CELEBRATING OUR ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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RESEARCH
Study shows economically 2 segregated A metro area
BRIAN BECKWITH/Daily
Robert Sellers, vice provost for equity, inclusion and academic affairs, speaks during the First Generation Dinner on Tuesday in the Michigan Union Ballroom.
First-gen college students talk higher ed. experiences Over dinner, speakers discuss magnitude of the decision to attend the University By JING JING MA Daily Staff Reporter
For LSA senior Christina Castillo, attending college was not just the natural next step after
graduating high school — it was a life changer. In addition to her role as a University student, Castillo is a single mother. The student-run organization First Generation Students @ Michigan provided Castillo the opportunity to share her experience as both a mother and a first generation college student Tuesday evening at its “First Generation Dinner.” First Gen raises awareness for and addresses the unique
needs of first generation college students. The organization was founded in the fall of 2007 and is the first student-led organization of its type in the country. After attending high school in California, Castillo dropped in and out of community college since 2003 for about a decade because of an abusive home life. “My daughter and I were domestic violence victims,” she said. “I left everything when I left my daughter’s father. I was
having a hard time being on welfare and felt like I was always struggling — I decided then that college was the way to go.” Castillo has always wanted to attend the University. In 2013, she enrolled at the age of 28. “I left everything in California and came on a train with my daughter,” Castillo said. “(Attending the University) has been the hardest thing ever in my life. Having to be first generation, See FIRST GEN, Page 3A
Poorer residents isolated in industrial, eastern Washtenaw County By ANASTASSIOS ADAMOPOULOS Daily Staff Reporter
The University and the City of Ann Arbor take pride in the scores of “top 10” rankings they rack up each year. However, the Ann Arbor and its surrounding areas may not be pleased to reach the top of one particular list. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Area was ranked the eighth most economically segregated metro area in the United States, according to a recent study from the University of Toronto’s Martin Prosperity Institute. Tallahassee, Fla. ranked first. “Segregated City: The Geography of the Economic Segrega-
tion in America’s Metros” looked at economic segregation in more than 350 metropolitan areas across the United States and attempted to draw connections to other characteristics of these areas including income, race, political orientation and housing costs. In this study, segregation means that members of a particular category are more likely to live amongst themselves, as opposed to living with members from different occupational demographics. For example, a high ranking for segregation of the wealthy means the wealthy are more likely to live near other wealthy people than in more diversely populated areas. “Economic segregation” is composed of three types of segregation: income segregation, educational segregation and occupational segregation. Income segregation draws a contrast between those who are “wealthy” and those who See SEGREGATION, Page 5A
Council Students flock to neighborhoods north of hopefuls campus for their proximity to Main Street Many move into Old unveil Fourth Ward and Neighborhoods of A North Ingalls goals residences
ANN ARBOR
2
Two new candidates enter Democratic races ahead of August primary
By ISOBEL FUTTER Daily Staff Reporter
NORTH INGALLS
By LARA MOEHLMAN Daily Staff Reporter Minnie’s Cooperative House S State St. and Catherine St.
CATHERINE ST.
OLD FOURTH WARD
E HURON ST.
Benjamin Linder Co-op S State St. and Catherine St. S STATE ST.
With the Ann Arbor City Council’s August primary elections approaching, two new candidates pulled petitions to run for office last Thursday. Two current members of the council announced their re-election campaigns last week as well. Council members Jack Eaton (D–Ward 4) and Mike Anglin (D–Ward 5) will both run for re-election, facing Democrats Jaime Magiera and Chip Smith, respectively. To earn a spot on the ballot, candidates must collect 100 petition signatures. Eaton is a labor attorney who has lived in Ann Arbor for 30 years. He joined the council in 2013. Anglin, a retired teacher and electrician, was elected to See ELECTION, Page 3A
DIAG
S State St. and E Ann St.
Infographic by Carolyn Gearig Photos by Allison Farrand
The Michigan Daily will be exploring Ann Arbor’s most quirky, lively, and student populated neighborhoods during the next month to see what makes this city tick. Starting with the North Ingalls and Old Fourth Ward areas, keep checking back for more installments of our series on Ann Arbor’s neighborhoods. When students venture north of the Diag, they stumble upon Old Fourth Ward and North Ingalls, two of Ann Arbor’s 11 thriving, unofficial neighborhoods. Spread throughout the city, each area possesses different characteristics, attractions and features. Old Fourth Ward stretches between Fifth Avenue and State Street and spans north to Beakes Street. To the east, North Ingalls is nestled behind Rackham Graduate School and lies directly north of Central Campus. Both neighborhoods are known for their proximity to Ann Arbor’s Main Street area and historic Kerrytown Market. Ann Arbor was first settled in See NEIGHBORHOODS, Page 3A
the statement » INSIDE
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Experiences of the ArabAmerican student body
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2A — Wednesday, March 11, 2015
MONDAY: This Week in History
TUESDAY: Campus Voices
WEDNESDAY: In Other Ivory Towers
THURSDAY: Twitter Talk
NYU raises grad student wages
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
School of Music, Theatre, & Dance freshman Tinsley Stokes performs Prelude and Toccata on the harp at the Britton Recital Hall Tuesday.
New York University’s administration and Graduate Student Organizing Committee successfully reached an agreement after five hours of negotiations in which graduate students called for an increase in teaching wages, The Washington Square News reported Tuesday. The agreement prevented an impending four-day strike. Following the announcement, the GSOC released several terms of the accepted agreement. These include a 100 percent increase in graduate student wages, which entails pay of $20 per hour for graduate student teachers in NYU’s Polytechnic School of Engineering, for example. Additionally, the university
offered to subsidize 90 percent of health care for every graduate student who is not already covered. Negotiations between NYU’s administration and GSOC began in December of 2013. At that time, the GSOC was seeking 100 percent subsidized health care, wage increases to $25 per hour and complete remission of student tuition. University of Texas students create university’s first LGBT-inclusive sorority University of Texas at Austin students have established the school’s first queer-orientated sorority, Gamma Rho Lambda,
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
ON THE WEB...
Depression conference
THE WIRE
Rankings By GEN HUMMER
U.S. News and World Report released rankings for graduate school programs nationwide on Tuesday. The University’s rankings remained steady overall. The University achieved top-15 categories in every category. They included business, education, engineer-
THE WIRE
College loans By EMMA KINERY
President Barack Obama announced plans on Tuesday to create a “student aid” bill of rights. Check michigandaily. com for continuing coverage of the proposal.
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WHAT: The 13th Annual Depression on College Campuses Conference. WHO: Depression Center WHEN: Today from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: Rackham Graduate School
Cinema lecture
WHAT: This lecture will explores the use of ancient WHAT: The workshop will Rome in early cinema. WHO: LSA Developteach how to manage data, ment, Marketing & as well as how to prepare data for later sharing, re-use Communications WHEN: Today at 4 p.m. and preservation. WHERE: East Quad, WHO: Digital Currents Keene Theater WHEN: Today at 2 p.m. WHERE: 202 S. Thayer, Room 1022
Scottish music Detroit history Positive Workplace lecture concert WHAT: The Tannahill Weavers, who are widely known as Scotland’s finest traditional band, will perform a diverse set of original music. WHO: Michigan Union Ticket Office WHEN: Today at 8 p.m. WHERE: The Ark, 316 S. Main
WHAT: Assistant History Prof. Karen Marrero of Wayne State University, will look at two 19th century paintings of Detroit and discuss what they say about the city’s history. WHO: William L. Clements Library WHEN: Today at 4 p.m. WHERE: Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, Room 100
WHAT: Learn techniques for developing a positive, gossip-free work atmosphere. WHO: Human Resource Development WHEN: Today at 1 p.m. WHERE: Administrative Services Building Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@ michigandaily.com.
to provide an open and education space for LGBTQ community, The Daily Texan reported Tuesday. It is the first sorority on UT’s campus to both be queer-focused and transsexual inclusive. Because the organization has not yet received a charter from nationals, it is currently considered a “colony.” As part of a three-semester colonization process, the sorority has already recruited nine members and will begin accepting pledges during the Fall 2015 semester. Lauren Ferguson, a senior majoring in art history and English, is the colony’s president. — BRANDON SUMMERS-MILLER
THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
1
Hillary Clinton addressed her use of a private e-mail account during her time as secretary of state at a press conference at the United Nations, CNN reported. Clinton said she used the account for convenience purposes.
2
The University’s cheerleading team may be on the sidelines for every Saturday football game, but unlike in the University’s past, they are definitely not in a supporting role anymore. >> FOR MORE, SEE STATEMENT
3
Two students identified as leaders of a racist chant captured on video were expelled from the University of Oklahoma on Tuesday, The New York Times reported.
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POTUS calls for rise in loan affordability Obama introduces “student aid bill of rights” during Georgia Tech speech
should be able to afford the loan payments that kick in with a vengeance once they graduate. “We’re trying to tackle this problem from every angle,” Obama said. “We want to make this experience more affordable, because you’re not just investing in yourselves, you’re investing in your nation.” In the Oval Office ahead of his brief visit to Atlanta, Obama signed a presidential memorandum with policy tweaks that don’t require new legislation from Congress — a plus as far as the White House is concerned. The memo targets third parties like Navient — formerly Sallie Mae — that contract with the government to collect on loans. Those companies will be required to better inform borrowers about repayment options and notify them when they are delinquent, the White House
said. Obama also called for a single website where students can see all their federal loans in one place — a major problem for students with multiple loans or debt that’s been sold from lender to lender. He also called for a website where borrowers can ATLANTA (AP) — Issuing a clarion call to Americans sadfile complaints. dled by student debt, President The presidential steps aim to crack down on a student loan Barack Obama urged student system known for being comborrowers Tuesday to stand up for their rights, and announced plex and confusing to navigate. In recent years, lawsuits and a medley of modest steps to critical government reports bring some order to a notoriWILLIAM LYNCH/Daily ously chaotic system. have cast a light on industry Third year law student Scott Bloomberg presents a resolution drafted by the Divest and Invest Coalition at the Central Stuabuses and the difficulties facObama unveiled his “student Government meeting in the CSG chambers Tuesday. ing borrowers. dent aid bill of rights” before a gymnasium packed with nearly A Consumer Financial Pro10,000 students at Georgia tection Bureau study last year found borrowers were getting Tech, where he said the nation must mobilize to bring about little help when they ran into deeper changes to student trouble and had few affordable Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ repayment options. And in May, loans. Not only should every American be able to afford Sallie Mae reached a $60 million settlement with the Justice college, Obama said, they also The purpose of the suggested things?’ ” Dishell asked. Department to resolve allegacommittee would be to research Bloomberg said the committions it charged military memthe University’s investments and tee’s research would extend bers excessive interest rates and use that information to create beyond looking at how much the improperly sought default judgrecommendations about whether University invests in these comHARD ments. or not the University should con- panies. When Vickie Kight of Houstinue to invest in fossil fuels. “We’ll look at the moral ton couldn’t afford to pay the Law student Scott Bloomberg, and social implications of this, interest accruing on her loans, By TANAZ AHMED a member of Divest and Invest whether this aligns with our Unishe turned to her loan servicer Daily Staff Reporter and one of the authors of the versity values,” Bloomberg said. for help — and says she didn’t get resolution, said campus consenHe also said the University has it. Her wages being garnished, During the body’s first meet- sus on climate change is evident determined its investment stanKight dropped out of Louisiana’s ing after Spring Break, Central based on data from the Graham dards in the past for companies Southern University, returning Student Government heard pro- Sustainability Institute as well as working with apartheid South to school only years later once posals on fossil fuel divestment, from faculty research and thus, Africa and tobacco companies in her finances were under control. increasing off-campus lighting it is a concern the University a similar manner. “They were very aggressive and the inclusion of the Univer- should address. According to the resolution, with me,” Kight said in an intersity’s Student Sexual Misconduct “The nature of oil and coal the committee would be simiview. Her student loan servicer Policy on course syllabi. industries, products and actions lar to the Committee on Tobaceventually passed her loan onto of the industries are, without a co Investments, which was a collection agency. “That’s Fossil fuel doubt, antithetical to our core comprised of four professors, an when it got really hectic. They A resolution to support the values of sustainability and our undergraduate student, a graduweren’t providing much inforformation of an ad hoc commit- core academic mission,” Bloom- ate student, an administrator and mation. They just said you owe tee to determine the propriety berg said. an alum. this much to the bank.” of the University’s investments CSG President Bobby Dishell, Obama also floated the posin oil and coal was proposed by a Public Policy senior, had quesOff-campus lighting sibility of proposing legal CSG representative Swathi Shan- tions about why the formation of In response to the Ann Arbor changes to how student loans mugasundaram, an LSA sopho- the ad hoc group was necessary. City Council passing a resolution are affected by bankruptcy. more, and the Divest and Invest “Why can’t you do this to lift the moratorium on new © © sudokusolver.com. sudokusolver.com. For For personal personaluse useonly. only. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com MT EVEREST. UNBREAKABLE. Currently, student loans cannot campaign, a coalition of students, research on your own and then city lighting Feb. 17, a proposal to typically be discharged even in faculty, staff and community come back and say, ‘By doing our support City Council’s resolution bankruptcy. members. research, we think these specific See CSG, Page 5A Generate and solve Sudoku, Super Sudoku Sudoku and and Godoku Godoku puzzles puzzles at at sudokusyndication.com! sudokusyndication.com!
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CSG proposes committee for fossil fuel divestment Body also considers off campus lighting and sexual misconduct policy
News
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Alumni Mai Ze Vang and Rackham student Melissa Vee during the First Generation Dinner at the Michigan Union Ballroom Tuesday.
FIRST GENS From Page 1A run my house, go to school and go to work — it’s just been non-stop. But I would never change any of that because it built my character and showed my daughter that she can be capable of anything.” Faculty adviser Dwight Lang said in an e-mail interview that the purpose of the event is to publicly recognize all first generation students at the University. “(The dinner) recognizes and celebrates the presence of U of M students who are first in their families to attend and graduate from college,” Lang said. “In this sense the dinner is very inclusive.” Speaking at the dinner, Lang described the decision for first generation students to attend college as life altering. “If you are the first in your family to attend or graduate from college, going off to college can be a very powerful experience,” Lang said. “You’ve taken certain risks by going off to college and you’ve crossed boundaries to new places
ELECTION From Page 1A Council in 2007 and has since won re-election three times. Smith moved to Ann Arbor in 1995 to earn a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University’s School of Natural Resources and Environment. He now works as a consultant with Wade Trim, Inc., an urban planning firm. “I didn’t think I’d be here that long and I just ended up falling in love with the city,” Smith said. “I just think it is the most wonderful city to live in.” After leading an unsuccessful write-in campaign against Anglin in 2013, Smith will again vie for a seat on City Council. He said he sees an opportunity to improve the quality of life for Ann Arbor residents. “There are a lot of things that we need to do better,” Smith said. “I’m thinking specifically about pedestrian safety.” In recent years, the city’s crosswalk ordinance has been the subject of debate. In 2013, the City Council considered repealing the current ordinance, which requires drivers stop for pedestrians at the curb or edge of a crosswalk. Smith said the city must be a safer place for bicyclists and drivers as well. He also voiced concern over the limited access to affordable housing in Ann Arbor, citing the need for more options for recent graduates as well as mid-level professionals, which he defined as workers earning roughly $12 to $20 per hour. “I wouldn’t be able to live here if I hadn’t been able to afford a house on that kind of salary,” Smith said. “The fact that it’s now unattainable for people making that kind of money is really a problem for us.” Smith said he thinks Council needs to work together more
that maybe you aren’t familiar with, different in a variety of ways from the situations of your families and communities where you grew up.” Many students who chose to share their personal experiences as the first in their family to attend college also emphasized the magnitude of the decision. A major theme of the evening centered on the analogy of attending college as taking a risk. Engineering junior Chris Reynolds said he identified strongly with that comparison as an outof-state first generation student. “I’m from out of state and drove hundreds of miles to get here. My dad dropped me off and left the same night,” Reynolds said. “I don’t think of first generation students as first generation students, I think of them as risk takers.” LSA senior Daniel Park also said his identity as a first generation college student could sometimes be isolating. He said talking about his family background often elicited awkward responses. “I’ve had friends and roommates ask me what my parents did and where they went to school,”
cohesively. “I think my own personal approach to listening to people and working together is really based on this kind of Midwestern, pragmatic, ‘let’s roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves, let’s find out what the best solution is,’ and I think that that’s really been kind of missing on council for a while,” Smith said. Magiera has been an Ann Arbor resident for 26 years and graduated from the University with a degree in Performing Arts Technology. He currently works as an Information Technology specialist at the University while running a weekly technology talk show on WCBN 88.3 FM. He also runs a small programming, multimedia and photography business. In an e-mail to The Michigan Daily, Magiera said he wants to be on City Council so he can help Ann Arbor restore city services lost during the recent recession. “I’d like to help bring those services back up to speed while continuing to grow the cultural aspects of the city,” Magiera said. “We have a wealth of resources available to achieve these goals. Some of those resources haven’t been tapped as much as they could be by Ann Arbor City Council.” Magiera also said he plans to focus on increasing communication between the city government and its residents, as well as safe and reliable pedestrian and biking infrastructure and mass transit. Councilmembers Sabra Briere (D–Ward 1), Jane Lumm (I–Ward 2) and Stephen Kunselman (D– Ward 3) are also up for re-election this year. Briere is expected to face University alum Will Leaf, a former co-chair of the Mixed Use Party, while Lumm is expected to face Democrat Sally Hart Petersen, a former councilmember who ran unsuccessfully for mayor last year. Kunselman is expected to face LSA senior Zachary Ackerman in the Democratic primary.
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Park said. “I would say that my mother is an interpreter and my father a small business owner. They were both laborers. People would respond with ‘Oh.’ ” Lang said a major goal of the organization is to provide peer support for first generation students who may have a different socio-economic background than most other students on campus. He said 87 percent of undergraduates have parents with bachelors or professional degrees. “The U of M is essentially a middle and upper-middle class institution,” Lang said. “First Generation Students @ Michigan helps students make social and personal adjustments to campus and academic environments they may not be familiar with.” Castillo said one improvement the University could make would be to offer better community resources for first generation students and student parents. “Sometimes I would not have enough food on the table and still have to worry about being a student. The hardest thing was trying to balance everything and finding assistance from the Uni-
SEGREGATION From Page 1A are “poor,” whereas educational segregation identifies individuals by two specific groupings: non-high school graduates and college graduates. Occupational segregation splits working people into three subcategories — creative, service and working class. The “creative” class is defined to include jobs related to social science, arts and STEM fields; the service class pertains to those who work jobs in retail and personal care, among others; and the working class addresses those working in fields like maintenance and construction. The average wage for creative class workers was $70,000 per year; service class workers made approximately $30,000 per year; members of the working class made $37,000 per year on average. “All three types of segregation — income, educational, and occupational — are associated with one another,” the study notes. “If a metro is segregated on one dimension, it increases the likelihood of it being segregated on the others.” The study explains that traditionally, most research on economic segregation uses income segregation as a sole parameter in their analysis. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Charlotta Mellander, one of the study’s authors, said the inclusion of educational and occupational segregation is a reflection of income inequality in modern society. “Today, we know that more than income matters when it comes to options in life,” she said. “What you’ve studied and what you work with matter to a large extent too. And these three factors — job, education and income — are often mentioned as the three major dividers.” Occupational segregation Donald Grimes, a senior research area specialist for the University’s Institute on Labor, Employment and the Economy, said he was not surprised with the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Area’s high ranking for occupational segregation in the study. The metro area was ranked fifth nationally in this category. He said a main reason for
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 — 3A
BRIAN BECKWITH/Daily
Rackham student Terra Molengraff, former Daily photographer, speaks with the faculty adviser Dwight Lang at the Michigan Union Ballroom at the First Generation Dinner on Tuesday.
BRIAN BECKWITH/Daily
Students during the First Generation Dinner at the Michigan Union Ballroom Tuesday.
versity,” Castillo said. “There have been times where I’ve had to drag my kid to class and teachers were not always understanding.” The University’s Office of the Vice Provost Equity, Inclusion and Academic Affairs also spon-
this is the division between the western and eastern regions of Washtenaw County. The western part, he said, is a knowledgebased economy. By contrast, the eastern part of the county has tended to be dependent on the manufacturing industry, which has taken a hit in terms of jobs and income in the past decade. “Normally you don’t see quite as stark a divide between the activity in one part of the county and the activity in another part of the county,” he said, adding that an area like Pittsfield Township has a mixture of the two types of economic activity. “It’s just this is enormous divide in the economic base of the Ypsilanti region and of the Ann Arbor region.” Occupational segregation was most prevalent among Ann Arbor’s service class. Ann Arbor falls second only to Ithaca, New York as the most segregated service class in the United States. Ann Arbor’s working class was also segregated, but less so than the service class. It is the fifth most segregated working class in the nation, and this is positively associated with population density, population size and income inequality, among other factors. Additionally, segregation in the working class is associated with “the share of the workforce in the creative class, the share of adults with college degrees, and the concentration of high-tech industry.” The study notes that the more an area’s industries are “knowledge-based,” the more likely it is for members of the service and working classes to be segregated. Overall, 94 percent of citizens 25 years and older in Washtenaw County — which includes the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Area — have a high school diploma, while 51.3 percent of citizens in this demographic hold a bachelor’s degree. Poverty and the University The metro area’s population of people classified as poor is also highly segregated. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Area is the fifth most segregated area in this demographic nationally. While the area is better off than the state of Michigan in terms of per capita income, median household income and bachelor degree achievement rates, poverty is still a challenge
sored the dinner. University Vice Provost Robert M. Sellers spoke at the event and said it is important that the University have resources in place to meet the challenges faced by first generation students. “Our goal is to work with the
students, the faculty, as well as staff to help the University do a much better job of providing an elite education without being elitist,” Sellers said. “The University of Michigan is your University. Never, ever, ever feel otherwise.”
— 15.4 percent of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Area’s population lived below the poverty line between 2009 and 2013. The rate for the whole state is 16.8 percent for this period. The study finds that one of the main reasons places like Ann Arbor are so economically segregated, especially in the segregation of the poor, is because of the presence of universities, a phenomenon referred to as the “town-gown split.” “University faculty, students, and administrative staff cluster around campuses and the rest of the city is left to service workers,” the study reads. “Often this pattern of economic segregation has been exacerbated by university expansion efforts that encroached upon and displaced urban neighborhoods.” The University currently enrolls 43,710 students and employs 45,397 people. It also owns roughly 9.4 percent of city land. This was a major topic during last year’s mayoral race, in which candidates discussed potential solutions to the University’s expansion — the more property the University buys, the more tax revenue the city loses. The overall issue of towngown relations raises the question of whether Ann Arbor can ever eradicate high economic segregation levels without changing the fundamental role of the University. Affordability According to the study, housing costs are key factor in economic segregation. The study found that housing costs are related to educational and occupational segregation, but not strongly connected to income segregation. Mellander said spatial segregation — the idea that members of a single class tend to live together — is probably related most to housing opportunities. She noted that often, an area’s affluence might not reflect the fact that it is very spatially segregated. This, she added, is a serious issue. “However, at the same time, we see that metros that are doing well economically also tend to be more segregated (across all of the studied groups) and this is probably one of the most important questions to solve for the future, since it is the mix of different backgrounds and knowl-
edge that is the strength of the city and the foundation for new ideas and innovation,” she said. Last month, Ann Arbor City Council adopted the Housing Affordability and Equity Analysis, which calls for the construction of 3,139 new affordable homes in Ann Arbor and Pittsfield Township by 2035. The resolution also calls for the construction of 4,178 new middle class homes in Ypsilanti by the same deadline. Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor (D) noted that affordable housing is intended for people across a variety of professions, including teachers, secretaries, research assistants and outreach workers. “We as a municipality need to do what we can to ensure that there are housing options for people of all income ranges,” Taylor said. Councilmember Jack Eaton (D–Ward 4) voted against adopting the resolution, and was skeptical about the potential effects of following its guidelines, such as changes to the city of Ann Arbor’s demographics. “You can’t really look at it in isolation,” Eaton said. “If we change the demographics of Ann Arbor that doesn’t mean that it will be to the benefit of Ypsilanti. It could just mean that we chase people out of Ann Arbor into other townships.” Grimes said the role of affordable housing tends not to be taken advantage of in areas where most citizens have a bachelor’s degree, like Ann Arbor. He added that affordable housing, which is often built in undesirable areas, doesn’t draw college graduates. However, he said Ypsilanti’s economic diversity could benefit from attracting residents with higher incomes. “My hope is that housing in the city of Ypsilanti in particular becomes less affordable, because that will be a sign that they are attracting people with higher incomes,” Grimes said. He said Washtenaw County’s ability to reduce economic segregation depends on whether or not proper strategies are implemented to alter job opportunities in its eastern region. “It really sort of depends on whether or not the eastern part of the county succeeds in attracting high-wage, knowledge-economy jobs,” he said.
Opinion
4A — Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com JENNIFER CALFAS EDITOR IN CHIEF
AARICA MARSH and DEREK WOLFE EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
LEV FACHER MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
COURTNEY SMEENGE | VIEWPOINT
Ann Arbor’s transportation mess I think we’re all familiar with the unspoken “rules” of getting around Ann Arbor: 1) If you’re driving a car, pedestrians are your worst enemy — they will walk in front of traffic without the slightest hesitation, owning the streets and avoiding crosswalks, “hit me, car, I dare you.” Also, other cars are your enemy, as you wait in awful traffic and arrive to your destination late after struggling to find parking. 2) If you’re walking around Ann Arbor, cars are your worst enemy. As they impatiently wait for you to cross an intersection, they inch closer and closer (nearly hitting you), congest the streets and produce awful exhaust fumes for you to breathe. 3) If you’re bicycling around Ann Arbor, everyone is your enemy: oblivious walkers swaying all over the sidewalk while they text, aggressive cars, poorly laid-out bike lanes, potholes, left turns — even the squirrels! Clearly, Ann Arbor’s transportation system needs some work. If driving, walking and biking are unsatisfying modes of travel, the next viable option would be using the public transportation system. As we all know, the University has its own bus system for those commuting around campus, and Ann Arbor’s “TheRide” has bus routes to get around more destinations of the city. Unfortunately, this mode of transportation is equally unsatisfying. I’m bitter about spending my freshman year on North Campus for several reasons, but dealing with the bus system was potentially the most frustrating aspect. These buses still have to navigate in the midst of daily Ann Arbor traffic, making it difficult to get around in a timely manner. Buses, both University and public, are extremely crowded (game day, anyone?) and difficult to navigate. Currently, it’s impossible for buses, walkers, bikers and drivers to cooperate and partake in using the roads in a smooth, efficient manner. Neither students nor Ann Arbor locals deserve this daily frustration. So, what can we do about this? As a current student of an RC social science class, “History Goes Green,” I’ve had the opportunity to discover that practical, sustainable solutions aren’t always created by new, cutting edge technology. Moving into the future without looking into the past is irresponsible, because we ignore important ideas that have already worked well in our history. Many students and Ann Arbor locals would be surprised to hear that for over 50 years, from about 1890 to 1930, Ann Arbor and surrounding communities had a successful streetcar and interurban railway system.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Streetcars were electric trolleys running through the center of the street, and interurban railways were streetcar lines that extended from one town to another. This system provided low fares, frequent service, convenient stops and generally was extremely successful and favored by locals. There are several directions to take when rethinking Ann Arbor’s transportation system. Personally, I find it most important to prioritize encouraging walking and biking. We like to think of Ann Arbor as bike friendly, but it’s unsettling, if not dangerous, to bike on several main streets, such as State Street and Packard. I’ve noticed bike-share stations popping up around campus, but further improvements need to be made. Bike lanes should be improved with tangible road barriers, and parking and driving over bike lanes should be restricted. Ann Arbor could also use bike shelters to protect bikes during cold weather (this would encourage biking year-round). Also, prohibiting motor vehicles in congested areas of downtown Ann Arbor certain times of the day and week may help encourage more walking in public areas, especially during busy times such as game days. Another solution that may be controversial is installing a high-capacity transit system connecting Northeast Ann Arbor, downtown, both the North and South campuses, the Medical campus and commercial areas. This could exist in the form of a light rail system, a separate bus lane (bus rapid transit) or sticking with the past and reintroducing the streetcar. For those still inclined to drive, there should be incentives for carpooling, such as offering lower rates at parking garages to vehicles with more than three people in the car, which could potentially minimize the number of vehicles downtown. These solutions would benefit everyone moving around Ann Arbor: young professionals, students, business owners and Ann Arbor locals. I understand that I can’t romanticize the past too much. I understand the appeal of having a car and the feeling of independence, being in control of where you go. However, Ann Arbor continues to grow in population and employment, and we need to start preparing for future growth. Having everyone travel individually by car is unsustainable, and I’d hate to see intimate, well known spaces in our town sacrificed and crowded by more parking structures. Re-thinking our transportation system gives us the opportunity to connect to our past and to improve our future. Courtney Smeenge is an LSA junior.
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Animal trauma isn’t OK TO THE DAILY: I was disappointed to learn that the psychologist Stephen Suomi was invited to speak at the University of Michigan as part of the Research Center for Group Dynamics Seminar Series. In the 1970s, Suomi got his start permanently removing baby monkeys from their mothers under the supervision of the notorious Harry Harlow. With Harlow, he designed the “pit of despair,” a vertical metal chamber in which infant monkeys were confined alone and completely denied contact with the world for months on end in order to induce despondency and depression. Suomi also helped design the “rape rack” in which mentally-ill female monkeys were restrained and forcibly impregnated. While many of us think of maternal deprivation experiments as being bygone atrocities relegated to the pages of psychology textbooks, for more than 30 years, Stephen Suomi
has continued to conduct these cruel experiments on monkeys at a government laboratory in Maryland. And I’m sure he did not disclose to his audience the nightmarish details of his work that were uncovered in a recent video expose by PETA and criticized by experts, including Dr. Jane Goodall. Given the sophisticated brain imaging and other modern methods we have to study human mental illness, it is baffling that Suomi would continue to pursue such antiquated and irrelevant experiments, and all the more baffling that a figure who conducted such unethical research would be invited to speak at our campus. As future leaders and researchers, University students should instead learn from scientists who conduct sound research without causing psychological and physiological trauma to animals. Lia Vallina LSA freshman
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Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Ben Keller, Payton Luokkala, Aarica Marsh, Victoria Noble, Michael Paul, Allison Raeck, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Linh Vu, Mary Kate Winn, Jenny Wang, Derek Wolfe
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Let’s grab a drink
elcome back, students! Another Spring Break has come and gone at the University, and I can only imagine the drunken antics that ensued. Even at the geriatric age of 35, I have a couple of bar tales from this week. I’ll spare you ERIC the details of my KUKIELKA excursions, but I would encourage you all to think about alcohol, bars and their place in our culture. Most people are familiar with the bars around campus, so I won’t waste time extolling the finer virtues of Skeeps over Vinology, or why you really shouldn’t order the “Constant Buzz” from Dominick’s (regardless of the amount of “love” per gallon). Instead, I want to focus on how the bar can help your career, or how it can show you a more visceral side of humanity. There is no way to oversell just how important alcohol is to humanity. Historically, taverns, pubs and even coffeehouses have been centers of commerce, meeting and civic engagement. World-renowned speeches have been given, standing armies have been formed and revolutionary activities have all taken place in American bars. Some scientists even believe that humanity switched from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural lifestyle because of our desire to brew beer. Regardless of why civilization
started, it’s hard to deny the importance of alcohol in today’s modern society. All types of business transactions, large and small, still happen in bars to this day. For instance, in Japan, there are several rituals surrounding business and the consumption of alcohol. There, after one has had a few drinks at the izakaya, it is seen as socially acceptable to allow the barriers between boss and employee to melt away, giving Japanese employees a chance to tell their bosses how they truly feel. In my adopted hometown of South Lyon, we have a great local brewery, the Witch’s Hat Brewing Company. At any time of the day, you can stop in and see a very rare sight: people sitting and talking to their neighbor about politics, sports, religion and just about every other topic imaginable. It’s there that I received an internship offer for this coming summer, which has eased a lot of my mental burden heading into my final year at the University. Ironically, it was at this pub nearly 20 miles north of campus where I met people who work at the University, whose work-related actions have affected my time on campus without me even realizing it (Hi Sarah!). The resurgence of craft beer is wonderful for American bar culture. The “meat-market” style bars will always exist and are likely the variety with which most students are most familiar. Those corporate chains are ok, especially when you first start going to bars, but eventually the “club scene” gets old, even to the heartiest of dancers. It’s the local pub, the town water-
ing hole, where the real magic happens. That’s where you get to see the whole range of what life has to offer. Personally, I’ve witnessed everything from marriage proposals to divorce decrees, the excited announcement of a new child to the overwhelming sorrow from the loss of a loved one. It’s people at their worst, people at their best and everything in between. Honestly, it’s humans being human, and it’s a great thing to be a part of. I want to challenge each one of you who is of legal drinking age to go and check out a local brewery or pub. Ann Arbor has quite a few great places to catch a local brew, from mega-suppliers like Ashley’s to small-batch brewers like Blue Tractor. When you get there, put your phone away. Just sit and observe. Eventually, you’ll get an opportunity to chime in with a comment, a suggestion or even just an opinion about the beer you’re drinking. You never know, that person sitting next to you may just be the traveling professor who influences your choice of major. They may offer you a job. They may just say the perfect thing to get you feeling better about whatever is weighing heavy upon your heart. So, next time you get that urge to down a few, jump out of your comfort zone and head to a local pub. And if you see me there, please don’t be afraid to say hello. I’ll be the guy chatting it up with my neighbors, without a phone in sight. — Eric Kukielka can be reached at ekuk@umich.edu.
KEYA PATEL | VIEWPOINT
Health care’s role in death row executions On April 29, 2014 at 6:23 p.m., Clayton Lockett’s execution began. The doctor used a combination of drugs for lethal injection never before tested. At 6:33 p.m. the doctor announced Lockett was unconscious. At 6:39 p.m., Lockett said the word “man” and tried to get off his gurney, showing clear signs of movement. The execution was stopped because the drugs were not entirely injected into Lockett’s body and there was not enough left to try again. By 7:06 p.m., Lockett was pronounced dead — not from the lethal injection, but from a heart attack. To decrease the unnecessarily painful aspects of the death sentence, as seen in Lockett’s execution, the U.S. government and courts must better utilize health care personnel involved with carrying out the inmate’s sentence. Many people, including Dr. Sidney Wolfe argue that health care officials have absolutely no role in intentionally killing another human, since a core value of their profession is to do no harm. Although health care professionals believe in doing no harm, they must prioritize mitigating harm in situations where death is inevitable, like executions involving lethal injection. In order to reduce excessively painful aspects of the inmate’s punishment, health care professionals need to be integrated more within existing death row practices. The three types of health care personnel that need to be utilized are psychiatrists, to psychologically support death row inmates; pharmacists, who make drugs used in lethal injection; and physicians, who are involved in overseeing the actual execution. Currently, mental health checks are given to inmates, but the court must require psychiatrists to guide an inmate through
RACHEL DAWSON
the death row phenomena. The phenomenon occurs when an inmate becomes mentally unstable due to anxiety stemming from solitary confinement and/or their impending execution. Like Juan Mendez, a UN special rapporteur on torture, I consider solitary confinement itself a form of torture. Inmates on death row can develop depression, anger, hypersensitivity and paranoia, as well as attempt to inflict self-harm, as a result of solitary confinement. A psychiatrist’s role should consist of meeting with the inmate to provide human interaction and emotional support in an attempt to alleviate the mental suffering of inmates. By offering additional psychological care to inmates prior to death, the inmates will experience a less cruel form of torture leading up to their execution. American-based pharmacies that manufacture drugs for lethal injection need to be better supported with testing facilities to continue production. Pharmacies where the deadly drugs are produced are creating different drug combinations that are unregulated and have minimal testing features, as discussed by Nadia Sawicki in The New England Journal of Medicine. By regulating and encouraging testing, pharmacies can get the drug mixture correct and avoid botched executions, as was the case for Lockett’s injection. Also, state and federal governments can assist pharmacies by providing anonymity for producing the fatal drugs. The pharmacists can then spend adequate time preparing and testing drug mixtures before executions without fear of public backlash or botched lethal injections. By properly equipping pharmacies,
inmates will not have to be subject to additional pain as a result of a chemically incorrect lethal drug. Courts must ask the American Medical Association to mandate doctors, who choose to partake in the lethal injection process, adequately prepare to oversee such a practice. Executions are dangerously haphazard without proper medical oversight. The alternative would be to ask prison employees with no training to conduct the procedures, which occurs now. Therefore, in order to inflict the least amount of intentional pain during executions, the American Medical Association must prepare and train physicians prior to executions. The training can include inserting intravenous lines, monitoring vitals and administering lethal drugs in high-stress situations. If states mandate medical associations to provide thorough training for doctors who choose to participate in executions, physicians can play a valuable role in ensuring safe executions and decreasing cruel and inhumane torture of inmates. With the death penalty already condemned by 18th century philosopher Cesare Beccaria and others, measures need to be put into place by the government to decrease any additional cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment of inmates prior to and during executions. By better supporting health care officials, inmates like Clayton Lockett would not be subject to botched executions, suffering before death. The purpose of the lethal injection is to quickly and efficiently end the life of a convicted criminal, not to cause even more torture that would otherwise be avoidable with proper health care assistance. Keya Patel is an LSA senior.
E-mail Rachel at rdawson@umich.edu
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News
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 — 5A
Silicon Valley firm questions woman in gender bias suit Lawsuit highlights gender imbalance at investment companies in the region SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An attorney representing a prestigious Silicon Valley venture capital firm in a gender bias lawsuit questioned the plaintiff Tuesday about why she did not reject initial advances by a male colleague and showed jurors emails in which the co-workers appeared to exchange compliments and banter. Plaintiff Ellen Pao testified that the colleague first approached her romantically during a trip to Germany after she had been struck by a cab. She was dazed from her injuries and couldn’t object to his advances, she said. “I got hit by cab and then he tried to hit on me,” Pao testified. Pao previously testified that the colleague was relentless in pursuing her, and that she began an affair with him after he said his wife had left him. She said she broke it off several months later when she learned that was a lie. Pao was questioned for the first time by defense attorney Lynne Hermle, who represents Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Their exchanges were often tense, with Pao staring at the lawyer and pausing before responding yes or no. Among the emails shown to the jury was one from 2006, after the affair began, in which Pao wrote that she was always looking out for the colleague — “never stopped, never will.” In text messages that year, she said she didn’t think he was a bad person and she wasn’t mad at him for not being able to have a real relationship at the time.
NEIGHBORHOODS From Page 1A the Old Fourth Ward and it is one of the city’s first residential areas. Today, it is home to students, professors and Ann Arbor natives. LSA junior Karuna Mizusaki lived in Old Fourth Ward last semester. She said she and her housemates moved to the area for the cheaper rent and its proximity to Main Street. “You really get to experience Ann Arbor as a city and you also can be a part of student life on South University,” Mizusaki said. “My friends and I always went to find the cool restaurants and go to a bunch of the little stores on Main Street because they were so close.” While the rent prices average $4,400 a month for a larger-sized house, there are many apartments and houses in the area that are both smaller and cheaper. The neighborhood also houses several co-ops, which provide students cheaper housing compared to other available residential options in the area. The blue and purple neighboring co-op houses, dubbed Michigan and Minnie, provide students a communal living experience in which all residents help cook, clean and take care of the house. Many students also live in the neighborhood for its close vicinity to the many unique boutiques, restaurants, bars and coffee shops on Main Street and in Kerrytown. Engineering senior Daniel Lao said he believes the neighborhood provides something for everyone. “It’s really close to a variety of different stores, from restaurants to stores where you can buy clothing to stationary,” Lao said.
CSG From Page 1A as well as the addition of new offcampus lighting was introduced during the CSG meeting. The Hill, Oxford and Geddes areas were selected as the main locations of concern. CSG Vice President Emily Lustig, an LSA senior, said the locations were chosen based on safety walks, sur-
After she ended the affair, Pao testified, the colleague retaliated by shutting her out of emails and meetings. When she raised the retaliation issue with management, a senior partner explained how he had met his wife at another company while he was married, and perhaps Pao could have the same outcome with her colleague, she testified. The lawsuit has spotlighted gender imbalance at elite Silicon Valley investment companies that are stacked with some of the nation’s most accomplished graduates — multiple degree holders from schools such as Stanford and Harvard who are competing aggressively to back the next Google or Amazon. Women, however, are grossly underrepresented in the venture capital and technology sectors. Pao seemed to address those concerns Tuesday, saying under questioning by her attorney that her lawsuit was aimed in part at creating equal opportunities for women in the venture capital sector. “I’ve tried many times to bring Kleiner Perkins to the right path,” she told jurors. “I think there should be equal opportunities for women and men to be venture capitalists.” She also told jurors that she had sought $10 million from the firm in exchange for voluntarily leaving, saying she believed the figure would prompt the firm to change its treatment of women. Pao did not receive the money and continued working at the firm. Her lawsuit seeks $16 million in damages. The 45-year-old Pao said the company repeatedly dismissed her attempts to open a discussion about gender bias and instead hired an antagonistic investigator to look into her complaint.
Natacha Pisarenko/AP A civil aviation accident investigator stands at the site of the wreckage of one of two helicopters that collided in midair in La Rioja province, Argentina Tuesday, March 10, 2015.
Argentina probes helicopter crash as France mourns dead Investigators examine aircraft remains to determine cause of incident VILLA CASTELLI, Argentina (AP) — Investigators picked through the wreckage of two helicopters Tuesday, removing cellphones, bits of paper and other charred and unrecognizable items, as France mourned the loss of prominent athletes in the dual crash in the Andean foothills. The eight French nationals and two Argentine pilots on the two aircraft were killed when they collided and burst into flames shortly after taking off Monday near the remote settlement of Villa Castelli in north-
“You can really find whatever you want.” Part of the original village of Ann Arbor, the nearby Kerrytown marketplace was named after County Kerry, Ireland. It is home to the nationally renowned Zingerman’s Deli, as well as the city’s farmers market, the Ann Arbor Artisans’ Market, the Kerrytown Concert House and a plethora of antique stores. Art & Design senior Grace Ludmer said the community is unique for its many artistic and musical opportunities. “There are lots of local performances or parties with live music, which is pretty cool,” Ludmer said. “South Campus doesn’t have as close of an artistic community.” North Ingalls is another unofficial neighborhood located north of Central Campus. Similar to Old Fourth Ward, the area is also coveted for its proximity to campus, as well as to the same shopping and eating attractions. The neighborhood is almost completely comprised of student residences. Engineering sophomore Steve Nemeth said he chose to live in the area because of its good reputation, decent prices and housing availability. However, he said the five to 10 minute walk to campus is sometimes difficult in the winter. Depending on where in the neighborhood students reside, the area is also predominantly known for its proximity to the Medical School campus. The North Ingalls neighborhood is convenient for students going to the University hospitals, science buildings or the Nursing School. “Here on the Huron side, we really have it all: a three minute walk to class, four minutes to State Street and five minutes to the CCRB,” LSA junior Caron
Lindsay wrote in an e-mail interview. “I brought my car originally to campus, but I’ve found I don’t even need it for groceries since there are AATA and BlueBus stops all around.” Lindsay also said she felt the neighborhood is both safe and affordable. “This area just seems to encompass everything I need, while still providing affordable rent and convenience,” Lindsay wrote. Both Old Fourth Ward and North Ingalls come with their drawbacks as well. Though neither have many safety concerns, Old Fourth Ward is a popular location for noise complaints, according to the Crime Watcher app powered by the Ann Arbor Police Department. Because of North Ingalls’ proximity the hospitals, sirens sometimes disturb students living in the area. “Noise pollution from cars, trucks and pedestrian traffic sometimes bleed through and cause issues while studying or sleeping,” Lindsay said. While the area houses many members of the University community, Mizusaki said she would prefer if more undergraduate students lived in the neighborhood. The northern region of Old Fourth Ward is also heavily populated with Ann Arbor permanent residents and families with children attending local public schools. “We have tons of medical, nursing, dental and research students as our neighbors because of our close proximity to Rackham and the respective graduate schools,” Lindsay said. “But there are definitely the undergrads around, and they know how to have a good time in a great neighborhood.”
veying students and speaking with different safety administrations. Student Sexual Misconduct Policy CSG considered a resolution calling for the support of the inclusion of the University’s Student Sexual Misconduct Policy on course syllabi. The goal of the proposal is to combat sexual misconduct on campus by making the policy more readily available to students. The
resolution cannot require professors to include the policy in their syllabi, but rather recommends the language be included. Before Spring Break, both the LSA Student Government and the Engineering Student Government passed resolutions supporting the initiative. All three proposals were referred to the resolutions committee and will be voted on during the next CSG meeting.
western Argentina. Among the victims were Olympic champion swimmer Camille Muffat, Olympic bronzemedalist boxer Alexis Vastine and pioneering sailor Florence Arthaud. They were contestants on the reality TV show “Dropped,” which was being shot in the sparsely populated region. Expressions of grief poured in from French athletes and officials, including President Francois Holland, who said he felt “immense sadness.” The International Olympic Committee announced it would fly its flag at half-staff for three days. French officials said they would work with Argentine investigators to determine the cause of the accident. La Rioja’s aviation director, Daniel Gorkich, told The Associated Press that both pilots
were highly trained and he speculated that afternoon sun and strong winds might have been a factor. At the moment of impact “the sun was setting on the Andes mountain range directly in front of them. Also this is an area with wind gusts,” Gorkich said. A widely circulated video shows the blades of one helicopter hitting the rails of the second, causing both aircraft to lose control and crash. The two Eurocopters crashed about 50 feet (15 meters) apart and were destroyed. One aircraft was so charred that only the blades were recognizable. Fabrice Pellerin, Muffat’s former coach, fondly recalled the 25-year-old swimmer who won gold in the 400-meter freestyle as well as a silver and a bronze at the 2012 London
Olympics. “Always smiling. She was a fantastic person,” he said. Vastine’s death was a terrible loss, said Dominique Nato, the former technical director of the French Boxing Federation. “It feels like I’ve lost a member of my family. He was my friend, he was like my little brother.” Vastine, 28, won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, lost in the quarterfinals four years later in London and was looking to compete again at the Olympics next year in Rio de Janeiro. Arthaud, 57, was perhaps the best known, for being a pioneer in sailing. In 1990, she became the first woman to win the famed Route du Rhum race, a trans-Atlantic single-handed yacht race between Brittany and the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
As race for UN chief begins, campaigns demand female rep. Ambassador suggests language change in old resolution to include women UNITED NATIONS (AP) — At a private working lunch for the five most powerful members of the United Nations Security Council, the conversation turned to the question of the next U.N. secretary-general. A European ambassador reminded colleagues of a General Assembly resolution nearly as old as the 70-year organization itself, a guiding document for a selection process for U.N. chief that has remained secretive and almost completely male. The January 1946 resolution says a “man of eminence and high attainment” should hold the post. Perhaps, the ambassador suggested, some might want to add the words “or a woman.” No doubt. Just three female candidates have been included in past closed-door votes and straw polls that the Security Council has used to make its choice for decades, but now two campaigns are launching to make sure the next “Your excellency” is a she. “There have been eight men and no women. To me, it’s time,” said Jean Krasno, a lecturer at Yale who leads the new Campaign to Elect a Woman Secretary-General. Secretary-General Ban Kimoon will remain in office through Dec. 31, 2016, but the talk about his successor has already started, especially among U.N. watchers who’ve gone as far as scrutinizing the handwriting on paper ballots after Security Council straw polls. Ban’s successor is expected to be chosen late next year, though there is no official date. On Sunday, the campaign will launch WomanSG.org to feature around a dozen women
it says are outstanding possible candidates with political experience. Every few weeks, another group of possible candidates will be posted online. Next month, the international women’s rights group Equality Now will launch a similar Time for a Woman campaign while urging the public to pressure the U.N. and member states to make “gender a serious consideration for the first time,” said the group’s legal adviser, Antonia Kirkland. Women that they’re pointing out include Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and the head of the U.N. Development Program; Bulgarian European commissioner Kristalina Georgieva; Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite; Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. “And obviously, you could have some sort of dream thoughts around (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel,” said Laura Liswood, the secretary-general of the Council of Women World Leaders, a collection of 53 current and former female heads of state that’s not part of either campaign. Another name floating around is International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde, though as a Frenchwoman, she is likely a long shot. Candidates from the five permanent council members’ countries — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China — are by tradition not considered. The topic is a popular one as women’s organizations from around the world assemble at the U.N. for this week’s meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women and side events featuring Hillary Rodham Clinton and Melinda Gates. “More women are leading businesses, governments and global organizations. At the same time, progress remains unacceptably slow,” Ban told the meeting
Monday. The world currently has fewer than 20 female heads of state and government, and women make up about a quarter of posts in the U.N. Secretariat’s most senior levels. A female secretary-general “will be a cherry on top,” the head of the U.N. agency promoting equality for women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, told reporters Friday. The race for secretarygeneral, just as the one for U.S president, is long on both time and speculation, as shown by last week’s lunch, recounted by a U.N. source with direct knowledge of the event who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation. Tradition says each region, such as Africa or Asia, gets its turn at having someone in the top post, though the U.N. Charter says nothing about it. This time would be the turn of eastern Europe, which has never had anyone in the job. The female head of the U.N. cultural agency, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, is already a favorite in speculation with a nomination from her native Bulgaria. But along with the calls for a woman in charge are highprofile demands to shake up the selection process for secretarygeneral altogether, which could allow for a larger pool of female candidates from around the world. The campaign 1 for 7 Billion, which launched last year with the support of dozens of NGOs like Amnesty International, takes up the frustrations of many of the 193 U.N. member states who say they have little voice in picking a secretarygeneral. The Security Council, dominated by its five permanent members and their veto power, essentially emerges and hands a single candidate to the General Assembly of all member states for its approval.
Arts
6A — Wednesday, March 11, 2015
FILM REVIEW
Weak plot leaves film out of ‘Focus’ New Will Smith film is beautiful, but a cheap crowd pleaser
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Similarly, Robbie’s role seems perfectly written for her, and she easily inserts herself into the typical cool girl archetype, laughing at everyone’s jokes, shocking them with her small instances of cleverness and remaining celestially gorgeous all the while. The two seem to play to what is expected of them as major Hollywood stars instead of playing the actual characters, and this takes the film one step further away from realism or plausibility. The overall composition is strangely professional and detached, which makes it
difficult to engage with the story or characters until the actual plot becomes dynamic. There’s no transition between scenes, and those smash cuts paired with the long, unmotivated dialogues between Smith and Robbie make the film feel more like a writing exercise than a final product. There’s a generic, hotel lobby jazz playing in the back of most of the scenes, and while this feels like a bad example of big-budget filmmaking in the beginning, as the story of deception continues the stylistic predictability begins to seem intentional and gives the impression that the film itself is
one of the high-powered schemes Nick and Jess pull off with ease. There are multiple moments where it seems like the conman-story-with-a-twist plot has been pushed too far, and the romantic acting and high-risk stakes have become entirely unbelievable. However, where “Focus” succeeds is its ability to continually reflect on its weaknesses, usurping previously unbelievable moments with grand explanations of conniving deception, providing its audience with a cheap but entertaining thrill ride.
By LAUREN WOOD For The Daily
“Focus” ends the way it begins: with stylish shots, smooth, jazzy music and Will Smith at the center of his C+ carefully crafted world. Focus However, in the two hours Rave and from the Quality 16 film’s start to Overbrook close, “Focus,” Entertainment although forced and predictable at times, plays with the viewers expectations in a unique and engaging way. The smooth cinematography, cliched dialogue and drawn-out pace makes certain scenes of “Focus” seem like a floundering attempt at romantic comedy. However, the film actually succeeds in using these tools to manipulate its audience into the dynamic of deceiver versus deceived. Nick (Will Smith, “I Am Legend”) is a high-level conman who Jess (Margot Robbie, “The Wolf of Wall Street”), an amateur thief, attempts to scam one evening at a hotel restaurant. After failing, she begs him to help her improve as a con, and the two begin a long, twisted relationship through the hidden and deceptive
Superficial ‘Lazarus’ wastes strong cast By ANDREW MCCLURE Daily Arts Writer
OVERBROOK ENTERTAINMENT
“Don’t look now, but Olivia Wilde looks hungry.”
world of professional fraud. Although the story is drawnout and winding, it’s cheaply satisfying to watch the two work through schemes as small as pickpocketing on a busy New Orleans street to priming billionaire gamblers to place predictable bets. The interactions between Nick and Jess often appear forced, and where another movie would cut the scene and spare its audience the more mediocre moments of conversation, “Focus” chooses to keep the camera rolling, gambling its viewers’ attention and respect for the hopefully lucrative payout when the characters’ shocking true intentions are revealed. For as many failed
and unbelievable moments the movie has, there are an equal number of plot twists that play off these disingenuous interactions, validating their place within the film. However, no number of clever loopholes and narrative backpedaling can make the superstar personas of Smith and Robbie relatable or believable. The script works in Smith’s favor, giving him more than enough of the vague, yet affirmative monologues he excels at. Despite this, his acting is difficult to read emotionally, and, by the film’s end, it’s still unclear what his character’s true intentions are. (Though maybe this is fitting within the deceptive theme of the story.)
Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Not unlike seeing “signed” ephemera inside your neighborhood Applebee’s, seeing trailers D+ for bad movies with good The actors leaves Lazarus us equal parts intrigued and Effect dubious. Are Rave and they subject Quality 16 to relegation? Did they need Relativity Studios the money? Were they up to their eyes in coke when they read the “nuanced” script in nine minutes flat? Did they need the money? These are all questions we might have posed in 1993 when Jennifer Aniston, a future household name, starred in a film about a killer leprechaun, but we
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DOWN 1 Bundle up again 2 Natural gas component 3 Unemotional types 4 Spill the beans 5 Less experienced, as a recruit 6 Natural earth shade 7 Chop __ 8 DFW posting 9 Arrange dishes and utensils on 10 Skylit lobbies 11 Ophthalmologist’s concern 12 Australian gem 13 Botanical junction 18 Woman in a “Paint Your Wagon” song 19 Enzo’s “Enough!” 24 San Antonio mission 25 More achy 27 Hammer-toting god 28 The Beatles’ “I __ Walrus” 30 Donut box qty. 31 Genetic letters 33 One who won’t let go 34 Produces produce
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RELATIVITY STUDIOS
“I can’t see shit.”
didn’t because the “Friends” pilot wasn’t until 1994. And so, instead, we’ll save these loaded thinkers for David Gelb’s debut feature, “The Lazarus Effect”: 2015’s heretofore worst film that could have been just plain worse. Gelb, a New York native, earned a bronze award in a NYC-wide Shakespeare monologue competition at some point before his brief, doc-driven filmography took off. His 2011 “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” documents an 85-yearold sushi master and the film was nabbed for Tribeca Film Fest alongside critical acclaim. But, as someone wiser than me once lectured, the fun is forever ephemeral. In “The Lazarus Effect,” Gelb forays into a tenuous subgenre of horror — the kind powered along only by unlit cheap scares and kick-mein-the-face romantic passes. And Olivia Wilde in a bra ticks before she goes all animorpheyes and starts hurting her friends. It shocks me that Gelb, someone who must know what humanity looks like based on his “Sushi” run, could hire a couple writers who are inspired only by the fact that they’re still afraid of the dark. The film centers — no, hovers without gravity — on a group of medical researchers granted big bucks by their university to perfect a serum that prolongs the time doctors have to study people in comas. “It’s about giving everyone a second chance,” as Frank (Mark Duplass, “The One I Love”), the lead on the project, puts it. The research changes course after the unlikely revival of a dead dog, dialing the film’s temperature up to a moral and metaphysical fever pitch. Fair enough, but only until the university admin, who’s in bed with Big Pharma and well aware
of Frank and his team’s recent discoveries, decides to pull their funding and supplant their lab with wonkish suits. Livid with the stipulationwhore university, Frank and his team, made up of Zoe (Olivia Wilde, “Drinking Buddies”), two quirky jokesters (Donald Glover, TV’s “Community,” and Evan Peters, TV’s “American Horror Story”) and a student intern (Sarah Bolger, “Crush”), break into the premises to finish what could be some earth-shattering shit. Until something goes, like, wrong. The rest of the movie is less a movie and more an attention grabber Gelb puts on a set, injecting narrative trivialities just so we can (hopefully) forget about how trivial the movie is in total. You know you’re in trouble when 50 percent of your shots use surveillance-cam grain and you aren’t aware of your campiness. A “Paranormal Activity” movie knows what it is. “Lazarus,” through its surfacelevel dialogue on life and religion and DMT, gets mired in its selfseriousness. Life is too short to be serious — unless you’re “Boyhood.” In the third act, Wilde’s character, revived through questionable means after an unexplained accident, can suddenly use 100 percent of her brain’s capacity. She, with a sinister grin, hears others’ conversations play out ahead of time, and it’s kind of cool. It’s a mini tragedy we had to watch Wilde fang instead of smile, see Duplass play doc instead of dude and, in the end, sit through a film that never succeeds in using its potential for supernatural-spiked editing to make it into “watchable” territory. And, with that, we’ll once more peg it the worst.
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Arts
7A — Wednesday, March 11, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
DAILY BOOK REVIEW
‘Smash Cut’ explores love, art and AIDS
TV REVIEW
By COSMO PAPPAS Daily Arts Writer
NETFLIX
“Is this the sequel to ‘Iron Giant’?”
‘Kimmy Schmidt’ is optimistic, complex Netflix’s first sitcom deftly juggles satire and feel-good comedy By CHLOE GILKE Managing Arts Editor
“Life beats you up. You can either curl up in a ball and die, or you can stand up and say we’re different. We’re Athe strong ones, and Unbreakable you can’t Kimmy break us!” Like the Schmidt series’ title Season One suggests, Kimmy Netflix Schmidt (Ellie Kemper, “The Office”) is unbreakable. Fifteen years ago, she and four other young women were kidnapped by a pathological reverend, who told them the world was going to end and their only hope of survival was to hide with him in an underground bunker. When Kimmy and her fellow survivors are eventually rescued, the media brands them as the “Indiana Mole Women,” appropriating and depersonalizing their horrifying experience into a viral video and series of news stories. Kimmy moves to New York, but her sweet naivety results in a stolen backpack and thousands of dollars in cash — which she received from the group’s relief fund — gone. A precocious 14-year-old in an adult’s body, Kimmy hasn’t experienced the outside world in over a decade, and real life is a lot crueler than she imagined.
Binge-friendly format allows the show to find its groove fast. But Kimmy doesn’t let this break her and, more impressively, the heavy backstory doesn’t cast a shadow over “Kimmy Schmidt” ’s persistent sunniness. The series is refreshingly
optimistic. Kimmy is eager to put her traumatic past behind her, and the show follows suit, following the heroine through her adjustment to her new job, friends and love interests. Despite its off beat and dark premise, “Kimmy Schmidt” plays a lot like any regular sitcom. Kemper makes a vivacious and compelling lead, and the supporting cast is filled with characters that appear singularly unrelatable and bizarre, but whose experiences and resilient personalities echo Kimmy’s. “Kimmy Schmidt” is Netflix’s first venture into an original sitcom series, and this bingefriendly format allows the show to find its groove so quickly. With many network comedies, viewers suffer through a few rougher weeks until the characters are fully-formed and the comedic style is solidified. In “Kimmy Schmidt,” these exposition-heavy early episodes play out like the beginning of movie, introducing all the important characters and plot elements as premise for a hilarious and incisive run of mid-season episodes. The difficulties that the show faces in its first few episodes — its shallow characterization, clumsy introduction of plot information and off-kilter humor that viewers unfamiliar with executive producers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s previous work on “30 Rock” may find off-putting — are resolved by episode four. Fey and Carlock’s influence is apparent in nearly every aspect of the show, from its acerbic humor to its jazzy musical interludes composed by Fey’s husband, who also composed similar transitions for “30 Rock”. Fellow alumnus Jane Krakowski plays Kimmy’s ridiculously rich, ridiculously posh boss, Jacqueline Voorhees. At first, Jacqueline appears a minor permutation from Jenna Maroney. However, once the show commits to exploring her depth, she becomes one of the best characters. Voorhees is wealthy and wasteful, but those material possessions merely reflect an “outside-in” approach to self-worth — dressing yourself up in diamonds and Botox hides the doubt and paranoia lurking under the
skin. Krakowski’s manic energy equally matches Kemper’s, and the moments they share are some of the show’s best. Kimmy’s roommate, aspiring thespian Titus Andromedon, steals every scene that Krakowski doesn’t already. Fellow “30 Rock”-er Tituss Burgess is probably the only person in the universe that could pull off a shirt that says “Baby Slut” and sing “Dreamgirls” lyrics in an everyday conversation. But aside from his more lighthearted moments, “Kimmy Schmidt” uses Titus to employ biting social commentary and ground the show in a complicated racial and cultural landscape. For his job at a horrorthemed restaurant, Titus, who is African American, dresses up as a werewolf and quickly discovers that other New Yorkers treat him much better when he’s dressed in the costume of an actual monster than as a regular Black man. It’s a powerful statement about the struggles and prejudices that people of color have to face, but “Kimmy Schmidt” doesn’t dwell too much here. It introduces these serious topics and then moves on into comedic territory, just like Kimmy herself doesn’t focus too much on her tragic experiences.
Light-hearted moments meet complicated commentary. “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” is an insightful and well-crafted narrative, and just as importantly, one of the funniest series around. The show’s ability to juggle satire and fluffy, feel-good buddy comedy is remarkably solid for a series so early in its run. Part of the success has to be due to the magic touch of Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, but the real gem of “Kimmy Schmidt” is Kimmy’s relentless spirit. The pathos-driven comedy would be nowhere without that wide smile, that unquenchable enthusiasm, that magnetic effect that pulls the entire show into perfect place. She’s the strong one, and nothing can break her.
WE JUST FOUND SOME ‘EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND’ PRESS PHOTOS FROM 1996 IN ONE OF OUR CABINETS
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!
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“Smash Cut: A Memoir of Howard & Art & the ‘70s & the ‘80s” by Brad Gooch, professor of English at William Pater- Smash Cut son University and author of Brad Gooch the acclaimed Apr. 14, 2015 biography “City Poet: Harper the Life and Times of Frank O’Hara,” is an inside story of the art world and gay community of 1970s and ’80s New York City. It revolves around Gooch’s long-term relationship with filmmaker Howard Brookner (“Burroughs: The Movie, Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars, Bloodhounds of Broadway”) and the latter’s death by AIDS in 1989. “Smash cut” is a term in film that refers to an abrupt transition between shots – an apt description for the narrative logic of a memoir that traverses such an incredible amount of historical and cultural distance. The drama, joy and heartbreak of Brad and Howard’s relationship unfolds against a cultural moment of such extremity that Gooch adopts and adapts Dickens’s words from “A Tale of Two Cities:” “It was the angriest of times.”
“Smash Cut” happens against a backdrop of appearances by cultural luminaries like Andy Warhol, Madonna and William S. Burroughs. It describes gay (sub)culture with a personal and anthropological touch, including stories about drag parties among Brad and Howard’s circle of friends and Gooch’s stint as a porn reviewer. He relays his time as a model rubbing shoulders with a glamorous European elite in Paris and Milan, living what he refers to as a “Paris fairytale.” However, the aching lover’s discourse that is “Smash Cut” is not a nostalgic triumph song of the glamor of Gooch’s cultural moment. Devoting its last quarter to Howard’s diagnosis with and death by HIV/ AIDS, “Smash Cut” is the only term that suffices to describe the emotional hemorrhage of the narrative movement from modeling gigs and encounters with Parisian aristocrats to the unimaginably unglamorous horror of the disease. Gooch, Brookner and many others from the gay community were pulled in many directions by contradictory historical forces with the emergence of the AIDS epidemic. Gooch describes how the way that AIDS ravaged the gay community propelled many people he knew personally into histori-
cal and political significance, describing writer and LGBTQ activist Larry Kramer’s transformation from “one of us, a gay novelist,” into a “living megaphone by the forces of history.” However, Gooch speaks frankly about his response and lack of activist energy at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and the emergence of Aids Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in 1987. “I never attended an ACT UP meeting during the Howard years. I avoided that important stress point, and in retrospect felt diminished,” Gooch says. He continues, “I felt as if I had only enough emotional space to care for Howard.” Gooch’s memoir is a testament to the uneasy intersection of the personal and the historical. It does not attempt to relieve the conflict and tension between the glamour, beauty, suffering, mourning and fury of his relationship with Howard Brookner over more than a decade. Howard himself said in a note he had his caregiver tape to the fridge, far gone into his decline in health: “There’s so much beauty in the world. That’s what got me in trouble in the first place.” Brad Gooch’s “Smash Cut” is a beautifully written account that succeeds in adequately describing such a multidimensional, dramatic history.
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
DIRTY HIT
1976 was cooler.
The unexpected joys of general admission By CATHERINE BAKER For the Daily
There’s something to be said for general admission concerts. In fact, I would say that these wonderfully sweaty, dark, drunken messes are my favorite ways to experience music. Think about it: how many times are you surrounded by hundreds of strangers, way too up in your grill, gathered together for the sole purpose of listening to songs that in some way or another move you? Besides the fact that general admission concerts are usually cheaper than acts that can singlehandedly sell out enormous stadiums, they are also home to extremely dedicated concertgoers. My friend and I waited at least three hours on an unusually cold May afternoon to watch The 1975 perform. Since it was a general admission concert, the only way to get remotely close to Matty Healy was to queue around the block with a couple hundred of my new best friends. There I was, dressed in a pair of mom jeans and Keds, surrounded by people who looked and dressed nothing like me — yet we were all gathered for the same, sole purpose of watching four dudes
sing a few songs and get drunk onstage. It was glorious. I am now Facebook friends with the girls who sat beside us in line for those few agonizing hours, and I like to think we’re still bonded over the experience. Now, compared to One Direction’s stadium tour which, yes, I did attend, the results are markedly different. I rolled up to Ford Field less than a half hour before showtime, sat in my assigned seat that I did not have to battle hoards of people to get, and watched Harry Styles bounce around on stage through my binoculars. Don’t get me wrong, both concerts were absolutely great, but I didn’t come away from One Direction with the same oh my God the universe is so vast and I am so small but now I feel like I understand the meaning of human solidarity feeling that I had when driving home from The 1975. (Don’t lie, we’ve all been there.) I’m not sure if it’s the fact that stadium concerts run more like scripted shows than raw contact with music now, but between the lightshows and smoke and rising platforms, the songs themselves seem to get lost in the screams of the crowd. While I still appreciate
these larger venues and will continue to spend an inordinate amount of money on tickets, there is something special about sharing a band or musician with 1,000 people rather than 65,000. The connection between the artist and the audience in these more intimate settings is tangible and electric in the air, resulting in an up-close and personal sensation you just don’t get in massive, sold-out arenas. I haven’t been to a concert in a while and the itch to subject myself to a potentially angry audience yelling at me for inching towards the stage is creeping back. It’s a unique feeling, being encompassed by people who you will probably never see again, but who are all singing the same lyrics for different reasons than yourself. It also feels vaguely like you’re going to pass out, but I like to attribute that to emotion rather than overheating. Regardless of what concert experience you have, it’s difficult to deny the remarkable impact live music, and music in general, has on a group of people. Genres ranging from pop to rap to country leave each listener with their own interpretation and reaction, and isn’t that what truly makes all music universal?
Sports
8A — Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Fisch dividing reps between three QBs By MAX BULTMAN Daily Sports Editor
New Michigan passing game coordinator Jedd Fisch has what he wants in a starting quarterback on his roster. It just isn’t all in the same person yet. Tuesday, after the Wolverines’ fourth spring practice, Fisch shed light on what he’s looking for from his signal callers, but acknowledged it was still too early to give anyone an advantage. “They have different skill sets,” Fisch said. “(Redshirt freshman Wilton Speight) is a very large man, he’s a big guy, and he can see everything. He’s a pretty good athlete and throws the ball well, but he doesn’t seem to have a ton of experience. “(Junior Shane Morris) has a very strong arm, which everybody knows. He spins it well — he just needs to understand that that’s not really the most important thing. If you have a really strong arm, you have a really strong arm. That’s what you have. So now it’s a matter of what do you do with it? How do you utilize it?” That has been the question for Morris, who looked uncomfortable in the pocket during limited action last season and overthrew multiple receivers. Freshman Alex Malzone, by contrast, seems to have struck the right chord with Fisch in terms of composure and the mental aspects of the game. “Alex should be a senior in high school right now,” Fisch said. “He’s got a lot going on, and he has handled it unbelievably well. He’s unbelievable in his ability to not let things bother him, to be consistent, to jump right back and play the game. If a play doesn’t go
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Michigan resting up to go all-in at Big Ten tourney Walton still not practicing, doubtful for opener By JAKE LOURIM Managing Sports Editor
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Jedd Fisch has seen strong suits in each of his three quarterbacks this spring.
right, he’s right back in and ready for the next one.” Referencing the improvement of Blake Bortles — Fisch’s rookie quarterback last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars who drastically cut his turnovers the second half of the year — the new coach highlighted relentless competition and good decision-making as the factors most important to winning the starting job. Some of the tools Fisch seems to be searching for in his starter can be seen in each of the three, but he’s waiting for it to come in one single package. And that, Fisch said, is what the Wolverines will be striving to cultivate. “It would be great if one of them (separated himself), you always look for that,” Fisch said.
“(But) to separate themselves, it’s not just one thing, it’s the whole game.” Regardless of which player lines up under center in the fall, Fisch was excited about the talent his quarterback will be throwing to. Tuesday was the first time Fisch worked with redshirt junior Amara Darboh, and he said he was excited about what he saw from him as well. Fisch wants separation at receiver, and he needs it at quarterback, but he wants it to be earned. “I’ve told those guys, I think Mark Cuban said, ‘Work every day like there’s someone trying to take your job 24 hours a day,’ ” Fisch said. “If they work that hard, I think the talent level is plenty good.”
A Michigan men’s basketball season that has seen returning players as well as freshmen play major minutes continues to wear on. It could be over this week. But the Wolverines are preparing NOTEBOOK as if it won’t be. Michigan (8-10 Big Ten, 15-15 overall) opens the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at noon against Illinois. As long as the Wolverines advance, they could play Friday at noon, Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The deck is certainly stacked against them in each of those extra games, but they’re ready. “No concern,” Beilein said. “Zak (Irvin) and Spike (Albrecht, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman) and Aubrey (Dawkins) did almost nothing for two days.” To prepare, the team had a “very short” workout Sunday and another short workout with just the young players Monday. Beilein said they would go two hours Tuesday and another hour Wednesday before they leave for Chicago. Then, the Wolverines will be all in — because there might not be anything after that. “I’m preparing to log a lot of minutes, but that’s alright,” Albrecht said. “If we keep winning, I’m not going to complain. I’ll play as many minutes as I have to. Just make sure I get some sleep and eat
well.” Michigan’s lone senior, Max Bielfeldt, has the same outlook. “I think there’s a little bit of that,” Bielfeldt said. “It’s not like I wouldn’t go in there and give it my all anyway, but with it being potentially your last Big Ten Tournament, it’s going to be a little extra meaningful.” The Wolverines will still be an underdog in likely every game, beginning with No. 8 seed Illinois. They haven’t won consecutive games since Jan. 17 and Jan. 20 against Northwestern and Rutgers, respectively, and haven’t won four straight since the first four games of the season: Hillsdale, Bucknell, Detroit and Oregon. That streak would be incomparably harder to replicate over four days against superior opponents, but it won’t catch Michigan off guard. “We’re going for the whole deal right now,” Beilein said. “In our situation right now, that’s the only game left. I don’t think we’re in a capacity where we can rest people thinking, ‘We gotta get ready for Wisconsin.’ Maybe if you’re up by 20 with five minutes to go, then it’s a little bit different.” Then, after the season Michigan has had, he revised that statement. “Maybe if you’re up by 40 with five minutes to go, it might be a little different,” Beilein said. “Then we can get rest. But I don’t expect that to happen.” INBOUNDING ISSUES: The last time Michigan played Illinois on Feb. 12, the Wolverines had a late lead in Champaign before giving it up, due in large part to problems with inbounds passing during the final minute. Youth and personnel forced
Albrecht, not a big man, to throw the ball in against Illinois center Nnanna Egwu. The Illini forced a few late turnovers, sent the game into overtime and ended up handing the Wolverines their third straight overtime loss. “We’ve been working on (inbounds passing) a lot,” Beilein said. “The whole idea is, it’s not just the inbounder. Now four guys have to learn new positions. You can’t just have one out-ofbounds (play) — you have to have four or five.” Michigan is still having trouble finding an inbounds passer. Irvin is the best target for the pass, and Albrecht is the best at working out of trap defenses. Sophomore Sean Lonergan throws the best baseball pass, but his limited minutes make bringing him cold off the bench in the last minute a big risk. “To say we have it fixed?” Beilein said. “You don’t have it fixed until you really have multiple inbounders who can really pass and experienced players that can do a whole lot of things.” WALTON STILL DOUBTFUL: The earlier hopes of sophomore guard Derrick Walton Jr. returning at some point this season are fading by the day. Walton has not practiced in the days since the Rutgers game Saturday. Though he will continue to try working out at practice, the idea of him going full-out in a game Thursday seems all but impossible. “We’ll try him again,” Beilein said. “We try him almost every day, just to do something — jog up and down the court, or do some layups. How’s it feel? That’s about it.”
bye key for tourney hopes Michigan offense First-round Wolverines can seal title revving its engine regular-season this weekend vs. BASEBALL
By NATHANIEL CLARK Daily Sports Writer
When starting a car on a cold Michigan winter morning, it takes time for it to warm up. It has been a similar story for the Michigan baseball team’s offense, particularly with runners on base. In the first seven games of the 2015 season, the Wolverines (106) compiled a 2-5 record, scoring 29 runs on 65 hits. Michigan left 47 men on base in its four games in Savannah, Georgia alone. That all changed, though, during the Wolverines’ ninegame Spring Break trip. Michigan put up 72 runs on 99 hits, recording a .344 team batting average. Not surprisingly, the increased plate production showed up in Michigan’s win column. The Wolverines won the first eight contests of the ninegame slate before ultimately falling to Akron, 2-0, in the final match. “When guys are having quality at-bats and executing the approach, it’s tough for an opposing team to get through our lineup,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. The two games on March 7 against Toledo and Coastal Carolina were Michigan’s most productive. The Wolverines scored 29 runs on 32 hits. In the contest with the Chanticleers, eight of Michigan’s starting nine recorded a hit. The team was especially productive in the clutch as the Wolverines at one point scored 13 consecutive runs in two-out situations. “I do like the weapons that we have in the lineup,” Bakich said. “When we’re firing on all cylinders offensively and have guys who can run, steal and hit for power, we’re a very dangerous offense.” Sophomore left fielder Carmen Benedetti was perhaps Michigan’s most impressive hitter in the March 7 doubleheader. He combined for 10 RBI — six of
them against the Rockets — on six hits in the two games. His six RBI in the Toledo game were the most by any Wolverine since Coley Crank had seven in 2010. “It was cool to play such a big role in that spot,” Benedetti said. “Following the coaches’ approach ... the plan that they have is working really well for all of (the team).” Benedetti’s performance capped a streak of four multi-hit games, which included a threeRBI showing against Siena on March 1. He finished the road trip with a .424 batting average, five doubles and 14 RBI. Benedetti was not alone, though. Junior first baseman Jacob Cronenworth reached base 10 times in the March 7 twin bill and scored eight of the Wolverines’ 29 runs. He also hit a three-run homer in the UMBC game March 6. His 2015 on-base percentage now stands at .434, and he’s hitting .328. “I have to bring my game every day,” Cronenworth said. “When I play well, guys feed off my success and it helps the team a lot.” Junior shortstop Travis Maezes, who was injured for most of the season’s first two weeks, also made significant contributions to Michigan’s effort. He started with a threerun home run against Siena on Feb. 27 and later combined for five RBI on four hits against Toledo and Coastal Carolina. His batting average now sits at .306 with a .419 on-base percentage. The Wolverines now boast a .301 team batting average, which is the highest in the Big Ten. Michigan will have to keep up the production while minimizing the number of runners left on base to stay in competition for the Big Ten Championship and, ultimately, a spot in the NCAA Tournament. “I think we showed what our offense is capable of,” Bakich said. “There is good balance in the lineup.”
Michigan State By ERIN LENNON Daily Sports Editor
It’s almost baffling to think that the Michigan hockey team — a team that has been startlingly inconsistent all season — could win the Big Ten outright. And yet, if the Wolverines can pull off a sweep in a home-and-home series against Michigan State, they’ll be crowned regular-season champions. But Michigan would sleep a little more easily this week if, as the regular-season Big Ten champion, it also earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. If that were the case, the 19th-ranked Wolverines’ playoff hopes heading into the final weekend of the regular season wouldn’t seem so fleeting. “We’ve been a first-place team and a playoff winner at the same time, which in theory should happen,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “If you’re the best team through the season, and you’re the firstplace team in the playoffs, you would’ve gotten in anyway, because you’re a first-place team.” With an 11-7 conference record, Michigan is tied with Minnesota with 33 points and sits only one point behind the Spartans. Still, a Big Ten banner won’t be as impressive this year as it was last season. When the conference begins to look like other power leagues, as teams like Penn State and Michigan State become contenders season after season, four games over .500 may be admirable. This year, though, a banner will be a testament to the overall weakness of the sixteam league. By this time last season, both Minnesota and Wisconsin
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Andrew Copp and Michigan could need to win three games in three days next week to make the NCAA Tournament.
had all but secured at-large bids the NCAA Tournament, while Michigan was well positioned to do the same. Had Michigan beaten Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, it’s likely three teams, if not four, would have made it in. This year, there’s a similar chance that the conference won’t have any at-large bids at all. Ranked No. 15 entering its season finale at home against Penn State, Minnesota — the only other Big Ten team beside Michigan to crack the top 20 — also finds itself on the bubble. And last season’s runner-up, Wisconsin, has been a lost cause since opening the season 0-8. Worth more than just bragging rights in a notably weak conference, a Big Ten title is essential for the Wolverines’ tournament hopes because it means a first-round bye.
“That’s the way it should be, really,” Berenson said. “That’s the bulk of our season, and we’ve always said that since the CCHA. How we do in the conference will determine our NCAA destiny. “It’s exactly the same thing here. We’re down to the most important games of the year, which is good. We’ve got something to play for, which is good, and I think we have a team that wants to prove something, which is good.” And for a team that has struggled to win away from Yost Ice Arena, that means everything. “I think everyone knows the circumstances,” said junior forward Andrew Copp. “Everyone knows what we need to do this weekend, so there’s nothing really to add. … Everyone can obviously step up their game, and everyone needs to step up this weekend. “It’s going to dictate how our
“It’s going to dictate how are year is looked at, basically.”
year is looked at, basically.” The Wolverines have lost their last five road games and were swept twice in hostile environments at Minnesota and most recently Penn State. Over that span, the defense surrendered 23 goals. Since the Wolverines’ midseason hot streak — when they won seven straight, including three on the road — Michigan has won twice or more in a row only once, conveniently at Yost Ice Arena. And though it has won 75 percent of its neutral-site games (3-1), Michigan is 4-10 on the road compared to 12-2 at home. All of that is to say the Wolverines haven’t proven they can win more than one game in a row very many times this season, especially when those contests aren’t played at Yost. A first-round bye will mean everything for Michigan. It will mean an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament via a conference championship win is just two games away instead of three. “Hopefully, we can figure it out,” Copp said.
statement THE MICHIGAN DAILY
M ARCH 11 , 2015
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Wednesday, March 11, 2015 // The Statement
T H E L I S T B U Z Z F E E D, B U T B E T T E R DISTINCTIVE MARCH HOLIDAYS Next week marks March 17, the day that college students wear green, drink beer, and bastardize the Irish culture in equal form. Sick of the St. Patrick’s Day traditions? Try out these more unique holidays.
3 / 1 1 J O H N N Y A P P L E S E E D DAY
Today this man of legend is celebrated in 4th grade classrooms across the country. Eat some apples, throw the seeds over your shoulder, and check back in ten years – that’s what he did, right?
3 / 1 4 N AT I O N A L P OTATO C H I P DAY
We’ve all heard about Pi Day, but who knew that the national celebration of Potato Chips falls on the same fateful day? This distinctly American holiday can only be celebrated one way: pantsless, in front of the television.
3 / 1 8 G O D D E S S O F F E R T I L I T Y DAY
Yes, it’s Beyoncé’s Day! Just kidding, although that would be incredible. The rules for celebrating this eclectic day are to be interpreted as you wish.
3 / 2 0 E X T R AT E R R E S T R I A L A B D U C T I O N DAY The origins of this one are unclear — speculations are that the creator of the holiday was abducted himself.
3 / 3 0 B U N S E N B U R N E R DAY
Did you know it was Robert Wilhelm Eberhard von Bunsen who created the revolutionary Bunsen Burner? (We didn’t.) Spend the day sneaking into chem labs and planning for April Fools.
VIDEO: SPRING BREAK
WATCH AT M I CH I G A N DA I LY.CO M
THE
statement
Magazine Editor: Ian Dillingham Deputy Editor: Natalie Gadbois
Photo Editor: Luna Anna Archey Illustrators:
Editor in Chief: Jen Calfas Copy Editors:
Megan Mulholland
Hannah Bates
Design Editor:
Maggie Miller
Laura Schinagle
Jake Wellins
Managing Editor:
Emma Sutherland
Lev Facher
COVER BY RUBY WALLAU, JAKE WELLINS AND LUNA ARCHEY
From the Pews: A meditative place B Y C L A I R E B R YA N
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n a week full of midterms and bitter walks of single-digitdegree weather, I stumbled upon a reflection room at the back of the third floor of the Michigan League. The space was 18 feet by 8 feet, white stucco walled, and barren, besides three faded-orange armchairs and two square coffee tables shoved against the right side of the narrow room. I paused in the doorway thinking for a moment that I had been mistaken, that I had read the placard on the wall wrong, that I had stumbled into an unused office instead of a reflection room — a place I read about online and imagined with large windows stretching across the walls, decorated carpets, live plants and designated, almost illustrious, places to sit. After re-reading the placard on the wall I made my way inside and slouched, backpack still strapped to my back, coat still trapping my knees, into one of the armchairs. The orange fabric was ripped and peeled back, exposing the fleshy, fluffy insides of the chair’s center cushion. The singular window in the top corner or the room let in a ghostly white light from the grey sky that day. Reflection rooms are advertised on the University’s Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs portion of the student life website. There are eight on campus. Each is intended for any University community member, of any or no religion, to reflect, meditate, or pray. I sat in silent for some minutes, phone tucked away in my coat pocket untouched, eyes open but vaguely blurred, not focusing on anything. I began to realize why the room was intentionally so simple. The empty walls and limited lighting grew on me: the room’s minimalism halted my outward observance of my surroundings. The window was so high
ILLUSTRATIONS BY MEGAN MULHOLLAND
up the wall and so small that there was no view to look at, nothing to distract. Though there are thousands of types of meditation, most types involve the underlying concept that one must focus on the present moment and when outside thoughts come to the mind, as it is only human, acknowledge the thoughts, but then set them aside. As I began to meditate, I failed at it — being present in the moment and not focusing on other thoughts besides those of being present — and instead became consumed by the idea of the controlled thought. It came naturally to me that in meditation intentionally not thinking thoughts was a skill, a process and a useful tactic to reaching a meditative state. But what about beyond meditation? What about the constant thoughts we have in our everyday lives? Are expansive, curiosity-driven thoughts — ones I always believed to be a healthy part of growth and new thinking — at times misguided? Can they negatively control your brain’s efforts when focused on instead of appropriately set aside? Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a therapy used to reinforce healthier thinking. When experiencing any event each of us has automatic thoughts. According to CBT thinking, these immediate thoughts are how we perceive situations in our
world and they directly influence how we feel emotionally. When these thoughts are negative or twist the reality of a situation they can be unhealthy (so unhealthy they can lead to anxiety and/or depression). In a University setting we are so often pushed constantly to think, think more, and think more again. In class discussions professors ask us to expand on our comment; in social settings, we are expected to challenge ourselves in the conversations we have with our peers; in student clubs, in writing academic papers, in writing anything, we inherently push and push at ideas. A concept we thought of as a small idea one day, the next day might expand into a research project, but is there ever a line crossed, a moment of more than needed? Is there a point where a new thought is just too much, is distracting rather than directing, is poisonous to our brain? Though these questions seem to be naturally abstract and utterly lacking of concrete answers, sitting in the reflection room, it felt as if this room was one big, fat answer to these questions. Reflection rooms are times for self reflection, are spaces for controlling what most usually are uncontrollable thoughts, are spaces for sorting out the automatic, twisted thinking from the extensive yet directive thinking.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 // The Statement 3B
My Cultural Currency: Calculating my Indian-ity B Y TA N YA M A D H A N I
“
You’re not even like really Indian,” the white girl said. “What do you mean?” I said, gesturing to my brown face, hands and arms. I didn’t know if she needed glasses or was just stupid. “Well, I mean like you’re not really ‘Indian Indian.’ Like, you’re not, like, really, like all of the other Indians,” the white girl said. I made a face, confused about what this girl was getting at. I wanted to give her the benefit of doubt — maybe she didn’t want to make assumptions about my South Asian ethnicity? But wait, I thought, she had already made the assumption when she told me I wasn’t really Indian and, to be fair, she was correct. This girl was trying to tell me that I didn’t fit into her perception — mold, stereotype, whatever you want to call it — of what she views as the typical Indian-American at the University: someone who is heavily involved in dance activities and has predominantly Indian-American friends. Neither of these traits are bad things, but I don’t possess either of them. I can’t dance for shit and, while I have Indian friends, I don’t exclusively befriend other desis. And then I had an identity crisis. I knew I was ethnically and technically of Indian origin. But did my brown skin, black hair, and soft spot for samosas really make me Indian enough? I knew, for my sake, I had to
find the answer. So, using my limited knowledge of mathematics — remember I almost failed Calculus — I created an equation to help me understand my Indian-ity using this girl’s criterion:
An equation to help me understand my Indian-ity. (# of years with dance experience) x (# of IASA shows you’ve been a part of) / (How many white friends you have) The higher your number, the more Indian you are. But, I then realized, by this equation, most of the Indian people in India wouldn’t even be considered Indian. It’s ridiculous to quantify someone’s ethnicity and even more preposterous to suggest that just because they do not fit into your one-dimensional perspective, their identity is negated. I needed to help this girl understand that there are, quite literally, a billion other Indians all over the world that don’t fit into whatever
idea she’s got in her head. I wanted to tell her that just because she could pull out exact figures about her 15-percent German, 25-percent Polish, 10-percent Native American, 40-percent Scottish and 10-percent Irish roots, doesn’t mean I, or any other person of color, is obligated to do the same. “She’s not even really Mexican you know,” my editor said. I was fifteen, sitting with a group of upperclassmen in my newspaper class after school to discuss design options for our two-page spread on the newest education initiative our school had undertaken. I didn’t lift my head from the computer I was designing on, but listened intently. “Yeah, she’s not a practicing Catholic and that, like, is a really big deal for Mexicans,” my editor said. The other girls around me murmured in agreement and nodded. “I mean, yeah, she makes like good Mexican food, but like, that’s really it right? That’s all that’s really Mexican about her.” I glanced back at my adviser, a woman of Mexican descent, who frequently spoke about her love for her heritage’s food and how important her last name, which was Spanish for “chain” and did not change after she was married, was to her. She didn’t have to prove those girls a thing.
ON THE RECORD
S C H L I S S E L S AY S
LUNA ARCHEY/DAILY
“When you cross some kind of line of behavior that I think would be characterized as criminal behavior, then the balance between punshiment and education changes a bit.” – PRESIDENT MARK SCHLISSEL during Monday’s Fireside Chat, in reference to the damages cause by University fraternities over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
THE THOUGHT BUBBLE
SEE PAGE 8: BAT TLE OF THE BAMBOO
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/DAILY
“(In the psychology lab) we found out that older adults are less motivated compared to younger adults when we have a money motivation condition ... For older adults, it doesn’t really matter if they earn $20.” DELANEY RYAN/DAILY
–LSA JUNIOR IPEK DEMIRDAG
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Wednesday, March 11, 2015 // The Statement
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 // The Statement
C H A L L E N G I N G T H E C H E C K B OX : Experiences of the Arab-American community on campus
by Ian Dillingham and Ruby Wallau
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t a small ceremony on Feb. 26, students from the ArabAmerican community on campus gathered to dedicated a new multicultural lounge on the third floor of North Quad. The gathering was small and quiet, with no more than two dozen students in attendance. But for many, the lounge was a significant step in gaining recognition on campus. Recognition, it seems, is something these communities have been lacking. In the years since 9/11, discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans has become a common — yet often underreported — occurrence in the United States. In the wake of the attacks, Ann Arbor was no different, as instances of “venomous rhetoric” against The Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives and Muslim Students’ Association were documented in the weeks following the attack. “Arab-Americans are facing a dual challenge as Americans they suffer from the same grief as their fellow citizens as persons of Arab and Muslim descent, they are under attacks arising from a presumption of guilt,” The Michigan Daily’s Editorial Board wrote on Sept. 16, 2001. And these issues persist today. In February, the murder of three Muslim students at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill sparked a national conversation surrounding hate crimes against Muslims. And locally, an Arab-American Muslim man was assaulted in Dearborn at a Kroger in front of his family on Feb. 12. In response to these events — and other recent anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate crimes — the University’s Arab and Muslim American Studies Program hosted a closed town hall meeting for Middle Eastern, North African and Muslim students on Feb. 23. The event was created to honor the victims and to build a community on campus. “The purpose of the town hall is two-fold,” the program wrote in the event description on Facebook, “To process and grieve for the victims of hate crimes, and to build allyship and solidarity across groups on campus that represent Muslim
and/or Arab U of M community members.” But finding support for a community that is not recognized in many official capacities can prove challenging. *** “We’re the invisible category that’s on campus,” said LSA sophomore Mekarem Eljamal, spokesperson for the Students Allied for Freedom and Equality and executive board member of the Middle East and Arab Network. It’s a common sentiment among Arab-American students. The U.S. census and most government-produced documents — including those produced for admission to the University — do not include “Arab” in their demographics. Instead, these groups are categorized as “White,” despite major discrepancies between white and non-white experiences, said Sally Howell, a assistant professor of Arab-American history and culture at the University’s Dearborn campus. “According to the U.S. census they’re white; but, according to our popular culture, they’re not white,” Howell said. Evelyn Alsultany, an associate professor in American culture and coordinator of the University’s program in Arab and Muslim American studies, said the lack of identification often means that Arab Americans are left out of academic discussions of race and ethnicity in the U.S. “I felt that, growing up, my experience was not one of whiteness or normative identity,” Alsultany said. “I’d watched a lot of subtle assumptions about my father — questions about terrorism, questions about where he’s from and how he makes his money, questions like that when I was very young.” Alsultany is one of a limited number of Arab and Muslim American faculty members on campus. After attending the University as an undergrad, she went to graduate school at Stanford University with the desire to study Arab and Muslim American culture. At the time, she said she was discouraged from doing so by advisers and told to pursue a graduate degree in one of the established fields, such as Native American studies.
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
LSA sophomore Tahany Alsabahi holds a sign that hung last year on the door of the Central Student Government chambers during the UM Divest protest at the opening of the new Edward Said multicultural lounge in North Quad, Feb. 25, 2015.
But after 9/11, everything changed. Alsultany, still in graduate school, said she saw the interest and inquiry into ArabAmerican communities increase dramatically. “Things really changed in terms of larger public seeing very explicitly the radicalization of Arab and Muslim Americans and there was more attention to Arab and Muslim Americans and jobs opened up in academia,” she said. Since helping to establish the University’s program — one of only three in the country to focus on Arab-American identity — Alsultany said she sees herself as a resource for students in the community. The program is unique from other programs nationally in that it examines issues related specifically to the experiences of Arabs in the United States, such as the impact of government surveillance programs and media portrayals of the war on terror. “We want to look at how culture and religion can become political or politicized and what the impact of that is on those communities,” Alsultany said. While remaining hopeful for the future, she said it has been a slow process establishing the program at the University. *** Tracking enrollment rates of Arab-American students at the University proves difficult even for experts in the community. Some point to this lack of data as indicative of the tendency for the community to be overlooked when it comes to diversity initiatives on campus. In a recent survey conducted by The Michigan Daily of 443 randomly selected undergraduates, about 3 percent of respondents identified themselves as Arab. This is slightly higher than the statewide population of Arabs, which sits at about 2 percent according to estimates by the Arab American Institute. And anecdotal evidence suggests that the community on campus has grown in recent years. Matthew Stiffler, a University lecturer in the Department of American Culture, who received a doctorate in Arab-American studies from the Uni-
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
Students gather on the Diag Feb. 10, 2015 for a candlelight vigil held by the University’s Muslim Student Association in honor of the three students shot in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
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versity in 2010, said he has observed a changing tide in the way are cautious,” Howell said. Arabs and Muslims. It’s a default ‘we hope you feel comfortable Arab-American students — particularly those from Dearborn In all media, misconceptions of Arab culture and the reli- here’ kind of support,” Shryock said. “But it’s not necessarily — view Ann Arbor. gion of Islam have been widely perpetuated. Howell provided based on any kind of intimate knowledge of their community In addition to his role at the University, Stiffler is also an example: a December 2011 episode of Fox’s animated com- or even affection for their causes or their traditions.” a researcher at the Arab American Museum in Dearborn, edy “The Simpsons,” where one of the characters claims that Shryock said he takes efforts to avoid the group mentalilocated about forty-five minutes east of Ann Arbor. Dearborn Michigan is under Sharia law — the legal system of Islamic ties that often only serve to divide students and create envineighbors Detroit and developed under many of the same driv- religion. The animation also depicted a scene of UM-Dear- ronments that discourage real education. Such divisions can ing forces, namely the auto manufacturers and local commerce born’s campus. come into play during tense political discussions, such as those that grew to support blue-collar households. The city is curBut, in general, Howell said the Dearborn campus provides that occurred during the UM Divest campaign in the spring rently home to one of the University’s two satellite campuses Arab-American students a certain level of comfort. of 2014. as well as the highest proportion of Arab Americans out of any “It is a safe place — it’s not a perfect place — but it is a safe “That’s a mobilizing and fighting issue, people kind of team city in the U.S. — over 40 percent. place to be an Arab-American student,” Howell said of the up to engage in that issue,” Shryock said. “I personally am not At the Dearborn campus, Arab-American enrollment has UM-Dearborn campus. “I think it would be a big deal on our a teaming up kind of person. I like to, in my courses, create been high ever since the 1970s and ‘80s, Stiffler said, following campus if someone were explicitly racist toward an Arab.” frameworks in which people can actually understand sometrends in Arab immigration to the city. The camthing about the Arab and Muslim world that’s not pus appealed to families who wanted to maintain available to them in the United States.” close ties while their children were attending “It’s something where people have very strong school. At present, it is estimated that the student feelings and feel they can’t trust the other side, body at the Dearborn campus is at least 25 percent and that always produces climate issues. It’s hard of Arab descent, if not more. to work through that,” Shryock added in an e-mail “I think they see Dearborn as a good school to the Daily. that they’re proud to go to — proud to have in *** their community,” Stiffler said. “It is a much more Portions of the community gathered last spring diverse school than UM-Ann Arbor … It makes for when the Students Allied for Freedom and Equala much more diverse learning environment.” ity launched a weeklong sit-in following Central By contrast, Arab-American enrollment in Ann Student Government’s indefinite postponement of Arbor has only recently seen increases — again, a vote on a proposed divestment resolution, which evidenced anecdotally. Twenty years ago, a handcalled for the University to look into its investful of students from Dearborn would enroll at the ments in corporations that hold military contracts University’s Ann Arbor campus every year, Stiffwith the Israeli military and therefore support ler said. That number could be closer to 100 today, human rights violations against Palestinians. As but even so a mix of cultural and political tensions the movement gained attention across campus, could be dissuading some students from applying many students interviewed — reflecting back to or matriculating at the Ann Arbor campus. on the campaign — said it served as a watershed Scholarships and outreach efforts have done moment for the Arab American and Muslim comtheir part in increasing the University’s appeal. munities as a whole. FILE PHOTO/Daily One program in particular, The Brehm Scholars, In response to the Central Student Government’s decision to indefinitely postpone voting on a divest resDuring the UM Divest campaign, students in is credited with a significant increase in Arab- olution, more than 100 University students, alumni and community members came and went throughout support of divestment gathered in the CSG chamAmerican enrollment in Ann Arbor. This pro- the night during an “indefinite” sit-in in CSG chambers Wednesday to demand a vote on the measure. bers every day after class for the week leading up gram offers full-ride, four-year scholarships to a to the CSG meeting where the resolution would select group of graduating students from Dearborn’s Fordson *** be voted on. Mekarem Eljamal said the gatherings drew many High School, where 95 percent of the student body are of Arab In Ann Arbor, discrimination against Arabs and Muslims Arab and Muslim students out of the woodwork who had not descent. is sometimes hard to define. Though official incidents of hate previously been involved in such organizations. She said the While the program only offers scholarships to about four crimes on campus are rare — the University’s Division of Pub- protest lead to a shift in how Arab-American students interstudents per year — a scholarship that can be extended to eight lic Safety and Security reported one instance of religious- acted with each other. years if the students are accepted to the University’s medical based bias crime in 2013 — cases of discrimination are widely “Divest rallied so many people together,” Eljamal said. school — the impact is much broader. Students in the program discussed in the Arab and Muslim communities. “People saw faces that they hadn’t seen … I felt like there was a have become unofficial ambassadors for the University and LSA senior Saher Rathur, president of Muslim Students’ bit more cohesiveness and more of a collective.” the city of Ann Arbor. Keeping close ties with the community, Association, described various types of discrimination she and This new sense of community contributed to the creation of they have played a significant role in shaping perceptions of her friends have experienced on campus. These can include the the Middle East and Arab Network, a new student organithe University in the Dearborn community. everything from dirty looks to biased speech to various forms zation founded in the beginning of Fall 2014. Eljamal, who is ... of microaggression. In the Muslim community, she said those one of seven executive board members, sees the organization In 2014, Fordson sent twenty-two students to the Ann Arbor who wear the traditional Muslim headscarf — the hijab — often as a continuation of conversations about the Arab-American campus, nearly as many as it sent to UM-Dearborn. face the most serious backlash. She cited an incident on State community that occurred during the UM Divest movement. “That there are other students here now helps a lot — the Street, where a passenger in a passing car yelled “something Saksouk describes the organization as having a two-prong fact that they’re not coming alone,” said Dorene Markel, direc- really derogatory” at her friend who was wearing the hijab. approach: creating spaces for Arab and Middle Eastern identitor of the University’s Brehm Center. Cultural insensitivity can perpetuate the classroom as well. fied students to talk about issues within and outside of their Dearborn has historically provided Arab Americans a safe LSA senior Raya Saksouk, co-chair of the MEdAN, said that communities as well as creating campus-wide events to engage haven in a country that is less than understanding about their discrimination can often manifest as a feeling of alienation with the greater student body. culture. While only an estimated 24 percent of Arab Ameri- during discussions about certain academic topics. As an InterThe organization has become increasingly active on campus cans are Muslim, the religion is often conflated with all mem- national Studies major, she said she has experienced this first- and has scheduled several community workshops and dinners bers of the community. Especially in the United States, such hand. in honor of Arab Heritage Month. This is the second year that cultural and religious misappropriations can lead to tension “People talk about the Middle East, but in very abstract Arab Heritage Month has been celebrated on campus and is set and, in certain cases, violence against individuals perceived as political science type of ways,” Saksouk said. “Sometimes peo- to occur from March 16 to April 10. Arab. ple would say things that are problematic — in the classroom Like the establishment of a new multicultural lounge and Across the United States, hostility toward the Arab commu- or in student organizations — and those situations are hard to establishment of the Arab and Muslim Studies Program, Alsulnity has grown increasingly worse since 9/11, said Howell, an navigate.” tany, coordinator of the University’s Arab and Muslim Ameriassistant professor at UM-Dearborn. For Arab-American stuAndrew Shryock, the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of can Studies Program, said the heritage month was another dents just trying to get a college degree, the discrimination is Anthropology, said it can be difficult for instructors and positive recognition of the community on campus. both tedious and exhausting. administrators — even those with good intentions — to know “These are new moments and they are significant and show “The hostility that you see in American culture towards how to best support Arab and Muslim students. that spaces are being created, slower, but spaces are being creArabs and Muslims today is unprecedented and it’s worse “Very often people who support Arabs and Muslims on cam- ated to respond to the needs of Arab and Muslim students on than it was after 9/11 by far and people are aware of it and pus don’t actually support them in a way that’s meaningful for campus,” she said.
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Wednesday, March 11, 2015 // The Statement
Primetime Players:
The multiple roles of the University’s cheerleading squad
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by Akshay Seth, Daily Film Columnist
efore agreeing to sit down for an interview, Pam St. John needed confirmation that any subsequent write-up or article resulting from the following week’s talk should take pains not to wheel her inside the orbit of attention. The focus of the writing, she wrote, must remain on Michigan’s Cheer Squad, a team she has spent the last 31 years coaching. And her reasons, left unsaid, seemed reasonable, even if with a characteristically PRinfluenced tinge. St. John’s office is a small room at the end of a long hallway in the basement of the Weidenbach Building on South State Street. Inside, the walls are sheeted with a thick collage of posters, pictures, calendars, whiteboards and the occasional post-it note. Beneath all the layering, almost hidden from view, are two massive banners — the kind found dangling from the rafters in most high school gymnasiums — that commemorate the team’s victories at the 2013 and 2014 National Cheer Association championships. Slight and perpetually smiling, St. John points at them with informality, speaking with the same restrained tone that frames the rest of her words. “We’ve been lucky and fortunate to have done well the last couple of years,” she said. It’s this thoughtful composure, also evident in the team members’ demeanors, that contradicts the violent bursts of strength and peril showcased in each minute of each performance. When LSA sophomore Josiah Ault, who is about to complete his second year as a cheerleader, describes the danger, he smiles serenely. “All of us are quite literally putting our lives in each other’s hands,” he said. “It feels like more than just a team sport because of having to put all this trust in someone else and also trusting yourself to be in the position where you have to stop others from getting hurt.” *** The practices are arranged throughout the school year to sync with football and basketball schedules, and eventually the team is divided in the lead-up to the national cheerleading championships. While the entire squad performs at football games, only a portion — called “Primetime” — can be seen at the basketball matches in the latter half of the year. The rest of the cheerleaders, usually the ones who have been on the team longer and are thus better attuned to the sport, spend practice time honing a routine that will be showcased at Nationals in Florida this April. “Whether you’re competing at the end of the year or are performing at a game, that issue of safety is always there and it keeps pressure levels pretty high,” Ault said. “You
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can’t really slack off when you’re getting ready to throw, then immediately catch an entire person.” Sitting through a typical practice is a little bit like watching the piecemeal construction of a hammered metal sculpture. The final product is a wonder to behold, peppered with the rhythmic cadence of the “one-two-three” counts uttered by anyone in earshot to frame stunts. Each count is like a hammer stroke. Within a constant and palpably visible struggle for balance — teammates floating in the air, flipping an impossible number of times before landing — the most resonant images are of them grimacing or gritting their teeth as they lock elbows and wait for the impact of reentry. Every stunt is dizzyingly complex, requiring a framework of carefully crafted choreography that the cheerleaders spend months — even years — practicing. “One hand out of place, or even a few degrees off, and it won’t land,” said LSA freshman Priscilla Huddleston, who joined the squad last fall. Actively recruited by St. John while still a high school student, Huddleston was promoted to the competition team quickly after coming onboard. April will be the first time she competes at the national, collegiate level, but before becoming a part of Michigan Cheer, Huddleston already had years of experience participating in tournaments sponsored by national cheer organizations. These events, often called All-Star Cheerleading, are open to competitors of varying age groups and stand apart from typical high school cheer teams that are more closely associated with their school’s other sports teams. As opposed to composing defense or offense routines usually seen on sidelines or during halftimes of football games, AllStar cheerleaders focus on tumbling, gymnastics and the stunts needed to hone competitive skills. For a time, Huddleston teetered between the two worlds of high school and All-Star cheer, but ultimately settled for the more competition-oriented events. “I just fell in love with the tumbling; I fell in love with the gymnastics,” Huddleston said. “The main difference in AllStar is that you’re cheering for yourself, which is much more empowering than just being an adjective.” Her parents shelled out the money needed to shuttle between tournaments, often without any help from the leagues organizing the events. Describing the traveling schedule, Huddleston said the competitive cheer from her pre-college years can best be labeled a “rich man’s sport.” Those unable or unwilling to pay their way through AllStars would be limited to the sidelines of high school cheer,
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which, by Michigan law, still does not allow men to compete in end-of-year tournaments. *** Though the stigma against male cheerleaders exists and is acknowledged by men on the team, most are quick to point out that a large portion of the community, especially at college, is extremely supportive. Quinton Carter-Jones, a fifth year LSA senior who has been with the team throughout his time at the University, said on most occasions, people are simply ill-informed. “You’ll definitely have friends from high school or certain family members making fun of you for it,” CarterJones said. “But the fact of the matter is you’re doing it because you want to foster self-confidence. You’re not doing it because of what anyone else thinks.” “And honestly, how many people will ever get to say they know how to throw a girl over their head and catch her,” he added. Yet on a more concrete level, the rules preventing men from taking part in the year-end meets for high school cheer also create a rift in the male and female talent pools. Many of the men joining Michigan Cheer don’t know how to tumble. Fewer have had any formal training in gymnastics. “A lot of the time with guys, it takes a couple years to get them confident in their own abilities,” St. John said. “We’re very much starting from the ground up, but they’re stronger athletes because of it.” Carter-Jones recalled the first time he tried to throw someone. “It was one of the most awkward moments of my life,” he said. “I had no idea who she was so I stayed really far back, just kind of threw her in the most literal sense of the word. Obviously, she didn’t go very high, so I panicked thinking this person would be horribly disfigured because of me and I tried to bear-hug her on the way down.” Shaking his head, he muttered something to the tune of “horrible technique” before laying out, in great detail, the proper way to hurl another human body — the athletic stance, upright posture and vice-like grip he has since perfected and wishes could show his younger self. Confidence, and with it the willingness to place a measure of weight behind even the smallest actions, he explains, is the key. “You can’t have any inhibitions. And they didn’t go away until Coach Pam had had some time to kind of nudge me in the right direction,” he said.
Read the rest of this story online at MichiganDaily.com
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Wednesday, March 11, 2015 // The Statement
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Personal Statement: Forging an Iron Man by Eric Ferguson, Daily Columnist
I
can tell you about three important and seemingly haphazard aspects of the person I was just prior to starting college. First, I was obsessed with grades. Second, I actively avoided situations where I would have to make a decision. And third, I had a not-so-minor obsession with the alternate universes created in the genres of science fiction and high fantasy. All three of these aspects of me remain unchanged; thankfully, many other things have changed. Four years ago (and in some respects as little as one year ago), I was incapable of actively thinking about my future and unable to fully acknowledge the existence of perspectives other than my own. These attitudes must have led to many unknownunknowns; I’m slightly shocked more of them haven’t come back to bite me in the ass. But over these last four years I have learned. Now, I have never felt more confident in who I am and what I want to do. Hard work, conscious reflection, massive privilege, and dumb luck are what enabled this; they are factors in an equation too complex for me to solve. If college is a time for young adults to broaden their minds, though, I think I have succeeded. However, I’m not done. There’s time left still, and I want to use part of it to decisively engage questions like “How’s your semester going?” “What are you doing after graduation?” and (most importantly) “If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose?” from which I would’ve shrunk as a freshman here. This is my chance to answer them. *** “How’s your semester going?” is a favorite of every adult I know, and, until this last semester, it always caused me somewhat of a panic. My parents pushed me to achieve in school from an early age; they wanted me to do well. I took that initial push and slowly magnified it. Over time, it became an obsession at the core of my entire life. This obsession propelled me to great heights, but it had a darker side as well. Until the last few months, I felt as if grades corresponded to my life. I felt that if I didn’t get nearly straight-A grades, I would be some kind of worthless waste of a person. That attitude transferred to other facets of my life as well. I have often felt as if one misstep among friends or at an internship would somehow render me worthless. As such, I was utterly fixated on external evaluations of my work and my decisions. I have a certain professor from last semester to thank for helping me get over this fixation. In his class, he made me grapple with some of the toughest questions out there — those pertaining to peacemaking, justice, and reconciliation in situations of mind-boggling complexity. Halfway through that class, I became despondent. I had spent twenty hours working on a single three-page paper that was supposed to be a reflection on what I had learned so far in his class, and I thought what I turned in was incoherent. I had no idea how to answer that prompt, and I felt
as if I were a dead man. To my great surprise, I ended up with an A in that class and some variant of an A in all my others. However, I have no confidence that these grades are comparable to each other. Unlike my other professors whose assignments and exams almost always demanded some kind of definitive answer to a question, this professor was different. His goal wasn’t for his students to develop such answers to the questions he posed; he knew life isn’t that simple. Instead, he challenged us almost every single class period to state what we had learned. I think his overall aim was to have us engage with intense complexity, and to make people like me realize that there are no “answers” or “grades” in real life. He taught me that while utter dependence on external evaluation might seem helpful in school, it is no way to live. I cannot always wait for someone else to evaluate my work and my decisions. I must do so first. He called that job self-leadership; it’s one I’m finally ready to take on. *** In the past, my answer to “What are you doing after grad-
organization to forging what I hope are lifelong networks of friends — has ultimately depended not on abstractions, but on real people. I still need to remind myself of this point often, and as I move forward in life I resolve to do so until it’s something I can’t possibly forget. *** The last (and most important) question is “If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose?” This one cuts deep, as I’ve always loved immersing myself in fictional universes. The transcendent abilities of characters such as Ender Wiggin, Will Stanton, Lyra Belacqua, and Tony Stark/Iron Man captured my entire imagination as a child and young adult. I would want to be whichever character happened to be in front of me. All seemed to have some power or superhuman understanding that allowed them to shape the course of their respective universes—all of which seemed so much better than my boring, real one. The only answer I can ever remember giving is Iron Man — as in Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of that character. It was a slightly ridiculous choice. Iron Man is a suit, not a person. The person who built it is Tony Stark, and what gave rise to the suit itself was his discovery that the power core he built to keep bits of shrapnel suspended in his chest could be put to other, grander uses. There certainly are benefits to being such a rich and brilliant man as Stark; however, there are massive risks to consider as well. In the movies, the power of Iron Man is not something Stark tends to handle very well. He tends to think he knows what’s best for others, and through acting on those notions he does at least as much harm as he does good. It’s something I’ve only recently come to realize myself, and I hope that realization will keep me far away from such situations in the future. *** Now, some real answers. My ILLUSTRATION BY MEGAN MULHOLLAND semester is going well. My three uation?” has often been silence. The future wasn’t something classes are some of the best I’ve I was at all interested in thinking about, mostly because I ever taken, and I’m having fun trying to make the most of was so fixated on what grades I was getting in school. But my remaining time on campus. I’m shooting for a job in D.C. it was also partly because I never really considered the fact after graduation; our world is an unjust and scary one, and I that graduation would eventually happen. think I can do something about that. And I would say to the This irrational attitude manifested in many forms, an last question that I wouldn’t want to pick a fictional charearly one of which being how I applied to a single university acter. As fantastic as they are, these people don’t exist, and coming out of high school. Once here, I attempted to be busy their worlds are fascinating without my being in them. and repeatedly told myself that I was. I learned if I presentI have definitely evolved over the last four years. I have ed that to the world, people generally wouldn’t ask about my changed and been re-formed in ways that touch my soul. future plans. I let my academic and personal interests run But I still catch myself thinking about that Iron Man amok, giving little conscious thought to their organization suit. I’m somehow compelled to see myself inside it. I canor to where they might lead me later on. not resist the imagery of using some great creation of mine But these interests did develop — albeit ever so slowly — to create change, a creation that draws its power from the and as they did, I came to know what job opportunities exist heart of me. for the policy-obsessed nerd I am. My interests coalesced I know now that when I act on this temptation, I am obliinto two internships in Washington, D.C. They’ve given me gated to use great care. I know also that this obligation is a a valuable head start in the job search, and I will always be weighty thing. grateful to the people I met in each. Moreover, I’ve realized But I will shoulder it anyways. I will try through what I that everything I’ve been able to do — from being admitted do to give back; to shine some small light into the shadowed to the Ford School of Public Policy to co-founding a student corners of the world in which I live.
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Wednesday, March 11, 2015 // The Statement
VISUAL STATEMENT: BAT TLE OF THE BAMBOO
Battle of the Bamboo is not exclusively for college organizations. These students from Northside College Prep High School are from one of two Chicago high schools that competed.
Michigan student Katalina Faraon, who is also the performance chair of FASA, starred in Semba as the priestess.
Battle of the Bamboo is an annual dance competition that celebrates Filipino culture. The event is held in Chicago, hosted by the University of Illinois, and features Filipino organizations from schools across the Midwest, such as Ohio State University, Northwestern University, and Loyola University. University of Michigan’s Filipino American Student Association, or FASA, competed for the first time this year on Feb. 21 and was very excited to place fourth overall. Each school choreographs their own eight minute dance, makes their own costumes and props, and often records their own music or performs it live. The work that goes into these performances is extremely extensive, but the results are magnificent. There is no greater celebration of Filipino culture in the Midwest.
Photo Story by Delaney Ryan
LEFT: Kapwa at Loyola University is a very large performance group that won last year and placed second this year.
The event drew a crowd of nearly 1,000 people this year.
Students from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign were ecstatic to win the first place