientation (thinking along the lines of film, television, music, news, fiction and non-fiction books)? I grew up in a weird generation. A lot of new things were brought to light in my middle school years. In elementary school there was no Queer representation that I saw at least. And then in middle school we were more exposed to Queer artists. I remember watching “Love, Simon,” and there was all so much good representation of it. Nothing of the dark side. So I always like damn everybody’s so happy being gay, why am I not? So there was kind of like a longing for it but I was also just jealous of it.

I think once I became old enough to understand the idea of the gay community, pride month, I went to Pride this last summer and it was crazy. It was so liberating because everyone around me is just like me. And now I’m old enough to know everyone is going through shit and went through shit. So I never felt so safe, even though I’m literally outdoors in Manhattan, anything can happen but I remember just thinking, “Lemme just live in the moment ‘cause when I go back home it’s not gonna be like this.”

There’s a stereotype that a lot of theatre students are LGBTQ … I think it’s true, which is kind of funny ‘cause in a way I was able to find the perfect community with the thing I love and the people that will love me and that I will love in return. And just seeing performers on stage, like Queer performers even if they’re not playing a Queer character — for me when I see an Asian-American Queer person, it gives me hope.

A few weeks ago Telly Leung visited us. He’s a Queer Asian-American theatre artist from New York, and just seeing him thrive gave me a little hope. But there’s also that fear of … “Will I ever be able to get there? How did he get there?” It must have been really fucking hard. But at least we have those people to look up to.

How would you describe your experience on campus as a Queer man of Color?

It has not been easy … but (the School of Music, Theatre & Dance) is a very welcoming environment. Everyone is very accepting and that’s pretty known. Especially for me coming from New York City, I was shocked when I came here to meet real white people who have genuine questions. A lot of the time those questions are microaggressions…

Also being in (the Music, Theatre & Dance School), I’m not the most social person … I’m pretty quiet, especially to professors. In Korean culture, age difference is a really big thing. You have to speak formally to elders. You don’t speak to them if they don’t speak to you. There’s a very set hierarchy. Coming here and seeing my white friends joke around with my professors and being so comfortable and my professors obviously liking that and favoriting those students — it’s so unfair because my body just won’t do that. I’m not just gonna be making jokes. It’s been hard because it

makes me feel like my professors don’t like me. There’s a white standard that we’re expected to follow in terms of being a social person, or a fun person, or a good person to work with. There’s so many of us that prefer to do the work and stay quiet or be respectful. So it’s been a little hard navigating that.

As Queer man of Color, a lot of times people are looking for white people. Or they’re just fetishizing me and into my Asianness. There’s like a set group of people that I know that goes for Asian people. I often feel like an animal. They’re so fascinated by me when I’m literally just a person. And it’s like I get it, you’re just trying to know me but I’m not asking about you being white. Oftentimes I leave kind of disgusted, I almost kind of blame it on myself. Like I knew that was going to happen, why would I even try? But it’s like, I shouldn’t have to do that. There’s plenty of mediocre white men that just get to have a normal experience.

And oftentimes, there’s like this Infinity Stone analogy. There’s certain people that just love to be around people of Color and treat being an ally as an achievement. With making white friends, I’m often more careful ‘cause oftentimes I’m just like a check on their checklist. Ultimately, it’s people of Color I feel safe around, or really fully loved not just for being myself, not for being Asian, but for being Queer. Do you think there’s truly a lack of out Queer men of Color on campus and in the world? If yes, why?

I wouldn’t say there’s a lack of us. We definitely are scattered around everywhere. I just think when you’re Queer person of Color you have to come out or be a really extroverted persona and people have to know that you’re gay or Queer. I feel like when you’re a Queer person of Color you have to

actively put yourself out there so people know. I think that’s why we have a perception that there’s not as many of us. It’s a lot of work to come out.

A lot of us are able to explore ourselves here but go back home to a closeted life. I think a lot of Queer men of Color here are just going too fast. They’re not able to have the full experience of growing into their body or their identity; rather they’re just trying to meet people, trying to hook up, trying to just be gay because you can’t do that at home. It’s hard to find friends or people I can just be with, be safe with because a lot of times they’re just trying to fuck. Trying to get stuff done ‘cause I can’t do this when I go back home. Get stuff done. It’s so funny when talking about (Winter) Break. For me, I’d rather be here because of the freedom I have. When I go back home I can’t explore. I can’t just be myself because I’m gonna have to have a double life like I’m Hannah Montana. We’re all out there. We’re all just unfortunately not able to find each other in the right way.

It was crazy — the second I got here. It’s like everyone’s on a mission to fuck someone. I get it’s the college experience. But within the gay community especially, it’s very boom, boom, boom, goodbye. Very unsafe, but I honestly get it. It’s not because we’re Queer men of Color, it’s because we grew out of being a child. And now we’re given the freedom, so we do whatever we want. But I think I’m at the point where I’m just trying to find people to be comfortable around, to be loved around and not have to present myself in a certain way, just be myself and they’ll be OK with that. I’ve been especially trying to find more Asian (Queer) friends because I’m just so sick of the everyone just trying to fuck or everyone just having a little interaction and just leaving.

ties of Color.

In the fall of 2022, we developed our framework for these interviews, conducted in winter 2023, as we sought to understand the psycho-social wellness of Queer men of Color as mediated through the experience of body, soul, spirit and mind. Unwinding over the course of five months, this longwinded process has been a wildly bewildering, heart-wrenching experience for the two of us, often hitting very close to homo.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

How might Queer men of Color find purpose and meaning in a life of multiple marginalization?

When we stay fixated on all the shit we go through, it’s harder. Especially when straight people and businesses want us to talk about it. My life is hard enough. There’s a lot of joy in my life too, and those things get blocked out by people who want to hear trauma stories. Staying fixated on that isn’t helpful in my opinion. I think allowing yourself to live in the joyful moments and really cherishing those. Those are the things that keep us going and living — allowing yourself to just celebrate all the time. It’s OK to talk about the challenging stuff, but it should be out of pride and out of being happy with the way we are.

Jack Nathan — Sophomore — Black/white Top 3 Songs/Seeds “Versace on the Floor,” by Bruno Mars “Melting,” by Kali Uchis “Dat Way,” by Tay K

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

How does your Queerness (or Queer identity) inform your other social identities (thinking along the lines of race, ethnicity, nationality, body size, gender, sex, spiritual affiliation, religion, class, physical ability, etc.)?

The Black community needs to wake the fuck up a little bit. In big cities probably less so, but unfortunately I think class has to go into it too. I think more privileged Black people are allowed to express their sexuality more freely than in a marginalized community. In my hometown, the Black community was not tolerant of Queerness in any way.

Black Queerness here is more accepted.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Design by Sara Fang

HUGO QUINTATA & KARIS CLARK

Former MiC Assistant Editor amd Former MiC Columnist

VERKLAN AND ZOE STORER Managing Editors

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Debates on the Diag

Crisis text lines don’t work

MOSES NELAPUDI Opinion Columnist

Content warning: this article contains mentions of suicide.

represent solely the views of their authors.

It just means more

SZENTGYORGYI

According to the CDC, permanent hearing loss begins at decibel levels of 70. On March 11, 2023, when Yu Chang — an infielder playing for Chinese Taipei — hit a go-ahead grand slam, a decibel reader inside Taichung Intercontinental Stadium registered 118.

En route to a 9-5 upset over the Netherlands, Yu Chang blasted the eardrums of 20,000 local fans and etched himself into Taiwanese baseball history. As he rounded second base (with the entirety of Taiwan on his back) Chang stretched both hands to the sky in disbelief and elation, the universal sign for “look what I’ve done.” Not a single fan was seated. The Chinese Taipei bench had jumped the dugout’s protective guardrail and were screaming in celebration. Even the coaches let joy usurp their usual stoic, administrative demeanor.

The World Baseball Classic, which recently concluded with a storied battle between the USA and Japan, is a triennial international tournament played among 16 countries. Although the players do get paid for their participation, the most a player can walk away from the tournament with is $50,000 — a paltry figure compared to major league contracts. For the most part, the players are there to represent their country and compete against the best athletes from around the world.

“This is the funnest experience I’ve had on a baseball field,” said Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout of his time playing for Team USA.

San Diego Padres outfielder Nelson Cruz echoed this sentiment, saying, “Everything you do for your country has a bigger significance. The WBC is the real World Series.”

The World Baseball Classic is a recent example of sports’ unique ability to unite fans and players of a specific country or region.

Even though the main prize is bragging rights, WBC games consistently produce mind-

boggling viewership numbers. They also show how exciting sports can be without financial incentives. When the underlying motivation for playing — and by extension, winning — is money, there is an upper bound to the passion and intensity players and fans bring to the stadium. Consider March Madness. The tournaments pit the best 64 teams in women’s and men’s college basketball against each other in a hectic, electric, whollyunpredictable mad dash to the crown.

March Madness draws millions of fans a year, and the men’s tournament repeatedly bests the NBA finals in terms of total viewers. If the players on the court are less recognizable than their NBA counterparts, shouldn’t there be a lot less people watching?

Though newly instated NIL rules undoubtedly complicate collegiate athletes’ “amateur” status, the fact that only two men’s basketball players have a valuation over $1 million and that NIL deals are explicitly banned from having performance incentives draws a solid dividing line between the NBA and college basketball with respect to financial motivation.

Why do so many fans flock to their TVs, laptops and, if they’re lucky, local arenas to see players they’ve never known and colleges they’ve only just discovered play basketball? Because, in the absence of a substantial financial incentive, the athletes compete purely for the chance to win.

About 1% of collegiate basketball players will go pro, and, of those in the NBA, just over 50% will suit up in a playoff game. If there are 15 players per team and 64 teams in a tournament, that means that we’d expect just under five players to reach the NBA playoffs in any given March. Five players. Ninety-nine point five percent of the 900+ players are participating in the biggest games of their lives; for many of them, the Madness is their last chance to play in any high-level tournament.

This is the crux of March Madness’ wild popularity. We watch because the athletes

participating care deeply about every half, every possession and every second of the tournament. There is no load management or self-aggrandizing stat padding. They play to advance. They play to win.

The World Baseball Classic and March Madness have similar incentives on the players’ side and equally counterintuitive, massive viewer turnouts from fans. Their unifying property is the intensity and care that players display and have for each game they play. This intensity and this care is nurtured, not by any financial incentive, but by its absence.

It is not fair to say that fans of professional sports lack excitement or that professional players don’t want to win.

Fans’ support is not unlike the Taiwanese in the WBC or alumni at a March Madness game: They feel a connection to their community and fellow fans. The players, though, often don’t possess this degree of passion. Many have no personal connection to their teams and play for them simply because they were drafted and are being paid by the owners.

This doesn’t mean that players can’t feel love for their city and their fans, but rarely do we see an athlete play for their professional club with the same passion they bring to their amateur team. When players show that passion, fans naturally and instinctively feed off of it.

Nelson Cruz’s quote was a part of a longer interview segment with six Dominican Republic players before their game against Puerto Rico. Each player, all of whom are rostered by a major league club, were asked whether they would rather win the World Baseball Classic or the World Series. Every single one said the WBC.

“Representing our country has no price,” said Dominican Republic outfielder Ketel Marte.

It doesn’t. As kids, winning a sporting event instilled pride in ourselves and in the people who surrounded and supported us. A win was a communal effort, and celebrated as such.

more at

Read

Tragedy does not wait for a convenient time or place to strike. It can be anything from the compounding effects of untreated mental health issues to a kidnapping in broad daylight, neither of which are anticipated by their victim.

Prior to the rise of smartphone technology, medical personnel and law enforcement were the primary care providers on scene during a crisis. In the event that an elderly person fell or a teenager was hypoxic, protocols were nearly muscle memory to the millions of licensed professionals that chose a career in first response. Officers would clear the surrounding area while paramedics bandaged the wound.

However, smartphones with messaging capabilities and an appeal to younger people opened a new avenue of crisis response: text lines. At the most basic level, someone in need simply sends an initial text to a short hotline number that assigns them an operator to chat with for the duration of their crisis.

The diversity and breadth of services offered by crisis text lines is quite remarkable. They can offer tailored help — for domestic violence, trafficking, eating disorders, suicide or LGBTQ+ support — at different times of day, at national or local levels, anonymously or with police themselves. The University of Michigan is proud to offer its own 24/7 hotline through the Counseling and Psychological Services. The core function of crisis

text line operators is to diffuse or deescalate situations of selfharm or violence, with the ultimate goal of transferring care. At first glance, crisis text lines seem like an amazing and life-saving resource to turn to, especially when people would otherwise lack immediate mental health resources or the comfort of anonymity. However, these same selling points are also the reason why text lines don’t work well.

The very nature of messaging platforms reveals a glaring limitation of crisis text lines. Text messaging lacks the nuances of verbal communication, such as tone of voice and facial expression, which can make it difficult for crisis operators to understand the full extent of an individual’s distress. Research demonstrates that physical gestures send crucial information between parties, such as feelings of trust and confirmed empathy. Additionally, delays in between messages can make it difficult for counselors to respond quickly and effectively to an individual in crisis as well as provide follow-up support. That is, if you are even paired with an operator in a timely manner to begin with.

In 2022, I reached out to a crisis text line for the first time. I had witnessed the graphic death of three teenagers (people my age) who my colleagues and I were unable to resuscitate during a routine EMT shift, and I knew I needed help processing my guilt and blame. After texting HOME to 741741, I was put in a queue that lasted 37 minutes. This length of time was perfectly acceptable for someone in my “shoulder to lean on” situation. Had I been in imminent danger,

however, it’s clear that lethal outcomes could’ve resulted in that time frame. Harvard University reports that in a study of 153 nearly-lethal suicide attempts, one in four survivors noted that their duration of suicidal ideation lasted less than five minutes before the real attempt.

To make matters worse, the short and surface-level training that operators receive prior to taking the stand generally offer band-aid solutions to victims, once they are finally connected to the platform. During roughly 30 hours of training, crisis operators are taught scripts, how to gather information, build rapport and refer to licensed mental health professionals. These tasks aren’t something that just anyone with empathy and communication skills can do efficiently, let alone accomplish without any prior experience or licensure.

Additionally, the volunteer nature of text lines almost devalues the work of mental health clinicians — as if anyone can just pick up a laptop and triage the exact kind of help victims need. Operators are also in a catch-22 of sorts — if they deviate from the scripted responses, they risk providing advice inappropriate for that specific crisis, but on the flip side sound like a robot if they stick to the generic “I hear you” and “That must be tough.” It is important to note that if the texter has a means, intent and a plan for self-harm, supervisors can step in to make the call of an active rescue. But why have we collectively let mental health services become so distant and electronic in the first place?

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Istill remember one of my first Uber experiences during high school. Hiding my disbelief that technology had allowed me inside a total stranger’s car, I stared at downtown Los Angeles rushing past. My feet thumped along to the optimistic lyrics of “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus, my designated driver’s song of choice. Noticing my familiarity with his playlist, the driver opened his mouth to say, “Man, I really miss Miley before she went crazy.”

Since hearing that comment, I have heard countless individuals utter similar scornful remarks, grieving that their blonde-hairblue-eyed babe has now “hit rock-bottom” or “gone crazy,” amid a slew of controversies and lawsuits.

Gossiping is an activity that almost everyone indulges in, at least to some extent. It’s a risky behavior, yet also a soft skill that gives people something to talk about, especially when there’s some ice that needs to be broken. But, with the harms

Nut hunting not union busting Opinion

Stirring the Pot with Giselle is The Michigan Daily’s biweekly advice column.

“Ihave a crush on a cashier at my local grocery store and it’s becoming a problem.

No matter what time of the day I go, they always seem to be there. This would be fine if I could handle myself like a normal person, but I seem to lose all sense of coordination and knowledge of speech when I see this cashier. Seriously, I can have trouble removing the items from my basket in a timely fashion when they’re ringing up my stuff, and my produce is at risk of severe bruising from being dropped due to the induced lack of motor control.

I’m considering switching grocery stores, which would be distressing considering this is my favorite one. Do you have any advice for me?

-M”

Dear M,

Do you need a new job? If so, consider applying for one at this grocery store. It may not solve your previous embarrassment, but it would improve your producehandling abilities. You would also be forced to speak to your crush

No, Miley Cyrus never had a ‘crazy phase’

of gossiping low-to-nonexistent when the subject is a renowned celebrity, people feel entitled to be as brutal and provocative as possible; after all, there’s no way Britney Spears would find out I talked ill about her bald head from 2007.

The problem, however, is deeper than it seems: celebrities’ profiles are watched closely by their fans, and public criticism of drastic shifts in their image has an effect on their often young and impressionable audience. Given this fact, how celebrities choose to express themselves should not be met with pejorative backlash, but rather viewed as a natural part of their process of growth.

Cyrus first rose to fame after she was cast as the lead role in the Disney Channel television series “Hannah Montana,” an American sitcom about a teenage girl living a double life, toggling between life as famous pop singer Hannah Montana and life as a typical teenager. The extreme success of “Hannah Montana” landed Cyrus with “teen idol” status, as viewers worldwide celebrated the singer’s charming demeanor, catchy songs and iconic

performances. While it is easy to assume that acquiring lots of money and fame at such a young age was a dream come true, the reality was anything but: Years after filming, Cyrus revealed in an episode of the podcast “Rock This,” that starring in the sitcom made her feel like “without being Hannah Montana no one cares about (her).” Indeed, following the transition period after her Hannah Montana phase, Cyrus succeeded in tearing down her teen star reputation by engaging in “shocking” actions including twerking, smoking marijuana and cutting off her glossy brown locks.

In another interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Cyrus provided an incisive description of how she believes the media portrays her: “Hair’s long and blond, she’s sane right now… It’s when her hair is painted or she’s growing out her armpit hair (that) she’s on drugs.”

How close a woman’s hair is to society’s definition of “acceptable” — i.e. long, healthy, flowing blonde hair — should not be the barometer that determines one’s perceived level of sanity. Questioning a celebrity’s sanity just because they choose to

present themselves differently is unacceptable as it reinforces a stereotypical view of femininity, for young people in particular.

This practice is problematic because the acceptance of different sexualities and gender expressions is essential for creating a supportive environment for everyone. This is especially true since comments about growth, gender and sexuality resonate with children, not to mention millions of adults. It is time for audiences to progress beyond traditional boy-girl norms, and continuing to push celebrities into rigid molds perpetuates outdated norms that counteract this goal.

When skewed gender norms continue to permeate pop culture, the impact of these conversations bleeds past the celebrities and onto the general public. Celebrities influence the public’s understanding of gender and sexuality by raising awareness and reducing stigma. “The first (celebrity) that actually mattered to me who has since come out as not straight is Miley Cyrus,” singer Troye Sivan said. Given how the public’s perception of top celebrities can

influence opinions on sensitive topics, continuing to perpetuate the narrative that Cyrus had a “crazy phase” increases stigma and stress for gender minorities, which is harmful to their mental and physical health.

While one could argue that much time has passed since the media coverage of Cyrus and her deviation from Hannah Montana’s image, the public still reacts horribly to influential celebrities significantly modifying their brand. For instance, while American singer Joelle Joanie “JoJo” Siwa came out as part of the LGBTQ+ community in 2021, Siwa still faces bigoted responses regarding her sexual identity, including from her own employer. In addition, while many of the singer’s fans and influential friends openly expressed their support, Siwa opened up about having trouble sleeping for days after coming out and struggling to accept myriad homophobic comments: “A lot of them were: ‘I’m never buying your merch again. My daughter’s never watching you again,’ ” Siwa said. “I couldn’t sleep for three days.” Despite problematic

Stirring the Pot: New love

during training and evolve past your uncoordinated fumbling. Despite what “Love Actually” may try to tell you, I believe it is impossible to maintain a work crush for more than two weeks. Sooner or later, they will tell you a strange fact about their life that may immediately repulse you or, better yet, make you fall fully in love. If you manage that, you can quit, assuming you did not quit your old job. After that, you will be safe to buy groceries and flirt with your new beau at the same time!

If a job is not what you need, wear headphones and sunglasses to the grocery store. It will seem rude, but if you have no interest in ever speaking to your grocery store crush, the headphones will discourage conversation and the sunglasses will mean little to no eye contact.

Lastly, stop buying produce! Do not buy anything that can be bruised when dropped. Try buying big cartons of cereal, marshmallows, frozen pizza or dry pasta only. You’re welcome <3.

Your song recommendations are: “Fruit Island” by standards and “Vegetable Eater” by naran ratan.

If the second song makes you feel uneasy, attribute it to your bruised produce. “Thoughts on getting with

someone in your friend group?

(Both just hooking up and actually dating) -A”

Hey A, Hmmmm… Go with your gut, I think. Why not take a chance — if you’re getting a vibe from them, ask them how they feel about you! I think it’s great to be friends with someone before you start something romantic. However, you also run the risk of destroying your friend group from the inside and never again speaking to those people without deep shame and discomfort! But honestly, why not!

What do you really have to lose?

In terms of “hooking up” versus dating, it depends on your relationship before making moves. Just be sure that you guys are on the same page about everything and there will be less of a chance for hurt feelings.

I’m sorry I don’t have more advice for you. If you would like to imagine what I would say if you explained these secret circumstances in detail, it’s easy. Picture this: We are FaceTiming and I am very clearly not paying attention to your story. This isn’t because I don’t want to hear it, but I am just assuming we are close enough friends that I have heard this story thousands of

times already. Before you are done narrating, I say, “Yeah… yeah… No, you should do it. Yeah…” and lean closer to my phone. I am on Instagram and I am zooming in on a picture. Sorry, this is my final answer. That’s how the lane is paved and the cow is milked. As a tree bends so shall it grow. He who pays the piper calls the tune. Do not keep a dog and bark yourself. (I’m still working out what that last one means. Am I the dog here?)

I’ve been really into proverbs recently, so please don’t hate me for it (don’t bite the hand that feeds you!). If my imaginary, heart-felt scenario is not enough for you, here is a Mad Libs-like website where you can plug in words that you think I would say and there you go: An original proverb. My favorites so far have been “A walnut never observes far from the flower” and “Anyone can hold the lake when the sea is glittering.” Beautiful! Your song recommendations are: “Something to Do in the Future” by Ebi Soda and “Mnemophobia” by Brainstory.

PS: If you want to imagine me selling you something (advice), use this one.

“hi gemseel, My name is ****** ******* and i’m kinda a big city girl. but also like a

little city girl. anyways my medium city boyfriend keeps asking me to go to bottomless brunch???? do u think he’s gay… ? my mom said i should reach out to a trusted source for help and my roommates said they “don’t care” so ur really my only resources x -M”

Hi M, “Gemseel” is lovely, thank you.

First of all, I find it very intriguing that you included your name but in asterisks? Unnecessary, but psychologically it got my attention.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I don’t think you know what “bottomless brunch”

responses to the personal growth of influential women, however, society is also bending in the opposite direction toward fostering a safer, more inclusive environment for all. A great example is the generally positive public reception of former One Direction star Harry Styles, who is now at the center of numerous conversations about sexuality and gender-fluid fashion. While a minority of viewers criticize Styles for his alleged queerbaiting, the consensus still seems to be that such accusations are regressive and that Styles ought to be met with nothing short of support. If the public can clap when Styles rocks a flamboyant Gucci dress, it is difficult to understand why the same support cannot be, or was not, extended to female celebrities then and now. After all, gender identity or gender expression can remain the same or change over time, and it is also not uncommon for gender fluidity to continue indefinitely throughout one’s life. There is nothing wrong with a onceteenage star deciding that she no longer fits into the narrow, heteronormative box defined by Hannah Montana.

actually means. Think less literally “bottomless” and more like allyou-can-eat. For a preset price, brunch foods and drinks can be ordered without adding to the bill. I think that you should definitely try bottomless brunch, but maybe also ask yourself why you didn’t feel comfortable asking your boyfriend for clarification.

Also, please get new roommates. They could have easily said the same thing and you wouldn’t have needed to come here. Either way, I wish you all the happiness with your boyfriend and brunch.

Design by Cassidy Brimer

Design by Emily Schwartz

A Jewish criticism of Israel: It’s a shanda

Before I begin this piece, I want to add a disclaimer: I identify as Jewish. Given the title of this piece and my own positions, I think it’s relevant. There’s been a lot of discussion about the state of Israel and its treatment of Palestinian people on this campus, much of it impassioned and heated. This February, the University of Michigan’s Central Student Government met to discuss a public statement about Palestinian rights following Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit and the protest that gathered outside of the Rackham Graduate School to criticize the Biden administration’s funding of Israel and the Israeli Defense Force. I happened to walk by the protest on my way to class — I might have joined if I’d known about it earlier.

I don’t claim to have solutions for the conflict, and I don’t think I could in good faith advocate for any hard lines, but I feel compelled to say that Israel and its genocidal attitude toward the Palestinian people are repugnant and grotesque.

Every time I see a piece about an Israeli settler killing an innocent Palestinian, or yet another example of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cozying up to the Kahanists — Israel’s most racist and genocidal faction — I get sick to my stomach. Itamar Ben-Gvir, current Minister of National Security and Netanyahu crony, leads the “Jewish Power” party that espouses the doctrine that “Arabs are dogs” and endorses forced removal of any nonJews in the country. Before he was a politician, Ben-Gvir was even convicted on charges of supporting a terrorist group. He’s so bad that Ehud Olmert, former Israeli Prime Minister, considers him more dangerous to Israel’s prosperity than any international threats.

As with all countries, the actions of the state don’t represent the actions or feelings of the people, but Zionists blur those lines when they continue to try to make the Jewish identity inseparable from the state of Israel. So, let me make this clear. As a Jew, I condemn the actions of Israel. The state of Israel is a shanda.

I’m sure you’ve read plenty of pieces about the crimes of the Israeli state and a plethora of Israel’s defenders claiming that Israel’s status as the most “Westernized” nation in the region justifies what they’re doing, so you don’t need me to reiterate things you’ve already heard. In short, I condemn Israel and the IDF. This is meant to address any Zionist readers.

When people like Ben Shapiro say in an interview that many Jews in the United States don’t identify with Zionism because “you can dissociate from the rest of the Jews and can say ‘I’m the good Jew,’ he purposely conflates the Jewish identity with Zionism. By doing this, Shapiro tacitly encourages the idea that, to be a “true Jew,” you have to believe in the homeland and support Israel’s every effort to “defend” itself against the rest of the Middle East.

When former President Donald Trump tweeted that

Indicting Trump is a mistake

NIKHIL SHARMA Opinion Columnist

“U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel,” he didn’t do it out of love for Israel or the Jewish people; he did it because it’s geopolitically advantageous for the U.S. to have an ally in the region. Trump’s tweet also appeals to the American Evangelical death cult that believes the Jews being back in the holy land is a sign of the incoming rapture, but that’s tangential.

In fact, Israel itself is inconsistent on who or what the “Jewish state” constitutes –– as with all groups of people, Jews are not a monolith, in both political and ethnic respects.

Ethiopian and Egyptian Mizrahi Jews have been discriminated against in the past, and a majority of Israeli Jews prioritize secular democracy over religious law, a position massively at odds with the current direction of Netanyahu’s government. Protests broke out just a couple weeks ago against Netanyahu’s judicial reforms, which many consider an attack against democracy in favor of religious extremism.

These reforms sent the country into turmoil, with many Jews feeling as though this was an attack against democracy in favor of religious extremism, fueling the alienation and ostracization of Jewish people within Israel. Even trying to restrict “Jewish nation” citizenship by necessitating an Orthodox conversion with an Orthodox rabbi is a decision at odds with the 90% of American Jews, who are mostly Reformed, Conservative or Secular.

Many American Jews, especially young ones like the estimated 6,500 in our student body, find themselves in a dilemma because they might have attended or want to attend Birthright Israel and want to foster a connection with what they see as their “homeland.” It’s free for anyone who qualifies, so why not go?

Polling shows the complicated relationship American Jews have with the state of Israel. I am in the minority of Jews who say caring about Israel is not an important or essential part of my identity, but I’m in a growing number of American Jews who doubt the Israeli government is making a sincere effort to promote peace. One student who went on Birthright ended up leaving Israel with more doubts about the country.

Some groups, like the student-led J Street U, think there should be Palestinian or Israeli Arab speakers in addition to Birthright’s slate of Jewish Israeli speakers. I see J Street’s efforts as somewhat noble, but they’re not going to be successful given that Birthright’s implicit goals are to get you to “making aliyah,” which means immigrating to Israel and becoming a citizen.

Birthright is practically a propaganda program that pairs up non-Israeli Jews with a member of the IDF, further encouraging the false notion that to be a Jew, you have to be a Zionist.

Birthright is educational tourism backed by false and deliberately apolitical information, designed to whitewash Israel’s history to get you to either apply for citizenship or fund their army.

Birthright has continually ignored complaints or protests calling for even minor concessions toward giving a more multifaceted view of the country. Birthright Israel reportedly straight up lies about the occupation and the policies surrounding it.

Birthright’s message and itinerary intentionally dilutes the structural and political asymmetry on the ground. Violence is bad, but the significant power differential between the Israeli state and the Palestinian freedom fighters can’t be understated. The responsibility for securing peace is overwhelmingly on Israel’s shoulders. Hamas, however bad they may be, doesn’t have $158 billion in foreign aid from and close military ties to the U.S., the most powerful military on Earth. When you consistently and violently push a group of people back, encroaching on their homeland over the course of entire decades, why in the hell do you expect them to be the ones to facilitate peace?

Many prominent Jewish groups are liberal-leaning, especially the ones that focus on the younger crowd like J-Street, and endorse something like a two-state solution. Since the occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during the Six-Day War in 1967, Israeli aggression and land theft have marginalized the Palestinian people into already slim land holdings. I couldn’t even hope to offer a practical solution to the geopolitical conflict, but does it look like Israel is attempting to make peace? Does annexation of the West Bank or overseeing the most violent year since the occupation in 1967 really seem like an attempt to mitigate damages? They aren’t trying for peace, they’re trying for conquest.

Some people may say I’m tokenizing myself, or utilizing my identity in a way that damages the image of American Jews, or plenty of other fallacious things, but I don’t care. There is a problem of rising antisemitism in the U.S. that cannot be dismissed (one that I’ve written about before), but that’s an entirely separate problem, and it is disingenuous to use antisemitism in America as justification for apartheid in a country halfway across the globe.

The disgusting hypocrisy to appeal to our people’s own genocide in an effort to perpetuate another is utterly repugnant and contemptible. I cannot and will not in good faith endorse the crimes against the Palestinian people that Israel, and the U.S. by proxy, perpetuate. I’ve never lived in Israel, and I’ve never even stepped foot inside the country. My life has as little to do with Israel as it does with any other country I’ve never visited. When Jews conflate Zionism with the Jewish identity, it makes us all look bad. If you do find yourself attached to Israel, at least make an effort to understand the Palestinian plight and push for more equitable terms. If you, like me, don’t particularly care for Zionism or Israel, make sure your identity isn’t consumed by genocidal mania. Don’t let the propagandists convince you you’re not a real Jew. Be a mensch. Free Palestine.

After centuries of presidential scandals, a terrifying first has finally come. With Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg bringing a criminal indictment against former President Donald Trump on Thursday, America is bound to experience an unprecedented legal fallout. While members of both parties have called for legal action against Trump in recent years, Bragg’s case has no relation to Trump’s incitement of the Jan. 6 riot or his concerted efforts to overturn a free and fair election.

Instead, Bragg intends to accuse Trump of illegally making a hush payment to Stormy Daniels, which allegedly was intended to cover up a relationship that occurred almost 17 years ago.

Pursuing an indictment, in this case, is a catastrophic mistake for the Justice Department as well as the Democratic and Republican Parties. On top of the shaky legal foundations of the case, indicting Trump for a relatively inconsequential crime would come across as politically motivated. As a result, it could distract from further inquiries into more serious crimes Trump has committed, and further diminish faith in the Justice Department for a large portion of the country.

Independent of the political ramifications of the prosecution, Bragg’s case seems incredibly tenuous and unlikely to stand in court. With the star witness, Trump’s former “fixer” Michael Cohen, having already admitted to lying to Congress, and Daniels’ notoriety casting doubt on her claims, a jury would likely be skeptical of any testimony from the pair.

In addition, since the crime of falsifying business records is only a misdemeanor in New York and has already exceeded the statute of limitations, in order to prosecute Trump, Bragg would need to show that he falsified business records with the intent to breach federal campaign finance law, which is a felony offense. If Bragg is unable to prove that Trump wrote Daniels the check in an attempt to influence the election, even if he proves that Trump directed Cohen to cover up the affair, he will be unable to convict him. On top of being significantly more difficult to prove, even this charge has arguably exceeded the five-year statute of limitations. As a result, the case risks being thrown out by judges or being quashed by Trump’s legal team if

brought to court. Beyond the legal limitations of the case, indicting Trump for a minor crime would contradict years of precedent involving the criminal prosecution of present and former presidents. Though nobody deserves to live above the law, the past several administrations have seen presidential legal woes go overlooked in the interest of preserving the stature of the office. Despite copious evidence of perjury in the Monica Lewinsky case and strong involvement in the Whitewater scandal, former President Bill Clinton was never indicted during or after his time in office.

Similarly, during the more severe Watergate scandal, despite resigning from office in an apparent admission of guilt, President Richard Nixon was immediately pardoned by his successor President Gerald R. Ford in an attempt to preserve the integrity of the presidency. Even in more recent years, despite having classified documents illegally and unsafely stored in more locations than Trump, President Joe Biden’s Justice Department seems highly unlikely to bring formal charges against him.

If the same legal threshold applied to Trump was enforced on prior administrations, it’s not unreasonable to expect that half of recent presidents might be behind bars. As a global leader, indicting presidents for minor crimes would be extraordinarily embarrassing and detrimental to the United States, likely weakening its standing as a global superpower. As someone who is supposedly “looking forward to” his perp walk, Trump would surely capitalize on his indictment to compare the severity of punishment for his transgressions to other presidents who committed more significant crimes. This would allow him to convince supporters that the system is “rigged” against him, an otherwise baseless claim that would gain credence from the Justice Department’s reckless actions.

Extending that colossal political capital to Trump will prove catastrophic to both Democrats and Republicans. In the GOP primary, it will create a solidarity vote that casts aside Republican challengers, and in a general election it could form a resistance vote against a Biden Justice Department seen as enforcing uneven legal standards against a rival. Moreover, the scandal itself will likely have a negligible impact on Trump’s reputation, given the dated nature

of the claims. Despite running in a party that theoretically prides itself on family values, when first revealed in 2018, Trump’s infidelity with a porn star bucked the trend of historic presidential sex scandals and was a nonissue by the 2020 election. Though such an allegation would likely have destroyed the credibility of any other president, Trump’s endless stream of riotous scandals has seemingly brought him immunity against even the most sordid of claims. His rivals, on the other hand, will not be immune to the fallout from the case. Biden, in particular, would come under fire for any Trump prosecution. Despite distancing himself from the judicial process in cases involving conflicts of interests, an indictment of Trump will immediately be branded by Republicans as Biden prosecuting a political rival. Such spectacles are unheard of in the United States and far more common in dictatorial regimes. Republican voters who are already distrustful of Democrats could lose faith entirely in the current two-party system, with swing voters even potentially coming out in favor of Trump.

Though top Republican rivals like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have remained quiet on the case in the hopes of benefiting from a prosecution that diminishes Trump’s credibility, even those outwardly opposed to the prosecution stand to lose in the polls to Trump. After losing headway to opponents in recent months, the arrest of a candidate responsible for reshaping the modern Republican Party will provide a much-needed adrenaline boost to Trump’s stagnating campaign, potentially propelling him to a primary and general election victory. With little policy focus in his current campaign, fighting a prosecution will give Trump a signature issue to center his campaign around and galvanize voters with.

Ultimately, a prosecution of Trump for his alleged involvement in the Daniels case will cause ripple effects that harm both parties and delegitimize more consequential investigations against him. While it’s critical that the justice department be mobilized to investigate Trump’s election interference, by jumping the gun on a Trump indictment, Bragg is risking the derailment of the legitimacy of any future cases brought at a state or federal level. If the justice department hopes to preserve its reputation and regain public trust, it should have backed down.

Letter to the Editor: A misguided CSG endorsement

ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTOR

On Tuesday, The Michigan Daily Editorial Board formally endorsed the MPower ticket for president and vice president of the University of Michigan’s Central Student Government. The Daily’s support for MPower’s candidates demonstrates their apathy towards the 5,000 undergraduate and nearly 1,500 graduate Jewish students at the University. Given MPower’s insensitive rhetoric, The Daily must claim responsibility for their misguided endorsement.

Specific parts of MPower’s platform are troubling, specifically the complete ban on all Universitysponsored trips to Israel and the call to battle Zionism on campus. We have included direct quotations from their platform below:

(1) “We pledge to staunchly fight … antisemitism (and) Zionism …”

(2) “End the Central Student Government’s trip/all Universitysponsored trips to Israel”

It is not antisemitic to criticize Israel. In fact, criticism of Israel is essential — it sparks conversation, ignites cooperation and inspires change. Marginalizing any group through the denial of their right to self-determination is wrong. The Anti-Defamation League defines Zionism as “the movement for the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people.” The outright rejection of self-determination directed

exclusively toward the Jewish people, simply on the basis of their religion, is antisemitic. More importantly, it imposes the same ideology that these candidates so proudly advocate against. To claim that you stand for “community and coalition building” while denying any group’s religious rights is disappointing and hypocritical at best.

We appreciate the mention of adding Kosher options to campus and the commitment towards fighting antisemitism. However, MPower has yet to hold or attend events to engage with Jewish students and their communities. Merely mentioning issues that “appeal” to a Jewish student body without engaging in discussion is tokenizing and disingenuous. How can you fight antisemitism without engaging in discussion with Jewish voices? You can’t.

The greatest way to spur conversation and spark progress is through open dialogue and cultural exchange. MPower’s decision to demand the University eliminate trips to Israel is short-sighted and unproductive. Additionally, CSG does not offer, plan or fund any trips to Israel, and the previous administration actively avoided any mention of foreign policy. If anything, the University should fund educational programs in the region. Cooperative trips will not only bring a larger community to the conversation but will increase partnership and foster positive student relationships.

For nearly a century the University has proudly served as

an ally for the Jewish community. In the wake of the 20th century’s “Jewish Problem” — a sentiment aimed at significantly limiting and reducing the amount of Jewish students at elite institutions — the University refused to partake. It is paramount that the U-M community continues to actively defend and advocate for the rights of Jewish people and all marginalized groups. A student government under the leadership of the MPower platform will create an environment of hostility for Jewish students; leaders who promote these sentiments should not be endorsed by one of the University’s most prominent student organizations. The Daily has a storied history covering issues that matter to U-M students. This comes with a noble goal of striving “to uphold impartiality, fairness and the complete truth (and to seek) equitable coverage in our representation of all communities, identities and groups.” Sharing a piece from the Editorial Board on the day of an election that misrepresents the extent to which MPower has engaged with the larger campus community is not convincing, impartial, fair, nor representative of the complete truth. Many members of the undergraduate Jewish population strongly disagree with The Daily’s endorsement — we encourage The Daily to reconsider its endorsement and invite the Editorial Board to engage with the larger Jewish community.

ALINA LEVINE Daily Sports Writer

As the buzzer sounded, the Michigan men’s lacrosse team erupted off the sideline, storming the field to celebrate their historic performance against No. 2 Maryland.

On Saturday, the Wolverines (5-4 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) faced the Terrapins (6-3, 1-1) and pulled off an upset, 16-11. This historic win was monumental for the team, marking their first-ever win against Maryland in program history — and their first Big Ten win against a top-five ranked team ever.

“It feels amazing,” senior attacker Josh Zawada said. “I think it was a massive step for our program, and we kind of got over that edge of finishing those games. I know we played the number one team in the first game of the year and ended up losing by four goals, but we were always in that game and just couldn’t finish it out. So, I think this was a massive step for us because they were the number two team, and we finally closed it out and played a full 60 minutes.”

SOFTBALL

Michigan upsets No. 2 Maryland in historic win

That full 60 minutes began in the first quarter with the Wolverines starting strong. While the Terrapins scored first, junior attacker Michael Boehm quickly answered, tying the game at one apiece. Maryland scored one more time in the first period before Michigan went on a 5-0 run, finishing the frame with a 6-2 advantage. However, going into the second quarter, the Terrapins showed signs of a comeback — they were the second-ranked team in the country, after all. When Maryland’s offense looped behind the goal and around to the other side to shoot, the Wolverines’ defenders were slow to follow, leaving them open to score. Quickly taking advantage, the Terrapins began to close the gap by capitalizing on those unguarded moments. Heading into halftime, Maryland was only trailing by one point. But one point was the closest that the Terrapins got to Michigan for the

remainder of the game. Through the toughness of their defenders, versatility within their offense and ability to function as a team, the Wolverines only widened the gap. And that gap only grew as Michigan had a powerful start to the

third quarter. Weaving around the defense, senior midfielder Jacob Jackson caught a feed from Boehm and hurled the ball into the back of the net. Less than a minute later, fifth-year midfielder Peter Thompson netted another goal for Michi-

Michigan’s hot and cold hitting lead to 2-1 weekend outing against Nebraska

TASMIA JAMIL

Daily Sports Writer

When the Michigan softball team’s bats get hot with runners in scoring positions, it tends to win.

On Friday, the Wolverines tallied 14 hits and 10 runs. But on Saturday, Nebraska extinguished the momentum by pitching a shutout.

While Michigan (17-14 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) rebounded to close out the weekend, the up-anddown hitting performance resulted in a 2-1 series outing against the Cornhuskers (25-12, 5-3).

After a dominant 9-0 win over Oakland on Wednesday, the team didn’t skip a beat opening the first game against Nebraska. In the first inning, a Cornhusker fielding error followed by a double from graduate center fielder Lexie Blair placed runners on base before a sacrificial flyout and a single brought the runners home. The Wolverines tallied two hits and two runs in the frame, setting the tone for the rest of the game.

“Our timing in game one was outstanding,” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said. “Any fringe pitches, we were able to tie them up well and get a good piece of the ball.”

With the Wolverines’ bats finding momentum, they continued to capitalize on Nebraska defensive

lapses. Facing a 2-2 pitch count and a runner on second, graduate right fielder Ellie Mataya slotted the ball through the gaps in left center field, forcing the Cornhuskers to go out of position and give the runner ample time to reach home. A subsequent walk and an RBI single from junior catcher Keke Tholl put Michigan up 4-0.

The Wolverines’ hitting prowess continued as it put pressure on the defense, racking up three back-to-back RBI hits in the third inning before Keke belted a home run over the center field wall to give Michigan a 10-0 lead. Although the Wolverines didn’t score for the rest of the game, they had a comfortable cushion to fall back on while the defense restricted Nebraska to only one run, securing a 10-1 mercy rule win for Michigan in the first game of the series.

But the Wolverines’ offensive consistency was short lived, as on Saturday, the bats fell silent.

Opening the game, Michigan attempted to drop the ball into the outfield but instead landed the ball in the gloves of the Cornhuskers’ fielders every time. On the other hand, Nebraska applied pressure early, converting on pitching errors and bringing its runners home for a 2-0 lead.

“Nebraska had the momentum and we didn’t do anything to stop

it,” Keke said. “But we didn’t build any momentum on our own on that end. We were still putting the bat on the ball but things just weren’t falling.”

The Wolverines’ offense had no answer. Despite forcing a walk in three back-to-back innings, Michigan couldn’t capitalize, stranding runners each time. The bats that led to a mercy-rule win the day before were nowhere to be found.

Down 2-0, sophomore left fielder Ellie Sieler slotted a single — the Wolverines’ only hit of the game — before stealing second base. But Nebraska quickly erased any hope for a comeback. A pair of home runs with runners on base combined with a pair of RBI singles in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend the Cornhuskers lead to 8-0, ultimately resulting in a run-rule loss for Michigan.

After tallying 14 hits in the first game, the Wolverines merely tallied one hit and fell back into their old habits, leaving runners on base. As the bats went cold, the aggressive offensive tactics and small ball strategies that found success earlier completely disappeared. But with one game left in the series, Michigan looked to redeem itself on Sunday.

Following a homerun by Nebraska in the second inning, the Wolverines returned to their Friday form. A double by Blair and a fielding error on the play allowed Blair to use her speed for an inside-the-park homerun, putting Michigan on top, 2-1.

“It was our chance to grab the momentum, hang onto it and run with it,” Bonnie said. “Even when we went down one to zero, we stayed within the game plan and captured the momentum back.”

gan before Jackson scored again 30 seconds later.

These three rapid goals in the first 90 seconds of the quarter propelled Michigan to an early 10-6 lead. Maryland noticeably tightened its defense, making it harder for the Wolverines to find shooting angles; nonetheless, Michigan was undeterred. As the final quarter of the game approached, it led 11-8. And, of those first 11 goals, 6 came from seniors on the team.

“We sat down with all the seniors on Monday and went through what was going on and how we struggled through games,” Zawada said. “I think it just starts with us and attention to detail from our seniors. It kind of goes through the entire team once the seniors are doing everything right. So, if we have that attention to detail that flows through the entire team, we’ll have success.”

Entering the final 15 minutes of the game, the Wolverines knew it would

be close. The Michigan bench and the Terrapin fans alike were buzzing with excitement as the prospect of a win for either team was likely. However, Maryland fans soon became worried as their defense deteriorated, leaving the Wolverines wide open. Unguarded and armed with a powerful shot, Michigan’s offense netted five more goals to the Terrapins’ three, sealing the deal.

Energized by the win, Michigan is feeding off its newfound confidence and momentum.

“I think it’s all confidence now,” Zawada said. “We’ve seen that once we play a full 60 minutes of our lacrosse and have a good week of practice, we can compete with any team in the country. We’re going to use this game to kind of build up confidence for us and lead it game by game into these next couple of games and get those wins.”

Michigan’s win against Maryland was historic for both the team and the program. As the Wolverines continue on to the remainder of their Big Ten games, they will need to continue playing the brand of lacrosse that led them to victory on Saturday.

DECKMANN/Daily

Strong offense leads Michigan baseball to series victory over Illinois

COLE MARTIN Daily Sports Writer

Entering its weekend series against Illinois, the Michigan baseball team found itself in a litmus test of sorts.

During the Wolverines’ eightgame homestand in which they won six games, Michigan turned its season’s trajectory on its head with a sweep of its first Big Ten opponent, Penn State. But the question was: Could Michigan replicate its newfound success on the road?

The answer was a resounding yes. The Wolverines passed their first true test in conference play with flying colors.

Michigan (15-12 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) took its first two games over Illinois (12-12, 2-4), 12-9 and 10-5, respectively, before falling on Sunday, 11-1. With the exception of Sunday’s blowout, the Wolverines’ weekend was defined by its red-hot bats.

In Friday’s series opener, Michigan’s offense fed off of yet another impressive performance from junior left-hander Connor O’Halloran. In his sixth win of the season, O’Halloran pitched six innings, allowing only one earned run while striking out eight batters. The contest marked O’Halloran’s fifth game of the season with seven or more strikeouts.

“What he’s doing is a huge bonus for us,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said. “… He’s given us a chance to win every time. … (The team) loves playing behind him because they know he’s going to be aggressive and competing in the zone.”

Aside from O’Halloran’s efficient performance, the Wolverines’ batters told the story. After O’Halloran exited the game, Michigan’s relievers proved

unable to contain the Fighting Illini offense. Illinois scored a total of seven runs in just three innings without O’Halloran’s presence on the mound. Clearly, the pitching needed run support.

Enter freshman outfielder Jonathan Kim.

In five at bats, Kim totalled five hits, including a home run. He also notched four RBIs, good for one third of the Wolverines’ run total. Kim not only led the Wolverines to victory, though. He also created momentum for them to carry further into the weekend.

“It was nice to have him sitting down there at the bottom of the order,” Smith said. “… (He did a) good job driving some guys in, and I was really pleased with the way that he continues to get better each day and look more comfortable (at the plate).”

And on Saturday, the narrative from Friday’s victory repeated itself, except this time it wasn’t just Kim who got hot.

In the eighth inning, Michigan clung to a narrow 4-3 lead after another Kim RBI. Then, the rest of its offense found its footing.

First, graduate shortstop Cody Jefferis scored on a wild pitch

to increase the lead to two.

Designated hitter Tito Flores followed that up, knocking in another run with a single. And then freshman third baseman Mitch Voit put the cherry on top of yet another strong offensive outing, hitting a grand slam to yank the game out of reach for the Illini. Even after giving up two more runs in the ninth inning, the Wolverines still won by a five-run margin.

“Thank god we had the big leads,” Smith said. “I looked earlier today. The last three innings of each game combined in the last two games (Illinois) scored almost 10 runs.”

Evidently, those big leads ultimately came from Michigan’s offense as — even with defensive struggles in relief — it escaped Champaign with another series victory in Big Ten play.

And although the Wolverines lost the series finale Sunday, their increased offensive presence this weekend proved crucial. If Michigan can remain consistent in that facet of its game, the Wolverines should continue to find success in Big Ten play.

SportsMonday: Michigan baseball is right on track

Last Tuesday, Tracy Smith — then 24 games into his career as the head coach of the Michigan baseball team — slouched against a podium engraved with a ‘Block M’ and smiled. Smith’s Wolverines had just won their fourth game in a row, mounting an epic comeback to topple Central Michigan via a walk-off home run.

Six weeks into the college season, Michigan is playing its best baseball of the year, even with an 11-1 clunker in Sunday’s series finale against Illinois. The Wolverines had won nine of 11 games before Sunday’s loss, which snapped a five-game winning streak to open Big Ten play.

Sunday doubled as the halfway point of Michigan’s 2023 season.

With 26 games to go, the Wolverines sit at 15-12. And thanks to their 5-1 mark in Big Ten play, they

are perched atop the conference standings, tied with Indiana.

Tuesday, Smith cycled through a number of different words when attempting to describe his task at Michigan. It’s not quite a restoration: Under Erik Bakich, the Wolverines became a formidable Big Ten contender with an uncanny knack for postseason magic. It’s not quite a revival, either: Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament last year, making its third straight NCAA Regional. But it’s also not strictly maintenance: Things were good at Michigan, but not good enough to keep the status quo. A few underwhelming regular seasons left everyone hungry for more.

All of that leaves Smith in an intriguing position.

“You know, I’m not building culture,” Smith said Tuesday, his voice firm. “I’m just kind of adding on to that culture. That’s the one thing I said when I got here: The culture is outstanding. Erik and

what he did with his staff and the kids in that locker room, the stuff was already established. Now, are we going to add little things along the way? Absolutely.”

At his introductory press conference in August, Smith spoke of a desire to achieve “sustainable success.” Tacitly, he knew that achieving that goal would take time — especially considering his situation.

Smith didn’t exactly inherit a mess, but he did inherit a program in flux. In the offseason, Michigan lost four of its best hitters: Clark Elliott, Joe Stewart, Matt Frey and Riley Bertram. It lost its closer (Willie Weiss) and one of its rotation stalwarts (Cameron Weston).

In response, few outside the program believed in the Wolverines. The Big Ten coaches’ preseason poll, which projects the top-six teams in the conference, did not include Michigan. D1baseball.com pegged the Wolverines as the eighth-best team in the

13-team Big Ten.

Yet, at the halfway point of the season, Michigan is outperforming the expectations. That’s not to say that this team will rip off a magical run to Omaha or even make an NCAA Regional. But there is something to be said for the way that the Wolverines are navigating the first season in Bakich’s wake, emerging as a formidable, enjoyable team as the heart of Big Ten play beckons.

“It’s just a testament to a lot of the work we put in and how close we are as a team,” graduate infielder Jack Van Remortel said Tuesday. “And just the belief in any situation that we’re gonna be able to get it done.”

Added Smith: “I’m still learning the Michigan way, but this place is special. We just want to continue to do our part to build on what has already been established prior to us coming here.”

Each Michigan athletic program is measured against a lofty

standard; baseball is no exception. Bakich departed with a .602 winning percentage, the second-highest among Michigan baseball coaches since 1960. He led the Wolverines to five NCAA Tournament regionals, reviving a program that sunk to the depths of the Big Ten at the end of Rich Maloney’s tenure in 2012. There are constant reminders of Michigan’s past success.

Gigantic, colorful murals are splashed across the brick walls of Ray Fisher Stadium, commemorating the best teams in program history. Down the right field line sits a large mural with the slogan: “Onward to Omaha,” an ode to the home of the College World Series.

“We always look at it as, we’re standing on the shoulders of those that came before us,” Van Remortel said. “So, I think, every year we’re trying to add a little bit of the culture to the program. Just living by that, obviously (Smith) has come in and done a great job.

That’s kind of how we look at things here.”

Slowly and surely, you can see the signs of a foundation. Junior right-hander Connor O’Halloran is a bona fide ace. Two-way phenom Mitch Voit and outfielder Jonathan Kim have dazzled as freshmen. Sophomore designated hitter Joe Longo is a force in the middle of the order, and senior Jimmy Obertop may soon return from injury to join him.

With the pieces in place, this Michigan team believes that it’s capable of achieving even more. Led by Smith — cerebral and grounded — there’s plenty of reason to believe them.

“What you did yesterday doesn’t mean anything moving forward, particularly in this conference,” Smith said Sunday. “But again, we’re pleased with where we are at this point, and we got a lot of room to improve.”

In other words, they’re right on schedule.

MARIA

BASEBALL

GRACE FALL FROM

heartbreaking upset, Michigan fails to qualify for Nationals after promising season

Something was off from the start. Before the No. 3 Michigan women’s gymnastics team could even get going, senior Gabby Wilson fell on the second routine of the team’s first rotation. With an uncharacteristic fall on bars, Wilson, and the Wolverines’ hopes, were already on the ground. And that’s just about where they would stay — no matter how hard the team fought.

Although Michigan (26-2 overall) led for the first two routines and was tied going into the final rotation, it had a subpar meet at the worst possible time, failing to qualify for the National Semifinals for the first time since 2018 with a score of 197.750, while No. 14 Denver and No. 6 LSU advanced.

The Wolverines and Tigers ended the meet tied, so it all came down to a tiebreaker. All six gymnasts were counted in all four events. While Michigan could usually move past an uncharacteristic fall on an event,

the falls were the Wolverines’ kryptonite on Sunday. “It’s heartbreaking,” Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. “We have had an amazing season. I think we’re a team that could contend to win a title, but I think it’s a combination. I still feel like even with the meet that we had, we deserved to be one of the teams that advanced. But when we open the door and kind of put things into a gray area and we put control into someone else’s hands, that does not always end well.” And the Wolverines cracked that door open from the beginning.

Although Michigan had one fall on the bars with Wilson’s slip, they still excelled and led after the first event. Graduate students Abby Heiskell and Natalie Wojcik and senior Sierra Brooks led the charge with 9.950s. They looked like their usual stalwart selves and helped Michigan gain a .225 point lead.

Despite the fall, the team already reached its peak, securing the fourth-best bars score in program history with a 49.650. But, with the tiebreaker the fall is the one thing that would ultimately matter. And that was all the history and happiness the Wolverines could

muster. The beam rotation started out no better than the bars. Junior Carly Bauman fell on the beam, her second beam fall of the weekend. Once again, the rest of the routines would have to be nearly flawless to make up for the early misstep. Once again, as Brooks has done so often through this season and her career, she led the charge with a 9.950 that included a back handspring double twist and a stuck dismount. But, no matter how hard Brooks and her teammates fought, the Pioneers and the Tigers were clawing back, and Michigan’s lead dwindled to just .075 points.

Luckily for the Wolverines, they had their strongest event to resurrect their national title hopes. Three gymnasts scored 9.9 and above, with Brooks once again leading the way with a 9.925. But, it didn’t seem to matter, as they still underperformed. After three rotations, Michigan was in hazy territory. They were tied with LSU for the lead, clinging on to hope that they would be one of the top two teams to advance. Michigan has dictated so much of how its meets went this season.

But this one was out of its hands. As they finished on vault, the Tigers still had gymnasts performing for their lives on the floor. On vault, one of the Wolverines’ strong suits, they had an average performance in a situation where they needed a spectacular one. Freshman Kaylen Morgan anchored the event with a stuck landing and a time high 9.9. But it didn’t matter. It was all up to LSU and Denver.

And there’s one thing you should never do in gymnastics: leave the door open. When LSU’s final floor routine finished, there was a shock around the arena. Michigan and the Tigers were tied at 197.750. No one seemed to know what was going on. Except for the Wolverines. You could see it on their faces.

All you could see were tears. After a few moments of deliberation among the judges, where they counted all six gymnasts’ scores for all events as the tiebreaker, the outcome was clear. With its falls on beam and bars, Michigan’s sixth gymnast couldn’t dig it out of a hole. Instead, that sixth gymnast was its Achilles heel. The one time the Wolverines needed all six gymnasts, for a team

that is uncannily deep, was the one time not all six gymnasts showed up for every event. And thus, the shocking, unthinkable outcome was true:

For the first time since 2018, Michigan would not be competing for a National Championship.

“We win and we advance together as a team,” Plocki said. “… I think we deserve to advance, but when we open the door and put control in someone else’s hands then it doesn’t always come out the way that we wanted.”

The failure to advance is shocking, heartbreaking even for the Wolverines. But it wasn’t for a lack of high scores and stuck landings. The overall score was respectable but a far cry from Michigan’s standard.

“We have six up and five count for a reason,” Plocki said. “… We won bars. We won vault. We tried to win floor. … There were a lot of bright spots. It’s a little bit hard.

I haven’t been sitting here quite honestly thinking about that because everybodies just really disappointed and brokenhearted about the outcome.”

At the end of the day, despite the bright spots, the tears and

the heartbreak will be the lasting memory. There was nothing going into this meet that foreshadowed what the final outcome would be. There were no warning signs. Everyone, especially Michigan, thought this meet was just a stepping stone to bigger things.

“Tonight it didn’t end well for us,” Plocki said. “It’s a really difficult pill to swallow. But we have to take it as a look at what we have control over, that we could have changed or done better. And that’s what we have to learn from this experience.”

This type of heartbreak stings. It’s one few experience and one no one wants to. The only thing worse than defeat may be a shocking, unexpected upset while knocking at the doors of greatness. And that’s exactly what Michigan experienced on Sunday in Denver.

A team full of national title hopes saw its season and dream end suddenly. A team, led by a coach that felt like her team truly deserved it, won’t get to see how high it could truly climb.

But there was something off from the beginning. And at the end, instead of a trophy, all that was left was tears in the Wolverines’ eyes.

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