03-12-2015 by The Michigan Daily

CELEBRATING OUR ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Thursday, March 12, 2015

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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ADMINISTRATION

‘U’ declines to estimate timeline for FOIA docs.

IRENE KIM/Daily

E. Royster Harper, vice president of student life, discusses diversity and campus inclusion at the Trotter Multicultural Center Wednesday.

Student Life V.P. discusses diversity issues on campus E. Royster Harper facilitates dialogue on inclusion, U. of Oklahoma incident By ALLANA AKHTAR Daily Staff Reporter

E. Royster Harper, vice president for student life, sat down with a group of students Wednesday evening from all parts of campus to discuss diversity and the role adminis-

trators can play in facilitating it. According to Jackie Simpson, director of the Trotter Multicultural Center, the conversation, titled “Keepin’ It Real with VP Harper,” is part of a new effort by the Trotter Center and the Office of Multi-Ethnic Affairs to engage students and administrators personally. The initiative is meant to facilitate the discussion of and to combat issues of equity and inclusion on campus. The group discussed a variety of topics related to issues of diversity on campus, including methods for fostering a

welcoming campus climate, the drawbacks of the race and ethnicity requirement and the recent racial controversy at the University of Oklahoma. Royster said promoting an accepting campus climate is an important factor in preventing issues related to discrimination. However, she said that because “campus climate” is a nebulous word, it can be hard to measure. “How do you measure this feeling that’s almost like air,” Harper said. “It’s there, but it’s hard to describe and you know when it isn’t there. That’s one of

Officials have yet to provide requested records from federal Title IX investigation By SAM GRINGLAS and MAX RADWIN Managing News Editor and Daily Staff Reporter

the challenges around climate.” She added that a welcoming campus climate can include using pipeline programs, where universities begin recruiting in high school, to encourage lower-income and minority students to attend the University. Harper also noted that it is difficult to teach about racial differences and micro-aggressions in the first place, as many times people become desensitized to these conflicts. “The question is how do we respond in light of the way See DIVERSITY, Page 3A

The University has yet to release dozens of documents related to the U.S. Department of Education’s ongoing Title IX investigation of the University, which were requested and paid for in part by The Michigan Daily over two months ago. The Daily made a request to the University in December under the purview of the state’s Freedom of Information Act, and paid one of two $445 fees in January for the collection of documents related to sexual misconduct — including written complaints, e-mails from administrators and witness statements, among other documents. The state’s Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, provides for the release of records by public institutions in the state of Michigan,

FACULTY

GOVERNMENT

SACUA asks for modifications to disciplinary body Report alleges lack of due process in Office of Institutional Equity procedures By SHOHAM GEVA and CARLY NOAH Daily News Editor and Daily Staff Reporter

In a report sent to media Wednesday, the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs said the body sees several major flaws with how the University’s Office for Institutional Equity treats faculty members who are subjects of harassment and discrimination investigations. The report’s central concerns are the adequacy of due process protections in OIE procedures, and OIE’s application of those procedures in the cases of three faculty members who submitted complaints to SACUA. OIE is tasked in part with investigating

and resolving instances of discrimination and discriminatory harassment at the University. “The evidence available to us, examined in the course of reviewing OIE’s practices, raises serious doubts about the validity of the OIE findings in these cases,” the report read. “SACUA does not take a position on the outcome of these cases. But our findings regarding lack of due process necessitate reconsideration of these cases.” In regards to the identified issues with due process, Wednesday’s report recommended that OIE consult with SACUA to incorporate “fair and adequate notice, fair investigation processes and the ability to obtain an independent, meaningful and timely appeal of findings,” into its operations. The recommendation mirrored one provided in an April report to University Provost Martha Pollack. SACUA, the executive committee of the body that formally represents faculty, first began looking into OIE’s policies in 2012 when See SACUA, Page 3A

including the University. However, after the documents are requested, FOIA does not specify a deadline by which an institution must produce the documents. In a February phone interview with the Daily, Patricia Sellinger, the University’s FOIA coordinator, said she could not provide a timeline for when the Daily’s document request would be filled. She could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said he believes the University has surpassed what he considers a “reasonable time.” “Because of the national spotlight that has been focused on campus sexual assault, colleges everywhere are being asked for documents about how they handle those cases,” he said. “Understandably, there is sensitivity about records that might reveal confidential information about victims and some degree of redacting is probably legitimate. But that process really should not take months.” Though the FOIA does not specify a time frame for producing records, Jane Briggs-Bunting, an attorney, president of the Michigan See FOIA, Page 3A

White House announces new financial aid initiatives DELANEY RYAN/Daily

Activist and author Tawana Petty discusses the current status of education in Detroit and opportunities for change in the future at the Ford School Wednesday.

Detroit education panel considers lack of funding Discussion examines loss of stability with closing schools

By COLLEEN HARRISON Daily Staff Reporter

The future of education in Detroit was the focus of conversation Wednesday at the Ford School of Public Policy. Part of the Education Pol-

icy Initiative speaker series, the panel consisted of active members of the Detroit community who spoke about education issues. It was co-sponsored by the Public Policy School and the School of Education. Across the board, each speaker stressed the dysfunction of the city’s school system. One of the four speakers, Bridge Magazine reporter Chastity Pratt Dawsey, focused largely on the financial issues plaguing education

in the city. Dawsey noted that schools in Detroit often close due to eliminated funding and children often have to switch from school to school. Dawsey said when students lose their school, they lose the resources and connections they have built there. She explained that students gain important stability from the support systems they develop while in one school. “There are people in these schools who care that the See DETROIT, Page 3A

Executive action to increase oversight of lenders, work to decrease loan burden By EMMA KINERY Daily Staff Reporter

Following several announcements earlier this year, President Barack Obama again addressed higher-education policy in a speech Tuesday at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The president announced a presidential memorandum he signed earlier that morning, which he called a Student Aid Bill of Rights, that will direct the U.S. Department of Education to increase support for students to repay their student loans. In a White House conference call with college reporters Wednesday, the president said the creation of the Student Aid Bill of Rights would help alleviate concerns over See WHITE HOUSE, Page 3A

the b-side This week, the b-side takes a look at The Blind Pig

» INSIDE WEATHER TOMORROW

HI: 55 LO: 40

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NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM DeWolf suspect sentenced for murder MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS

INDEX

NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A SPORTS......................6A

SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A B-SIDE ....................1B

News

2A — Thursday, March 12, 2015

MONDAY: This Week in History

TUESDAY: Campus Voices

WEDNESDAY: In Other Ivory Towers

FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

THURSDAY: Twitter Talk

Engineering grad student Andrew Lynch tweeted a takeaway from a Depression Center conference.

College students that are more self-critical are not as effective at reaching their goals- Science says to love yourself! @DepressionCntr -@andrewmlynch

“

Michigan alumn and sports writer at State Champs! Sports Network Ben Szilagy excited to report from Yost.

Back at Yost tonight. I adore this place as much as I adore the Big House, not gonna lie.”

RUBY WALLAU/Daily

LSA junior Megan Klatt poses for a photograph with her white board during the This is What a Feminist Looks Like event hosted by Lean In at Mason Hall Wednesday.

— @BenSzilagy

“

Social media privacy

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THE WIRE

Poster fair

WHAT: School of Information Dean Jeffrey K. Mackie Mason will speak about privacy and security issues with social media sites. WHO: Osher Lifelong Learning Institute WHEN: Today from 10:00 a.m to 11:30 a.m. WHERE: Rave Cinema

Last DeWolf suspect sentenced BY ANASTASSIOS ADAMOPOULOS

The third suspect in the murder of University of Michigan medical student Paul DeWolf, has been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

THE WIRE

Dean Martin Twitter AMA BY IRENE PARK

LSA Dean Martin hosted an Ask Me Anything session on Twitter on Wednesday. Students asked questions ranging from his favorite tree to job prospects for liberal arts degrees.

WHAT: The ninth annual Research and Scholarship in Engineering Education Poster Fair will showcase faculty and graduate student work. WHO: CRLT-Engin WHEN: Today from 12:00 p.m to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: Lurie Robert H. Engineering Center, Johnson Rooms

#TMD

@michigandaily

Siri just got #Sirius: @UMengineering is building a customizable ‘intelligent personal assistant’ for your smartphone.” — @umich

Irish performance WHAT: Singer and songwriter Kitty Donohoe will perform both Irish and original songs to celebrare St. Patrick’s Day. WHO: Gifts of Art WHEN: Today from 12:10 p.m to 1 p.m. WHERE: University Hospitals

Writing minor Children’s showcase literature

Comparative religion

WHAT: Any students interested in the Sweetland Writing Minor can attend an information session where current students will be available to discuss the minor. WHO: Center for Campus Involvement WHEN: Today from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. WHERE: Pond Room, Michigan Union

WHAT: A lecture discussing how religion has become a comparative study. WHO: Department of History WHEN: Today from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. WHERE: Tisch Hall, 1014

WHAT: Author Norton Juster, best known for his book “The Phantom Tollbooth”, will be available for a question and answer session. A showing of a documentary will also be played during the event. WHO: UMMA WHEN: Today from 5:10 p.m. to 6:10 p.m. WHERE: Museum of Art

Each week, “Twitter Talk” is a forum to print tweets that are fun, informative, breaking or newsworthy, with an angle on the University, Ann Arbor and the state. All tweets have been edited for accurate spelling and grammar.

The University tweeted about the School of Engineering’s work with voice activated technology.

CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES ON THE WEB...

FRIDAY: Photos of the Week

l Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@ michigandaily.com.

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY

A member of the University of Oklahoma fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, has publicly issued an apology for the racist video of fraternity members, USA Today reported. Parker Rice said his actions were “wrong” and “reckless.”

Rock ‘n’ roll can never die, at least not at The Blind Pig. Daily Arts writer Christian Kennedy looks into the history of one of Ann Arbor’s premier music venues, discussing its past ownership and music styles. >>>FOR MORE, SEE B-SIDE

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has approved a powdered alcohol called Palcohol, the Associated Press reported. They approved the product last year but then reneged, saying it had been in error.

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Bill could increase campus sexual assault regulations Michigan senator co-sponsors federal effort to levy stricter penalties on colleges

The current bill is a strengthened version of a Campus Safety and Accountability Act bill initially proposed last summer. In a press release, Peters said the act aims to create real accountability for sexual assault crimes, and demand transparency from colleges and universities regarding the incidents that occur. “As the father of two teenage daughters, I’m proud to join with my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to tackle the serious problem of sexual assault on college campuses,” Peters said. “This bill is a major step towards creating an environment where all students can feel safe and secure while receiving a higher education by bringing more accountability and transparency to reporting sexual assault on campuses.” Holly Rider-Milkovich, director of the University’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, said because the proposed legislation is in its early stages in the Senate,

By SAMANTHA WINTNER Daily Staff Reporter

Last month, Sen. Gary Peters (D–Mich.), as part of a bipartisan group of 10 other senators, introduced a new piece of legislation that aims to strengthen efforts to prevent sexual assault on college campuses. Sen. Peters joined Senators Claire McCaskill (D–Mo.), Dean Heller (R–Nev.), Richard Blumenthal (D–Conn.), Chuck Grassley (R–Iowa), Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.), Kelly Ayotte (R–N.H.), Mark Warner (D–Va.), Marco Rubio (R–Fla.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R–W.V.) in cosponsoring Sudoku Syndicationthe Campus Safety and Accountability Act, which was introduced in the Senate on Feb. 26.

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it’s still too early to determine deemed wrong then they will whether University policies will never learn,” she wrote. comply with those outlined in Under the act, universities the act or what impact it will would be required to standardhave on campus. ize their approach to student However, she did point out disciplinary hearings across that the bill is largely silent on campus. Athletic departments the subject of prevention efforts, and other subgroups would be especially about the training of prohibited from handling comcollege stuplaints indedents, an pendently. area SAPAC “As the father of Furthermore, has focused the act manon. two teenage daugh- dates that “The bill schools notify ters, I’m proud to join both the vichas more of a focus on tim and the compliance with my colleagues accused withmatters and in 24 hours of relationon a bipartisan basis any decision ships to law regarding the enforceto tackle the serious advancement ment, and of a disciplinother kinds problem of sexual ary measure. of reporting Such commuresponsibiliassault on college nication must ties,” Riderinform both Milkovich campuses.” parties of the http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ said. “As it rights and due relates to the process protraining of students, that is a tections they are entitled to. place where the bill is less likely to impact SAPAC’s work.” In response to those parts of She noted that previously the legislation, Rider-Milkovich passed legislation, specifically said she thought the University the 2013 amendments to the already uses fair policies in disClery Act, provides guidance for ciplinary hearings. universities in terms of staff and She also noted that the student training. University’s Student Sexual In contrast, the new bill is Misconduct Policy applies unimainly focused on professional- formly to all students, irrespecizing the response to and report- tive of their status, affiliation or ing of sexual assaults that occur the school or college they belong on campuses, as well as protect- to. ing the rights of the accused, The legislation will also modifying financial penalties introduce enforceable Title IX and removing barriers for stu- penalties and stiffer penalties dents reporting assault. for Clery Act violations. In an e-mail interview, LSA Institutions that do not senior Hannah Crisler, the comply with certain requirecampaign director for I Will, ments of the Campus Safety and a student-led initiative to spur Accountability Act, Title IX and campus-wide conversation the Clery Act would be subject about sexual assault, highlight- to penalties as high as 1 percent ed the bill’s efforts to provide of their operating budget. resources and heighten aware“Previously, the only allowness for accused students. able penalty was the loss of all “If the accused are continu- federal student aid which is not ally attacked and blamed and practical and has never been left without education, without done,” Peters said in a release. advising, and without an underThe funds gathered by the standing of how their act was U.S. Department of Education

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from these higher penalties would go to a new grant program that would fund schools’ research for better methods of sexual assault prevention and crime response on their campuses. Rider-Milkovich applauded the inclusion of the fund, and said universities, researchers and legislators have not invested enough attention in addressing gaps in knowledge on these issues. “Seeking to reinvest any fines into research on best practices was very encouraging, and I am grateful that Senator McCaskill heard so many of us from the field who were asking for that,” she said. However, in regards to another section of the bill focused on professionalizing responses, which would require minimum training standards for on-campus personnel and the appointment of “confidential advisors” to provide guidance for survivors, Rider-Milkovich said she had some concerns. Currently, she said, the act specifies that confidential advisers cannot be undergraduate or graduate students, which could run contrary to a SAPAC graduate student internship program that trains students to engage with sexual assault prevention. “I have concerns that this legislation might undermine or eliminate this professional training program at SAPAC and at other campuses across the country,” she said. “So even as the legislation requires there to be professional staff advocates, we need to have the ability to train those advocates to do the kind of work that’s required on campuses.” The act also intends to survey students at every college and university in the country to assess sexual violence on college campuses. The results of these studies, which will be conducted biannually, will be released to inform prospective students. Late last year, the University announced it would conduct its own survey on campus climate

surrounding sexual assault. Also, under the bill, schools will no longer be allowed to penalize students who violated other parts of student conduct code in nonviolent manner during an incident. For example, students who, in reporting sexual violence, admit to underage drinking cannot be prosecuted for that action. Crisler said she thought that would be one of the more beneficial parts of the bill. “This addition to sexual violence policy is beneficial because students may feel more comfortable reporting an incident that included underage drinking, where as before they could have been scared of being reprimanded,” she said. “Without that penalty it also reinforces that sexual assault happens with or without alcohol, and that survivors should not be punished.” The act would also require institutions to enter into “memoranda of understanding” between local and campus enforcement agencies that report to campus, meaning that the two will collaborate, sharing jurisdiction. This eliminates any time wasted debating jurisdiction between the enforcement agencies. Rider-Milkovich said agreements with the Ann Arbor Police Department, the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department and Pittsfield Township already exist. Overall, both Rider-Milkovich and Crisler said they think this legislation has a lot of potential. “I was very pleased to see that the bill was created by a bipartisan group — it is so important that both Republicans and Democrats could gather and create something as a team,” Crisler said. “The Campus Sexual Assault and Accountability Act has a lot of hope, and is going to be a large step in the right direction towards providing safety, education, resources and hopefully prevention of sexual assault on college campuses.”

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FOIA From Page 1A

WHITE HOUSE From Page 1A

Coalition for Open Government and former director of Michigan State University’s School of Journalism, said many public institutions interpret the response period as applicable to the production of the documents as well. “U of M has obviously not interpreted it that way,” she said. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the Daily has requested very sensitive documents, and University officials need to ensure the release doesn’t violate the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, for example. He said two months is not an unreasonable time frame for the University to respond to such a request. Certain types of information are exempt from FOIA, and officials must review every document to redact information not permitted for release. He also said documents wouldn’t likely be released as they become available — per the Daily’s request — but they would most likely be produced as a full package. “It’s far more important to do this right than to do this quickly,” he said. Fitzgerald also said he couldn’t speculate on the length of the process, but said the review has started. “We just don’t know how long some of the things will take,” he said. In February 2014, the U.S. Department of Education announced it would launch a federal investigation of the University’s handling of sexual misconduct, prompted by two Title IX complaints submitted to the Department’s Office of Civil Rights. One of these complaints, lodged by Douglas Smith, a former professor of pathology at the University, alleged that the University mishandled sexual misconduct allegations against former Michigan kicker Brendan Gibbons. In January 2014, the Daily reported Gibbons had been permanently separated from the University for violating the student sexual misconduct policy. The University supplied hundreds of pages of documents related to sexual misconduct on campus to the Office of Civil Rights, including its policies governing sexual violence, any changes to those policies and the names of personnel responsible for investigating complaints. It also provided all formal and informal complaints of discrimination, and all e-mail correspondence regarding sexual misconduct. In September, the Daily requested access to many of the documents the University provided to the U.S. Department of Education, which the University’s FOIA office appraised at $1,720. The Daily revised its request in December to include only a portion of the documents involved in the investigation, which the office said would cost $890. The Daily paid the first half of this fee in January, but the University has not yet produced the documents. “There are a number of universities that seem to have a culture of obstructionism, and Michigan is certainly among them,” LoMonte said. “We’ve had recurring problems over the years of a culture of non-transparency.” Briggs-Bunting, who noted that two months “is more than adequate” for the University to produce the documents requested by the Daily, said the University seems to be “dragging its feet.” “They’re also playing a game because it’s not necessarily information that (they) want to go out in the public,” she said. “Certainly that’s not something that other public institutions haven’t attempted to do in the past.” Under a revised version of FOIA, effective July 1, public bodies will be required to provide an estimate of when records will be provided. Though the time estimate will not be binding, public institutions will be required to “provide the estimate in good faith and strive to be reasonably accurate.” Fitzgerald said the University will comply with state law when the revisions take effect, but for now the University does not have processes in place to provide a timeline estimate.

how much of an impact could be made on education at the federal level. “We’re continuing to just chip away at this problem — there’s no silver bullet,” Obama said Wednesday. “We’re going to have to do things at the federal level, the state level and the university level to really mobilize the entire country around the issue of college affordability.” The Student Aid Bill of Rights reads as follows: “Every student deserves access to a quality, affordable education at a college that’s cutting costs and increasing learning. Every student should be able to access the resources needed to pay for college. Every borrower has the right to an affordable repayment plan. And, every borrower has the right to quality customer service, reliable information and fair treatment, even if they struggle to repay their loans.” In support of the Bill of Rights, the memorandum is also meant to create policy solutions that will provide support for students repaying loan debt, Obama said. According to a White House report, more than 70 percent of today’s bachelor degree graduates leave with a debt, which is on average $28,400. In the state of Michigan, there are currently 1,516,000 student borrowers with about $40.1 billion in outstanding student loans. “I believe that America is not a place where higher education is a privilege that is reserved for the few,” Obama said Tuesday in Georgia. “America needs to be a place where higher education has to be available for every single person who’s willing to strive for it, who’s willing to work for it.” During his speech, the president outlined three major components of his program: creating a “responsive” student feedback system, promoting more affordable monthly payments and better meeting the needs of student borrowers. Under the memorandum, by July 1, 2016, the Department of Education is charged with creating a website for students to file complaints and feedback on federal student loan lenders, servicers, collections agencies, universities and colleges. The system aims to improve the timeliness of the Department of Education’s response to student borrowers. The president also said he wants to work with the Department of Education to study better responses to potential illegal activity pertaining both to loan regulation, and to how colleges and universities market themselves to students. Other components of the memorandum include ensuring that borrowers are able to meet their monthly loan payments. To achieve that objective, the government will work to increase transparency in the student loan

DETROIT From Page 1A children are there,” said Dawsey. Education Prof. Elizabeth Moje, associate dean for research and community engagement, agreed with Dawsey that the current school system lacks stability. “There is a lack of stability and a bounty of confusion, which makes the work of building leaders and teachers incredibly difficult,” she said. This is the second “The Future of Education in Detroit” event. According to Mahima Mahadevan, project manager in the Public Policy School, the first talk made it clear that more discussion about Detroit education was needed. “We felt an ongoing discussion was the most appropriate format to bring in the many voices and perspectives on this topic, having started with three panelists for the first event,” Mahadevan said. “We started planning soon after for a following event.” Mahadevan said she ensured each of the speakers had a strong tie to Detroit. “Our focus is to invite speakers with a personal stake in the education system in Detroit in order to share their understanding of the issues with our audience,” Mahadevan said.

News process by informing borrowers when their loans are transferred to a different service, as well as informing borrowers when they lag in their payments or do not complete applications to adjust their payment plans. Additionally, the memorandum calls for the creation of “centralized point of access” to help students pay back federal student loans, as well as requirements for loan providers to allow students to pay back loans with the highest interest rate. During Wednesday’s conference call, Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education, detailed the thinking behind providing these “centralized point of access.” “One is an integrated complaint system, where we want borrowers to be able to report to us on difficulties that they are having. That will help us resolve difficulties better and understand better how our servicers are performing,” Duncan said. “The other is an integrated database that will allow borrowers, in one spot, to look at the balances of all of their student loans, and begin there to make choices how to allocate payments among those loans.” The president also announced several partnerships to create programs aimed at facilitating payment of student loans. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will work to improve communication between lenders and borrowers and create payment plans with borrower habits in mind. The Office of Management and Budget will study payment plan trends to create policies better adjusted to the student borrowers. The president will also ask officials from all areas of government to improve lending practices and implement performance-based metrics to evaluate them. While Obama’s memorandum introduces several new plans, it builds on several pieces of legislation passed during his administration. The first point of the Bill of Rights is to allow every student access to a low cost post-high school education. To accomplish this, Obama cited his proposed two years of free community college education, as well as his administration’s First in the World Grants, to which the Department of Education allocated $75 million in September. Obama has since proposed an increase to $200 million. To ensure that every student in America can afford to go to college, the Obama administration has also increased the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,730 in the 2014-2015 academic year, which is almost $1,000 more than the 2008 maximum. The president has also proposed additional increases so the Pell Grant maximum keeps up with inflation. The necessity for the increase in grants was highlighted by Stephen Culbertson, the communications director for the University’s chapter of the College Democrats, as especially pertinent in Ann Arbor.

“The perfect example of [the need for financial aid reform] is here at the University of Michigan,” Culbertson said. “The lack of economic diversity on the campus is kind of indicative of how prohibitive the cost of higher education is becoming, and particularly higher education is becoming at high-level public institutions. There’s not enough being done. Federal programs can only go so far, a lot of the problem lies at the state level. There’s not adequate funding.” The University’s chapter of the College Republicans did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of Edvisors Network, a national organization that assists students find financial aid opportunities, said he was optimistic about the latest proposals, but felt that there was still more to be done. “It’s a step in the right direction,” Kantrowitz said. “It gathers together several interesting proposals that, on the whole, will provide some benefits, such as the proposal to require federal loan servicers to apply prepayments to the highest rate loan.” Though he said he was happy to hear that financial aid was a topic of discussion, he added that he was unsure if all the president’s proposals were feasible without congressional action. “I think it’s going to provide some good, but it’s not going to be earth-shaking in its effects,” Kantrowitz said. “It’ll help some students — borrowers who are struggling — but it’s not increasing the amount of money for grants, for example. It’s not teaching people to borrow only what they can afford, and I think those are key problems that need to be addressed.” Culbertson also said there was a need for student financial aid reform, but was unsure about how much could be done about student financial aid at the federal level. “In and of itself, the Student Aid Bill of Rights is not so much a policy solution,” he said. “It’s kind of broad directives that President Obama has released to kind of signal that ‘this is an issue we are looking at more closely on the federal level and we as the government care about, that we want to make college more affordable, we want to make taking out a student loan more clear and simplified.’ ” In the conference call with reporters, the president urged readers who agreed with the proposal to sign a statement of support at whitehouse.gov/collegeopportunity. “We want to mobilize the energy and focus the attention of everybody nationally around the basic principles to make it easier to get young people to have the education they need,” Obama said. “We don’t want to allow higher education to become a luxury. It’s an economic imperative that every American family should be able to afford.” Daily Staff Reporter Isobel Futter contributed reporting.

Detroit native Tawana Petty, another panelist, said she brought her own perspective to the topic of education in the city. “I am representing as a mom, an organizer, author, poet — someone who has come through … Detroit Public Schools, and raised a son through Detroit Public Schools,” she said. As a graduate of the DPS, Petty stressed the current struggle she finds between so many subcomponents of the district. “The struggle between charters, between public schools, between board members, between coalitions, between foundations — pretty much any entity that feels that they have a vested interest in the education of young people in Detroit,” she said. Petty is a member of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center board, an initiative that works to better Detroit communities, in part through advocating for changes in education. She said the board is pushing to take Detroit away from what she calls a binary system of education, meaning people are either educated or they are not. Petty said they do this by fostering educational opportunities outside of the traditional classroom setting, as well as by exploring alternative educational systems. “When we look at alternatives, we look at re-spiriting young people’s inherent gifts

and nurturing their imaginations,” she said. “We’re looking at providing them an opportunity to envision what their future can look like whether or not they go to college, whether or not they get a ‘good job. ’ ” Moje said she finds panels exceptionally important for fostering educational reform, particularly in a city like Detroit, where the school system is frequently known for “systematic failure.” “We need to hear from people who live and work in Detroit about what they see as the education needs of their children and youth,” Moje said. During his speech, Lamont Satchel, chief innovation officer for DPS, placed his focus on funding within the district. He said the financial issues Detroit faces are also faced by other districts. Particularly in Detroit, panelists said funding issues and a growing number of charter schools caused massive cuts throughout the system. With students shuffled from school to school as they close, many children end up leaving the district to attend another school or drop out altogether. Satchel said, when children leave the district for schooling, DPS loses even more funding. “You reach a point where you have to ask yourself: is this working?” Satchel said.

Thursday, March 12, 2015 — 3A

SACUA From Page 1A the faculty grievance monitor raised concerns about the lack of due process in OIE’s procedures. The faculty grievance monitor is responsible for monitoring grievance procedures, but has no power in the process. They report their findings — specifically unacceptable delays — to the director of Academic Human Resources. SACUA raised these concerns to the director of Academic Human Resources and the director of OIE in November 2013, according to the report. They also included their concerns in an April report to Pollack. Shortly after that report was filed, SACUA received a formal complaint from a faculty member who had been the subject of an OIE investigation. Because SACUA considers faculty members as under its jurisdiction, the group asked the Faculty Hearing Committee to investigate and report on the complaint’s allegations. Two subsequent faculty complaints about OIE policies were also filed to the FHC on August 4, 2014, and September 8, 2014, respectively. More broadly, Wednesday’s report recommended that all OIE decisions and actions be subject to immediate review under the current faculty grievance procedures until new ones are adopted. It also recommended that all OIE investigations that would result specifically in the termination, dismissal or demotion of a faculty member should be conducted under the auspices of Regents Bylaw 5.09, which governs how faculty are dismissed, demoted and terminated. Additionally, in regards to the three faculty members who submitted complaints to SACUA about OIE proceedings, the report recommended that the verdicts in their cases be reversed until they could be “reconsidered in a forum with appropriate due process protections.” The report cited minutes from an August 26, 2013 SACUA meeting where the chair read several responses from OIE to questions from SACUA, including a response that held that OIE proceedings against faculty are not subject to standard grievance proceedings, protocals for challenging a University action.

DIVERSITY From Page 1A many of us have been raised and socialized and taught to believe that it’s OK?” she said. To build a positive climate on campus, LSA junior Micah Griggs said students shouldn’t depend on others to take action. “We can’t just wait for the next class and hope they want to make change,” Griggs said. LSA sophomore Steven Halperin, the Make Michigan vice presidential candidate in the upcoming Central Student Government elections, spoke about how the classes that fulfill the University’s race and ethnicity requirement do not adequately teaching students about the challenges faced by minorities today because they largely focus on the past. “A lot of the time with these short conversations, it’s easy to take out of it a message,” Halperin said. “But you’re not really getting deep into the topic.” Simpson asked students if they felt the president of the University of Oklahoma was right in expelling the fraternity leaders of that university’s SAE chapter responsible for a racist chant. Responding to the argument that students were expressing their right to free speech, Rackham student Portia Hemphill said she believes OU’s president handled the situation well, as the idea of free speech is conditional and should not impede the civil liberties of others. Furthermore, she said because the president was an older white

According to SACUA’s website, any University faculty member can file a complaint to SACUA within 90 days of the date the grievance first took place. The parties at which the faculty complaint is directed are responsible for making a decision at the departmental level. If the grievance cannot be resolved at the departmental level, it is brought in front of the Grievance Hearing Board. The GHB is only to be attended by the grieving parties and their advisers, who can be attorneys. Witnesses are only to be present at the GHB when they are testifying. In an e-mail interview, SACUA Chair Scott Masten, a professor of business economics and public policy, wrote that the next step for SACUA is to present the report to the Senate Assembly Committee where representatives from the University’s departments will have an opportunity to comment on the proposal. “Beyond that, we expect to work with the University administration to explore ways to improve OIE procedures to address our due process concerns, including the establishment of a credible appeal process,” Masten wrote. “All of this, of course, will be done with recognition of the University’s commitment to maintaining a work environment free of discrimination and harassment.” Masten added that for most faculty members, the report will have little effect because the majority of University faculty will not be accused of the types of behavior OIE is responsible for investigating. “But for those who do, the addition of basic due process protections — of the type that students are already guaranteed — should help to assure that outcomes are fairer and less prone to error,” Masten wrote. University spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald wrote in a statement that the University plans to review the recommendations detailed in the report. “We stand behind the professionalism of the staff in Academic Human Resources and the Office for Institutional Equity,” he wrote. “We also note that the SACUA report has some good suggestions about enhancements to our processes that we are looking into implementing, and we will carefully consider what SACUA has provided.”

man from a southern state, he set the tone for how future situations of this nature should be handled. Other students felt, though these particular students were expelled, the measure may have been ineffective at getting at the larger problem of racism within the OU community. LSA senior Joshua Thurman said the video should be a call for all college students to address the issue of racial prejudice on campuses, even if it does not feel pressing because the instance only occurred at OU. “It’s about making the connection of how that video relates to our campus climate,” he said, “And even though we don’t have people on video right now singing songs like that, there are other instances and other manifestations of the same thing happening here.” A racially insensitive party theme created by the University Theta Xi chapter played a role in spurring the Black Student Union’s Black Student Union’s #BBUM Twitter campaign, which launched a campuswide conversation about race on campus. When asked about what a diverse campus community means to her, Harper said it is a community that fosters a sense that the people around you matter. She said both communities and individuals lose when people do not learn from those with different backgrounds. “The gift is to yourself, because I better understand me when I’m trying to understand you,” Harper said.

Opinion

4A — Thursday, March 12, 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.

FROM THE DAILY

Protecting all identities

dhering to its company policy of “no judgment,” recent action taken to ensure a transgender-friendly environment at a local branch of Planet Fitness in Midland, Mich. has raised public concern regarding transgender rights and individual rights to privacy. The company displayed a highly commendable response to the continual complaints made to employees and to other members about the presence of a transgender female in the women’s locker room at the gym. In response, Planet Fitness withdrew the membership of the complaining patron. According to a statement issued by the public relations director of Planet Fitness, members are allowed to utilize a locker room “corresponding with their gender identity.” Despite the progressive stance taken by Planet Fitness, these events illustrate the need to re-evaluate the current state of transgender protections and to promote anti-discriminatory policies at both the national and state level. Protections for transgender individuals are severely lacking. According to the Transgender Law and Policy Institute, only 16 states — in addition to the District of Columbia — uphold legislation that forbids discrimination based upon an individual’s gender identity or expression. Michigan is not included among these states. In addition, transgender individuals are prohibited from serving openly in any branch of the armed forces, and under regulations, these individuals are deemed “unfit for service.” However, a recent army regulation minimally inhibits the discharge process of transgender service members by requiring the discharge procedures to be authorized by the assistant secretary of the army. Furthermore, these steps are small and ambiguous. Currently, no legislation dictating which restroom an individual can use exists in the state of Michigan, similar to many other states. An individual who uses a restroom that doesn’t correspond with their biological sex could potentially be charged with “disturbing the peace.” Recent legislation proposed in Kentucky, Florida and Texas has sought to impose restrictions on transgender individuals from using a restroom that corresponds with their preferred gender identity. The bills propose varying degrees of fines or penalties for violating the provision.

While transgender protections and resources at the national and state level need to undergo major reform, the University maintains a fairly progressive approach to ensuring an inclusive environment. The Spectrum Center offers a wide array of resources for transgender faculty and students, and the University itself features a non-discriminatory employment policy for faculty. The University, likewise, offers gender-inclusive housing for students and gender-neutral restrooms across campus. For example, the Gender Inclusive Living Experience includes a section of rooms in East Quad and gender-inclusive restrooms are located in East Quad, Alice Lloyd, Markley, Mosher-Jordan and Baits II residence halls. One drawback of the University’s approach is that available resources are under-publicized. Ensuring an inclusive campus environment is an issue of importance for most on campus, and yet, many students may be unaware of the existence of gender-neutral programs and areas. The goal of the University — as well as the state and the nation at large — should be to be considerate of all individuals. Through numerous institutions and public structures, we must ensure that adequate gender-neutral options are widely available and that action is taken to provide a welcoming and safe environment for all individuals.

MATT FIDEL | VIEWPOINT

Moving on, moving forward My fellow Wolverines, As an elected representative of the Central Student Government and as a member of Greek life, I owe each and every member of the University community an apology. Over the weekend of January 16-18, my fraternity and I went on a ski trip. On that ski trip, some members caused extensive damage to the host resort. While my fraternity is making full restitution to the owner, the destruction was appalling and inexcusable, and I condemn it in the harshest terms. I am even more saddened by the damage that my fellow students caused to the reputation of the University. It pains me to know that members of my own fraternity were able to tarnish the good name of our fraternity, Michigan Greek life and the entire University. Let me say in the clearest terms — I did not commit any damage to the resort, nor did I witness any destruction as it was taking place. When I discovered what had happened, I was horrified and deeply ashamed of the behavior of my peers. I immediately began working with other members of my fraternity to mitigate and control the situation to prevent further destruction. As a leader on this campus, I am accountable to each of you. Leaders do not run away from problems; they confront them and work toward solutions. Since that weekend, I have helped lead my fraternity brothers in an attempt to right the wrongs that were committed. I organized four build sites through Habitat for Humanity that will be dedicated shortly. In order to begin mending the ties with our neighboring communities, I planned a chapter service trip to Detroit, with the help of The Detroit Partnership. I am a strong believer in the principle of restorative justice, and the fraternity is working to repair relations with our neighbors. I refuse to be defined by the actions of others. My record speaks for itself. I have dedicated my time on campus to positive, worthwhile causes and have worked to impact meaningful change. While serving on the boards of SRC and GARP, I devoted time to maintaining Greek self-governance, safety and responsibility. As an LSA representative on Central Student Government, I have pursued change within the dining department, planned events such as the Police Brutality Speak-out and worked to increase diversity on campus by serving on CSG’s On-Site Admissions Task Force. I have met with administrators to discuss problems on campus, and I have worked with administrators to create

solutions to these problems. Most recently, I worked with the Dining Department to design a program that will allow students to donate their leftover Dining Dollars and Blue Bucks at the end of the year to local food pantries. Beginning at the end of March, all students will be able to donate money in $1 increments at all campus stores, like U-Go’s, Victors and the Blue Apple. The money that is raised will be used to purchase local, sustainable, non-perishable food that will be donated to local food pantries, including our campus’ own student food pantry. As a student leader, I have worked to represent the interests of fellow students and to build a better campus for all communities. As a candidate for CSG vice president with The Team, I plan to continue and expand upon this important work. I want to ensure that as the voice of the students, our CSG is representative of all communities on campus, not just those of a few. It’s time for all students to have easy, convenient access to their elected representatives so that CSG gives students a chance to share their ideas and accomplish their goals. CSG has tremendous potential to be a driver of collaboration with and empowerment of student leaders, not of competition and politics. Student leaders should be able to rely on CSG’s budget, administration connections and clout as a platform to advance their great work on campus. Together, we can support and empower student leaders across campus to better address important issues such as increased minority enrollment, increased sexual assault awareness and prevention efforts and an improved campus climate. By working together, our collective potential is much greater than that of any individual. I ask you to judge me based on my accomplishments and my ideas rather than on the actions of some members of my fraternity. I am not my fraternity. I am Matt Fidel. I am running for Vice President because I see the great potential of CSG, and I want to continue serving you. I am a member of The Team, and together we can focus on the real opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. With your input and support, we can partner to accomplish our shared goals. We have serious work to do, and I look forward to getting started. Feel free to e-mail me at mhfidel@umich.edu if you have any questions or ideas that you would like to discuss together. Matt Fidel is an LSA sophomore.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Loving, eventually

ast night, I had dinner with a cousin with whom I haven’t had a real discussion in a while. She, an alum of Harvard and Stanford and now a federal prosecutor, is some 10 years my senior. Suffice it to say, we’ve rarely had much common ground from which to stimulate ELI discussion at Pass- CAHAN over every other year, when I was going through my awkward phase (OK, it’s still going, but you get my point). Now, for really the first time, we could share a meal, a drink and carry a conversation. Naturally, as tends to be the case with family, the dialogue inevitably turned to relationships. We spoke about hers (she’s been in one for 18 months), mine (previous, not current) as well as our siblings’. An analogous thread became obvious — Cahans, as a family that gravitates towards high-stress occupations (doctors, lawyers, the whole shtick), appear on the surface to date characters far more, shall we say, ‘relaxed’ than us. I guess there’s something in the water. In any case, the law of romantic complements dictates that we are compelled to seek the yins to our yangs. Indeed, opposites attract. That always was the espoused truth for interactions in physics, as with physical interactions. So the relationship parallels we noticed are none too surprising, according to the traditional doctrine. However, recent research shows that the eternal mantra of synergistic differences in relationships may not be valid. A fascinating article from the statistical blog FiveThirtyEight, titled “In the End, People May Really Just Want to Date Themselves,” challenges the pervading logic. The article, through thorough statistical analyses based on data sets from eHarmony, illustrates

that “birds of a feather flock together.” Further, the avian phenomenon takes flight in two ways: firstly, people generally prefer those with traits like them and secondly, everyone prefers certain traits, and indicate even stronger preference with regards to those which they, too, personify. To clarify: everyone likes blue birds. Red birds like blue birds. Red birds also like red birds. But blue birds really like blue birds. Amazingly, 23andme data actually codifies this nesting logic at the genetic level as well. Now, to use another metaphor, this explains why we order what we order when we get to the restaurant. But how do we find the restaurant in the first place? Another article, this time from practical-science blog Nautilus, titled “Casual Sex May be Improving America’s Marriages,” sheds some light on the question. The piece, written by the Chief Scientific Advisor to Match. com, reveals a seemingly paradoxical point: one-night stands might actually be helping American marriages. The author, Dr. Helen Fisher, explains that one-night stands are but the initial step in a sequential, “slow love” process. Thereafter, the progression moves to “friends with benefits” (“commitment-lite”), and then “devoted mating partner” (“commitment-heavy”), and then finally, formal marriage. ‘Deliberate’ seems the adjective of choice in comparison with the full force gale of historical companionship. Partnership must be personified before being signed into the legal codes. Nonetheless, there has been ample handwringing over the millennial marriage issue. Much has been written on the delayed nature of millennial marriages. Numerically speaking, the average pre-marriage relationships takes between 18 to 34 months and 46 percent fewer millennials are married between ages 18 to 32, when compared to the baby boomers. What to make of the concern? It seems to me that the concern is misplaced. Neuroscientific research

suggests two distinct timeframes in the early life of romantic relationships. The first, dominating the first eight months of relationships, is a sort of euphoria — the technical term being “limerence.” Neural circuitry in the subcortical, dopamine-rich, immediate reward regions is most active. The second timeframe blooms during the eight- to 17-month period, and reflects a sort of romantic commitment. Neural circuitry in the caudate body, associated with reward deference, is most active. In other words, the romantic lens does not widen to include a longterm horizon until between eight and 17 months. Assuming couples wait around a year after engagement to get married, this falls right into the average pre-marriage length for relationships mentioned above. So, though in my previous piece I mentioned the “rationality” of millennial relationships, perhaps my word choice was off. Rather, our relationships appear intensely and intimately visceral. Driven by an incessant fear of a risk on the one hand and a slowly developing neuro-sensory attachment on the other, we are relying on our own feelings to navigate the seas of romance more than ever. We are waiting until we’re ready because that’s when it feels right. We are partial to those most like us because they feel familiar, comforting and consistent amidst an ocean of uncertainty. The other thing I forgot to mention about Cahans is that, for some odd reason, there hasn’t been a marriage yet in my generation. Long-term companionship abounds, but legal partnership is nowhere to be found. Maybe we should date people more like us. Or maybe we should go out more (that much is certainly true). Or maybe, just maybe, we, like so many other millennials, are just trying to weave our way through the waves that so poignantly symbolize the ups and downs of love. No rush. — Eli Cahan can be reached at emcahan@umich.edu.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

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

A best friend and a fairy godmother

“I

t sounded like a good idea seven months ago!” I ran past a bystander holding this sign during my first half-marathon and fluttered back and forth between wanting to laugh and wanting to punch him. My friend Crystal and I signed up for the KATIE Disney Princess KOZIARA Half Marathon over the summer, thinking the February race would motivate us to keep up our running routines during the winter. We took into account that the race would require us to train hardest during the coldest, snowiest time of the year, but we quickly brushed this off. “We’ll get cute winter running gear!” we rationalized, and booked our tickets to sunny Florida. Fast forward to three weeks ago. Crystal and I stepped off the plane in Orlando sporting sneakers and leggings, pretending to be runners. I wish I could say our cute winter running gear allowed us to stick to a training plan. I wish I could say we diligently ran our mid-week speed workouts next to each other on the Landmark treadmills while we looked out the windows at the snow. But if I’m being honest, our training mostly consisted of logging a quick two miles every five days or so, combined with an occasional cross-training routine where we watched Bravo while pretending to do planks on Lululemon yoga mats. In the two days leading up to the race we walked around the Disney parks, attempting to pick out our fellow runners. This was much more difficult than it seemed, considering running shorts and tennis shoes seem to be an unspoken uniform for all theme park attendees. We wondered if anyone was looking at us, trying to figure out if we were runners, looked at each other, and laughed. If they were, we made it difficult for them to guess due to the fishbowl-sized margarita and jumbo-sized order of nachos we were carrying around. On Saturday night, we decided to get serious about the race. At that point, though, all “training” efforts would be useless, and the best we

could do was hydrate and carb-load for our long run the next morning. Unfortunately, all of the other 20,000 runners came prepared, taking up all the reservations at the Italian restaurants across Disney World. We settled for tacos from a quick-service Mexican booth and a pastry from a French bakery. The race began at 5:30 in the morning, and due to the large number of people participating, Disney suggested boarding the buses by 4 a.m. Logically, our fellow runners began leaving the parks around 7 p.m. on Saturday night to get a good night’s rest. Crystal and I found the temptation of a nearly empty park and short wait times for popular rides to be entirely too strong, and ended up staying at the park until closing. We did not see the error of our ways until our alarm went off just a few hours after we set it. Time to run. After stumbling around in the dark to find our tennis shoes and bibs, we hopped on a bus. Once we got to the pre-race area, we were able to stretch a bit and take some photos. It was 55 degrees that morning, or, as it’s known locally here in Michigan, a heat wave. If you’ve never seen pictures from a Disney race, it looks pretty different than your typical half marathon. Racers sport tutus and costumes resembling their favorite Disney characters, and about every half-mile, there is a different character photo spot where you can wait in line to take a picture with Mickey or Buzz Lightyear. A fairy godmother sends each of the 16 corrals on their way, and fireworks accompany each of these starts. It’s one of the least intimidating longdistance races, which probably contributes to the fact that over half of the runners were first time half-marathoners. Solidarity, group of Cinderellas to my left. To quote my favorite Disney Channel original movie, we’re all in this together. Since we were in one of the middle corrals, we didn’t actually cross the starting line until 6 a.m. As we ran past mile marker three, we saw some of the fastest runners blow by mile marker 10. Crystal turned to me, eyes wide, and shouted “life goals!” above the music. I looked back with my eyebrow raised. My parents always told me I could do anything I set my mind to, but I’m pretty sure running a half

marathon in under an hour and a half is out of my reach. I was just out there trying to finish the race. One of the most famous aspects of the Princess Half is the fact that around the halfway mark, participants get to run through Cinderella’s Castle in Magic Kingdom. Up until that point we felt great, which was amazing considering the last time we ran six miles was in November. Once we reached this point, though, Crystal’s ankle — previously weakened by a September football pregame-related ankle injury involving a ledge and a few trips to the nearest urgent care center — began bugging her. We hobbled along until we found a medic tent, which was about the same time we discovered the free Clif Shots volunteers were passing out. These small pouches of saving grace provided the same effect as if we were in a video game and collected an extra life — our fictional battery power meters returned to 100 percent. From then on, it was pretty smooth sailing. We really tried to focus on staying in the moment, noticing what different causes people were running for and enjoying this experience the two of us got to have together. Toward the end of the race the course goes up an overpass, and the vantage point allows runners to see the thousands of people following them on their journey to 13.1 miles. Around this point, it hit me that I was going to finish a half marathon with my best friend and accomplish a goal I didn’t have the confidence to go after alone. We crossed the finish line and collected our medals, not able to fully comprehend that we actually just completed the race. We spent the next few days walking around the parks in our race swag, looking like two old ladies who needed canes a result of not training properly. But that was worth it. We’re half marathoners now. Of course, we definitely should have trained more consistently. But we didn’t use our failure to prepare as an excuse to hold us back from our goal. I think sometimes all you need is a best friend and a fairy godmother to ignore all the reasons why you can’t accomplish a dream. I know I’m grateful for mine. — Katie Koziara can be reached at kkoziara@umich.edu.

Weekend Roundup

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Arts & Culture

Thursday, March 12, 2015 — 5A

EVENT SPOTLIGHT: Sister Africa Culture Show By Allana Akhtar, Weekend Roundup Editor | Photos courtesy of African Students Association

The African Students Association will host its 17th annual Sister Africa Culture Show on Friday at the Michigan Theater. “The purpose of our show this year is to showcase how African culture impacted other cultures from around the world,” said LSA senior Olubisi Ajetunmobi, president of ASA. Emceed by prominent African comedian Foxy P, the event will showcase a variety of performances highlighting African culture and its influence around the world. In addition to a fashion show and performances by University dance groups, the event will feature a performance by the Kenyan Zuzu Acrobats, an acrobatic team that previously competed on “America’s Got Talent.” According to Ajetunmobi, the culture show started two years after the ASA was founded on campus in 1996 and has been an annual installment since. The culture show was

originally a smaller event in the Michigan Union, but has since expanded considerably and has been hosted in the Power Center for the past two years. This year, ASA is moving the production to the Michigan Theater in hopes that the new location will allow for further expansion. The culture show will also include Amala, Oga Boys and Brazilian Capoeira dance performances. Additionally, many prominent fashion designers, singers, musicians and poets from all over the nation will showcase their work. “We just hope that students who come to the show see that there’s more to Africa than what they see on the news or on TV,” Ajetunmobi said. “We also want to show how impactful Africa is to so many cultures around the world.” ASA is co-sponsoring the evASA is co-sponsoring the event with the Office of MultiEthnic Student Affairs, Central

EVENTS Thursday, 3/12

Austin Andres’ “Mendosa Trilogy” 11 p.m. Walgreen Drama Center

Friday, 3/13

and LSA student governments and the Multicultural Councils in most residence halls. Tickets are $5 for students

TH I S WE E K I N R EVI EW

By CARLY NOAH

Daily Weekend Contributor

Around Campus CSG proposes committee for fossil fuel disinvestment Monday, a proposal to support the creation of a committee to research the University’s investments in oil and coal was brought to Central Student Government by CSG representative Swathi Shanmugasundaram, an LSA sophomore, and the Divest and Invest campaign, a coalition of students, faculty, staff and community members. The proposal was questioned by CSG President Bobby Dishell, a Public Policy senior, who wanted the group to perform research without needing to form a committee.

University President addresses Greek life controversies University President Mark Schissel held a fireside chat Monday afternoon where he addressed the implications of recent Greek life ski trips. The University has recently severed ties with Sigma Alpha Mu, one of the fraternities reported to have vandalized a resort during their ski trip. Schissel asked the 30 students in the audience how to create a culture where it’s possible to have an enjoyable time without creating mayhem.

day showed several University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members chanting a racist song on a bus en route to a Greek life event. As a result, the fraternity has been removed from the University of Oklahoma and their house is in the process of being dismantled.

Homeopathy deemed useless, according to Australian researchers Australia’s top medical research body, The National Health and Medical Research Council, issued a report stating there is a lack of reliable evidence proving Around the world homeopathy to be an effective treatment option for University of Oklahoma any health condition. The racist fraternity body hopes the report will video goes viral discourage Australian inAn anonymous video surance groups from coverreleased to media Satur- ing homeopathic treatments.

3 THINGS

to do this weekend

By EMILIE PLESSET Daily Weekend Editor

The temperature is finally above 40 degrees and the Diag is underwater. Spring has sprung in Ann Arbor and it’s time to do something fun. If you’re ready to break out of your winter hibernation, here are some things you can do this weekend to embrace the new season. FRIDAY, MARCH 13 If you find yourself with some post-midterms free time, start reading the popular “Divergent” trilogy before the film adaption of the sequel, “Insurgent,” hits theaters next Friday, March 20. The series follows 16-year-old Beatrice “Tris” Prior as she endures a society in a future dystopian Chicago that categorizes people into five factions and eliminates those who exercise independence from the system. While you’re at it, if you can’t get enough of the Divergent universe, you might also want to re-watch the film version of the first book, “Divergent.” SATURDAY, MARCH 14 Looking for a culture fix? The Detroit Institute of Arts will open its exhibition on the year 20th-century Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo spent in Detroit. The exhibition will open Saturday evening

VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily

University students at the Dance Marathon in 2014 standing for 30 hours to raise money to improve the quality of life for children with disabilities.

and guests are encouraged to wear rebozos, bright colors and flowers. The opening will include appetizers and entertainment by Mariachi Gallos de Oro and Ballet Folklorico Mayocoyani Izel. Tickets can be purchased online for $25. SUNDAY, MARCH 15 After spending the school year fundraising, the efforts of the University’s Dance Marathon will finally culminate in its 18th annual fundraising

CAMPUS

rave this weekend. Throughout the year, the organization has been raising money to support therapy programs at the University’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and William Beaumont Children’s Hospital in Royal Oak. Beginning Saturday at 2 p.m., hundreds of students will stand for 24 hours as they dance and play with children who are benefiting from the raised money. If you’re not already participating, make sure you stop by to support your friends at DMUM.

and $8 for non-students. How- in any residence hall or at the ever, students can attend the New Student Programs center show for free if they pick up in the LSA Building. a Passport to the Arts ticket

S TA F F P I C K S SPRING BREAK... CHECKIN’ OUT

“ C I N D E R E L L A”

IN THE ATE RS FRIDAY 3/1 3

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RELEASE DATE– Thursday, March 12, 2015

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SERVICES

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35 Special something 36 Co. runners 38 Dorothy Parker’s “Excuse my dust” and others 39 Like the Taj Mahal 42 Bagel topping 44 Precisely, after “on” 46 Town crier’s cry 47 JFK info 49 Prior to today, poetically

50 Save 51 Fords that never got going 53 Usually stained work garb 55 French Open surface 56 Bat mitzvah dance 57 “The Big Bang Theory” network 58 Author Rand 59 Seesaw need

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Sports

6A — Thursday, March 12, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

‘M’ underdog in Big Ten Tournament By LEV FACHER Managing Editor

The Michigan men’s basketball team has played Illinois twice in the 2014-2015 season, earning a hard-fought win on Dec. 30 in Ann Arbor but imploding in overtime in Champaign Michigan on Feb. 12, suffering a vs. Illinois 12-point loss. Matchup: The Michigan 15-15; Illinois Wolverines (8-10 Big Ten, 19-12 15-15 overall) When: Thursget a chance day 12 P.M. to take the Where: United season series Center Thursday in the TV/Radio: second round BTN of the Big Ten Tournament at the United Center in Chicago. Michigan, the No. 9 seed in the tournament, is a slight underdog against the eighthseeded Fighting Illini (9-9, 19-12). The winner, regardless, has little reason for broader optimism, as top-seeded Wisconsin has the luxury of resting and waiting to take on the second-round survivor on Friday. For the Wolverines’ few veterans, the underdog status is unfamiliar. Senior forward Max Bielfeldt, for instance, recalls entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed in 2012, No. 5 seed in 2013 and No. 1 seed in 2014. “We just have a different mentality going in,” Bielfeldt said, “just knowing that to make some noise, we have to surprise people. “We have to go in and beat Illinois and beat Wisconsin, which is the Big Ten’s best team right now. … In the past, that’s been us.” The Wolverines could have easily earned a higher seed if it weren’t for a series of games

they struggled to close out, including an overtime loss to Michigan State and a doubleovertime heartbreaker last week at Northwestern. The Feb. 12 game at Illinois was another example. After holding a slight edge over Illinois for much of regulation in the defensive struggle, Michigan ran out of gas. The Fighting Illini finished the game on a 21-2 run — the Wolverines’ late-game 50-43 lead vanished in the blink of an eye, and they lost handily, 64-52. “When we think things are really stagnant, what are we going to do?” Beilein said when asked how Michigan would stand up to similar runs in the future. “Punch the ball inside and get to the foul line.” The Wolverines’ ability to punch the ball inside is much improved by the return of freshman forward Ricky Doyle from an intestinal virus. His absence allowed Bielfeldt to take the reigns on Senior Day — he posted his first career doubledouble in his first career start. But

Bielfeldt’s 6-foot-7 frame might not cut it against Illinois’ Nnanna Egwu, who stands 6-foot-11 and wreaked havoc with Michigan’s ability to inbound the ball in its second matchup with the Fighting Illini. Doyle, Beilein said, is ready to go, but he still isn’t a player who’s necessarily capable of throwing inbounds passes in critical, lategame situations. That task is often left to junior guard Spike Albrecht, almost a full foot shorter than the 6-foot-10 Doyle. Though the Wolverines’ inability to execute inbound plays has been an issue throughout the year, it was especially noticeable against Illinois and Egwu, as Albrecht and freshman guard Muhammad-Ali AbdurRahkman had substantial difficulty avoiding turnovers and even occasional five-second violations during Michigan’s late-game collapse. Being forced to use smaller players on sideline inbounds plays wasn’t the only issue, Bielfeldt said, noting that youth

and a simple lack of repetition has led to occasional confusion on set inbound play calls. “We’re more working on general press-break,” Bielfeldt said. “I think in the past, we’ve had difficulties with the timing of our cuts and the spacing. You know, you get two guys in one area, and they don’t have to be guarded by as many guys, and it makes it easier on the defense.” Even if the Wolverines can get their inbounding issues in check and handle the Fighting Illini in the backcourt, they have no easy task in front of them, especially with the resurgence of Illinois guard Rayvonte Rice. He’s averaging 17 points per game, but scored just four against Michigan on Feb. 12, his first game after returning from a broken left hand. Sophomore guards Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn also average 14.2 and 11.2 points per game, respectively, creating a triple-headed scoring threat that could give the Wolverines defensive fits.

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Senior forward Max Bielfeldt will look to follow up a strong Senior Day with success in the Big Ten Tournament.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Overtime blues By LELAND MITCHINSON Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan women’s lacrosse team lost a heartbreaker in overtime to Virginia Tech in its first 13 VIRGINIA outdoor MICHIGAN 12 game of the season at Michigan Stadium. Virginia Tech climbed out of a five-goal deficit to beat the Wolverines, 13-12. Sophomore attacker Jess Angerman opened the scoring for the Wolverines on a nice pass from sophomore midfielder Anna Schueler. The Hokies (5-4) answered minutes later with an unassisted goal from the nation’s leading goal scorer, attacker Megan Will. Michigan (3-3) pressured Virginia Tech early with an unassisted goal from sophomore midfielder Kim Coughlan, followed by free position goals from Shueler, sophomore attacker Tess Korten and sophomore midfielder Madeline Dion. Angerman added her second of the night to complete the Wolverines’ 5-0 scoring run. “We got to a 6-1 lead at the beginning of the game,” Schueler said. “I think that’s something we need to learn from, is learning how to play with a lead. You have to take the positives from every single game we play.” Virginia Tech followed up Michigan’s string of goals with a streak of its own, scoring six straight to end the first half, including two more from Will. The Hokies added a goal with 15 seconds remaining in the half, taking a 7-6 lead. In contrast to the streaky scoring of the first half, the second half was much more back and forth between the two teams. Unassisted goals from Coughlan

and Dion put the Wolverines back in the lead in the beginning of the second half. After two more goals from Virginia Tech, Angerman completed her hat trick. However, the Hokies quickly added two more, putting Michigan down, 11-9. The young Wolverines responded by scoring three straight goals, with Coughlan adding her second and Schueler netting her second and third for Michigan’s second hat trick of the night. “They did a great job sliding the entire game, and I thought we did a good job adjusting to what their defense threw at us,” Schueler said. Up 12-11 with 3:31 left in the game, the Wolverines tried to run out the clock when a turnover followed by a crosschecking yellow card for Korten gave the Hokies the ball with 52 seconds remaining and a player advantage. Virginia Tech was able to take the opportunity and force overtime. In the two three-minute overtime periods, both defenses succeeded in limiting their opponent’s shot opportunities. And as the clock wound down, it looked like the game would head to sudden death when the Hokies netted the final tally of the night with two seconds on the clock, ruining any hope Michigan had of improving its record to 4-2. “You know, we’re inexperienced, that was a very experienced team,” said Michigan coach Jennifer Ulehla. “There are a lot of positives, but there are little mistakes that we made strategically that have to be learned. Unfortunately, they have to be learned in situations like this. We’re gonna break down the film, we’re gonna talk about every aspect of the game and learn from it and move forward.”

Stability behind Compher regaining old form The sophomore is starting plate very Sweet forward to look like his

SOFTBALL

By TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

Year after year, Michigan softball coach Carol Hutchins has made a habit of swapping players in and out of the starting lineup. But there is one position that has always been set. Since her freshman year, Lauren Sweet has been the Wolverines’ go-to catcher. Sweet, now a senior, is just seven games shy of her 200th start. When she’s not behind the plate, Sweet is one of the team’s strongest power hitters. When she is behind the plate, she’s the solid, reliable catcher that Michigan needs. Since 2012, the starting lineup has seen pitchers, infielders and outfielders come and go, but at catcher, it has always been Sweet. A vocal leader both on and off the field, it didn’t take long for Sweet to earn Hutchins’ approval. In 2012, in just her second career game, Sweet belted a home run against thenNo. 22 LSU. Along with her deadly arm, her bat has secured her starting spot. And this season has shown why she’s maintained it. Through 25 games this season, Sweet has stacked up six home runs, 27 RBI, a .333 batting average and a .682 slugging percentage. On defense, Sweet has caught nearly half of opponents trying to steal bases, a statistic that has been on the rise since her freshman season. The numbers speak for themselves, but her coach and teammates all attested to the fact that some of Sweet’s greatest contributions come from her experience. “She’s caught four years behind the plate, so her experience is instinctive,” Hutchins said. “She has a gun for an arm with such a quick release, but she’s also a calming force for the pitchers and the coaches. She keeps things under control; never gets too high, never too low. Overall, she’s

a pretty even-keel kid.” Sweet has embraced this role, especially in keeping a good relationship and understanding with pitchers. Whenever one of the pitchers is struggling in the circle, Sweet will get up to talk to her. But not all the conversations are serious. “A lot of the times it’s just to give them time to relax,” Sweet said. “Sometimes it’s serious, sometimes it’s just to make them laugh. As a pitcher, you are going and going, and say you just walked somebody, you don’t have a second to forget about that one and move on. In those situations, I go out there and tell them to breathe and take a second.” Added sophomore pitcher Megan Betsa: “Sweet always knows the perfect thing to say. She knows when you need to be talked to nicely and she knows when you need to be picked up. That’s a really good quality to have as a catcher.” The relationship she has with the pitching staff grows stronger each year. For senior lefthander Haylie Wagner, the connection began before coming to Michigan. “I’ve known her even longer than college and she’s just improved so much,” Wagner said. “Before, she was always very calm, not caught up and just had fun with it. Now, she still is having fun, but I think she’s even more determined on getting better and better. She’s a lot more vocal and able to fix things on the spot. Throughout the years, she’s really learned to trust herself and trust the whole team.” Sweet knows the starting spot belongs to her, but she’s still not content. One day a week, she arrives late to practice due to class, so she stays an hour afterwards to hit. While some go-to starters might be content with their game, Sweet is putting in the extra work.

freshman self

By JASON RUBINSTEIN Daily Sports Editor

Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson said time after time this season that he liked how sophomore forward JT Compher was playing, and it would only be a matter of time before the goals started piling up for the sophomore forward. Game after game, Berenson found himself referring to the same mantra: It’s only a matter of time. Prior to the Wisconsin series two weeks ago, and last weekend’s Penn State series, Compher had tallied just four goals through 26 games. Though that would be fine for some players, Compher entered this season as Michigan’s reigning point leader — with 31 last season — scoring 11 goals in his freshman campaign. Compher was expected to be one of the Wolverines’ top scoring options, but it didn’t appear that way. However, in the Wolverines’ past four games, he registered seven goals and added an assist. Finally, Berenson could say something new about the talented sophomore. “We thought JT would continue where he left off last year,” Berenson said. “I kind of forgot how good he was until he got it going again. “… All of the sudden he’s kind of ‘Wow.’ He’s got that little step that maybe he was missing when things weren’t going for him. It’s nice to see the old JT.” Compher’s teammates echoed their coach’s sentiment that Compher’s goals would come. But junior forward Andrew Copp tried to pinpoint what exactly jumpstarted Compher’s scoring barrage. “A couple of empty-net goals kind of got him going,” Copp said.

RITA MORRIS/Daily

JT Compher has scored seven goals in his last four games after struggling to find the net for much of the season.

But the junior added how important it is that Compher is picking up the team’s scoring load, especially when the nation’s top-ranked offense is starting to cool down. Berenson and Compher’s teammates each noted that for the middle part of the season, the extremely competitive Compher might have been frustrated, even though he never showed it on the outside. “He expects a lot of from himself,” Copp said. “I think he was frustrated through the middle part of the year because he wasn’t one of the leading scorers, and he expects himself to be a dominant player. This isn’t to say he wasn’t producing

in other areas, though. “I think he’s gotten a monkey off his back right now and has a lot of confidence right now, and that’s how he should always feel.” Compher noted he might have been somewhat frustrated, but never to a magnitude where his game was being adversely affected. He knew his goals would come and knew he needed to contribute in other areas if goals weren’t going to come his way. And that’s exactly what he did. Compher headlined a strong penalty-killing unit, and his grit and competitive nature made the game tougher on his opponents. “I kept my work ethic up; that

“I kind of forgot how good he was until he got it going again.”

never faltered,” Compher said. “I tried to just continue to keep confidence in my game, because I know that I can make plays and be an effective player. I just tried to stay within my game, and coach said to continue playing defense first and to do the rights things and it will fall in place. “Right now it is, but it’s time to keep it going, though.” For someone who is coming off two hat tricks in his last four games, Compher still isn’t satisfied. Put bluntly, Compher knows a hat trick doesn’t matter if his team ends up losing. For now, Berenson is happy to have one of his best players turning it up a notch at this crucial juncture, with Michigan controlling its destiny to win a Big Ten championship this weekend. “I think JT has gone from a good player to a great player over the last three weeks,” Berenson said.

the b-side B

The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | Thursday, March 12, 2015

here’s no handle? There’s no handle. How the hell do I get inside? I’m supposed to be interviewing the talent buyer of The Blind Pig at 6 p.m. and it is 6:03 and there’s no handle on the door to get in. I feverishly check my e-mail to avoid being later than the three minutes I’ve already lost. “I’ll meet you in the 8 Ball.” I trudge down the gravel hill to the graffitied door of the 8 Ball, The Blind Pig’s basement bar, to meet Jason Berry. I step into the 8 Ball Saloon, multi-colored Christmas lights wrap around ceiling pipes, and the dimly lit room is filled with dart boards and pool tables. Two men at the bar alternate between popcorn and beer, their eyes fixated on Alaskan Troopers busting a coke house on a TV. My phone says it’s 6:20 when Berry walks into the saloon. He is clearly busy, fumbling papers in his hands as he goes to shake mine. “Can you ride with me to the post office?” he asks. “I’ve got a few errands to run.” Berry has worked at The Blind Pig as talent buyer for more than 17 years and is an essential part of the smooth running machine that is Ann Arbor’s premier music venue. The Pig puts on more than 200 shows per year, a mixture of live bands and DJs, with an average ticket price of $15. Berry chalks up his 17-year tenure to the support of his boss, Blind Pig owner Betty Goffett. “Buyers don’t last more than two years on average. They’re under tremendous pressure, from the community, from the ownership,” Berry said. “So, if the owner doesn’t have your back or is some sort of flake, then you’re going to burn through buyers. The owners have got to have your back. I’ve been mega lucky that I’ve had Betty.” Goffett and her late husband came to own the Pig in 1981. Roy Goffett grew up in Liverpool, England, witnessing The Beatles gain traction in the Cavern Club. Owning a music club was his dream. After he made a small fortune in the steel industry, his wife, who also came up from money, bought him the Blind Pig as a gift. Roy passed away in 2001.

“They were the ones who said, ‘Yeah, we aren’t just going to do blues. We’re going to do everything, so that’s when The Blind Pig became what it is today,” Berry said. “No one remembers the old Blind Pig except the old-school hippies. That was all Betty.” See BLIND PIG, Page 2B

Design by Shreya Razak

The Blind Pig’s history can be seen in two distinct phases: pre-Goffett and post-Goffett. Prior to the Goffetts’ ownership, the Pig was a much smaller, strictly blues club.

the b-side

2B — Thursday, March 12, 2015

BLIND PIG From Page 1B While the current owner made the room what it is today, the Blind Pig has always been wildly successful. Previous owners sold the Pig not out of financial concern, but out of diverging aspirations. The first was big into espresso machines and left Ann Arbor to pursue that business; the next started Blind Pig Records with recording artists who were booked at the time. Soon after, that venture moved to San Francisco, allowing Betty to purchase the Pig for Roy. “If you talk to anyone who knew the Pig back in the day when it was a blues bar, everyone will say it was fucking packed every night. This was where you bought all your coke, so that didn’t hurt. It wasn’t like the Pig was ever not profitable, it was just that the owners were off to different shit and they wanted to sell. The Pig has always been blessed like that,” Berry said.

“(The Pig) was where you bought all your coke.” The Pig has had continuous success over the past 40-plus years, though that doesn’t mean it hasn’t faced a few challenges. Berry recounts the drop in sales following September 2001. He said if a club was doing live bands and guaranteeing funds to bring them in and business was cut in half due to public fear, it ran a serious risk of going out of business. Quick on his feet, he booked solely local bands for the remainder of the 2001-2002 academic year. “For the first time we saw something affect the bar business because people drink when they’re up and they drink when

they’re down, so we are recession proof. So when that happened and people were afraid to go out, all of our numbers were just cut in half,” Berry said. “The rest of that school year there was just a pittance of tours. People were like, ‘What the fuck, man? Put some real fucking shows in there.’ I had to listen to that for a while. Then we got to summer …” He mimes pushing a throttle forward, “and we are so badass and we were just back.” Aside from the post-9/11 slump, Berry chalks up the Pig’s financial stability to owner Betty Goffett. At age 87, she is frugalminded and does not live beyond her means. Her financial outlook works to keep the Blind Pig rallying through tough economic times. “Honestly, she does not fuck around. When a beer cooler goes down, she replaces it. She doesn’t play with money. It’s really boring actually, but it’s through her leadership that we haven’t struggled.” Frugality aside, the Pig is not afraid to spend for what it needs. By now we are done at the post office, and are heading back to the 8 Ball. Berry begins telling one of his favorite stories about Betty. Last month, New York DJ and producer Kap Slap headlined the Blind Pig, but they did not have turntables compatible with Kap Slap’s USB hub. Two hours before show time the staff was looking for CDJ 2000s, the newest, top-of-the-line turntables, but no one had them because they’re so expensive. Finally a friend of Berry called and said Guitar Center in Canton had them and you could return products the next day. Without the 2000s, the show would have to be cancelled and money would have been returned to over 200 ticketholders. “Without missing a beat (Betty) was like, ‘OK, cool. Let’s go.’ She calls ahead and has them stay open for her to make this purchase. She bought $7,500 turntables to return them once their check cleared, so they

didn’t think we were playing them,” Berry said. “There’s no owner like her. That’s Betty. She’s progressive and passionate about groups, people and the quality of the experience.” That experience starts with the shows’ lineups. Berry brings in a mix of local talent and national tours to Ann Arbor, and between the wealth of local talents and the national recognition

VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily

of The Blind Pig as one of the best college-town clubs. Local bands are begging for shows, and agents send national acts to the Pig as a proving ground. “Pound for pound, in terms of sound quality, experience of the patron and consistency of what’s happening there, we are often told we are one of the best (clubs) for our little size,” Berry said. “The reality is in the Detroit market we are the smallest of the clubs we compete with. We are competing with The Crofoot, St. Andrews and the Magic Stick. Every one of these rooms is bigger than us, so our advantage is that we are the college town.” Musicians come to Ann Arbor to tap into the college-student demographic. The booking process differs slightly between local bands

Abraham.In.Motion dances social justice By GILLIAN JAKAB Daily Arts Writer

UMS

That’s not how you spell YMCA.

2013 and residency with New York Live Arts from 2012-2014, among other awards, have been key planks in Abraham’s launching pad. Abraham comes to UMS with nine dancers from his company. One of them, Matthew Baker, is a native of Ann Arbor who went to Western Michigan University and grew up seeing shows at the Power Center and Hill Auditorium. Baker remembers being awed as a 13 year-old dance student seeing Baryshnikov perform solos on the stage of the Power Center. The realization that he will take the same stage this weekend is deeply meaningful to Baker. “UMS, and the Power Center and all that has been a part of my life and my family’s life — it’ll be great to go back,” Baker said. “The programming is always really wonderful. I’m excited that our company is going to become part of that.” This weekend, Abraham. In.Motion is performing the two pieces created over Abraham’s tenure as resident artist with New York Live Arts, both of which premiered in September 2014. The pieces correspond to the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 20th anniversary of the end of Apartheid in South Africa. Abraham drew inspiration from the 1960 Max

and national tours. Local bands either e-mail the Pig looking to play a lineup, or Berry is aware of a band through word of mouth and looks into them before offering them a spot. They start on a Wednesday or Thursday, and once they get a following they’ll move to a weekend. For national acts, agents offer a night to Berry, and, if available, he gives them first hold, meaning that if no one is currently booked that

The Blind Pig caters to the college student demographic.

CONCERT REVIEW

What does it mean to dance social justice? This question occupied the hour-and-a-half “night school” session this past Monday led by Prof. Clare Croft with choreographer Kyle Abraham as part of Abraham. In.Motion’s weeklong residency in Ann Arbor, culminating in its University Musical Society debut of The Watershed on Friday and When the Wolves Came In on Saturday. Abraham doesn’t dance around the issues of race and identity that he has set out to explore with these works, but rather charts a collision course with them in multi-media form. With the layers of choreography, music, visual projections and theatrical elements of drag, the mind and body are roused into perpetual motion as Abraham propels us through the history of civil rights to confront our contemporary social climate. Abraham visited Ann Arbor last spring to do some workshops including a “You Can Dance” community program at the YMCA, but this is the first time we get to see Abraham.In.Motion perform. The Pittsburgh-born choreographer has been praised for his refreshing and eclectic post-modern style — a blend of his immersion in hip-hop and rave cultures and his classical training in music, visual art and dance. After studying modern dance at SUNY Purchase and NYU Tisch, Abraham began dancing professionally and founded his company in 2006. The dance world has certainly noticed his talent; Abraham has been invited to work with long-established choreographers such as David Dorfman and Bill T. Jones, and was commissioned to create a piece for Alvin Ailey American Dance in 2012. Recognition and funding is essential to power a choreographer’s work and a MacArthur Fellowship in

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Roach album We Insist! which, in Saturday’s program, When the Wolves Came In, is reinterpreted by the Robert Glasper Trio. Friday’s program, The Watershed, is an evening-length piece that mixes imagery from the Emancipation Proclamation period, the American civil rights movement in the 1960s and contemporary race relations. “(The Watershed is) drawing some then-and-now comparisons and … (puts) questions out in the air and in people’s minds,” Baker said. “It’s really interesting the way that he uses dance and theatrical elements to do that — to start a conversation.” This was a collaborative process for Abraham, working with Glasper on musical interpretation of the Max Roach album and visual artist Glenn Ligon to curate film projections and overall set design to complement the live art. Not only was the process collaborative across artistic disciplines, but the choreography itself emerged from conversations with, and contributions from, the dancers. Baker reflected on the ways in which race is represented and performed in the pieces: “A lot of the presentations of race, the race of a certain dancer and the relationships (among them) I think sometimes are very intentional to draw attention to

night, they get first opportunity. He then sends in an offer, most times a flat rate plus a percentage if profits hit a certain mark. Agents may accept immediately or negotiate for more. After the show is booked, announced and on-sale production is taken over by the staff, the general manager or manager on duty pays the band, and Berry is already looking for the next show. “It’s really smooth. Every club has the same procedure, but every club has its own tweak on it. The Magic Stick’s process has far many more people involved in it than we do, but that has to do with their size,” Berry said. “Coming from The Blind Pig and seeing that, it gives a nice perspective on how well the Pig is actually doing what they’re doing.”

While the playing field is somewhat leveled by the Pig’s status as a college-town club, they also have money on their side due to the affluence of the Michigan student body and Ann Arbor residents, so they are able to spend a lot to bring in acts the community wants to see. Berry recounted how they began to shell out for big shows. Lee Berry, then-Blind Pig talent buyer who is now chief development officer at the Michigan Theater, and then-newly hired Jason Berry began hosting dance nights featuring international DJs. Back in 1998-99, flying DJs in from Europe was a revolutionary idea. He recounts that a club on Main Street would play ghettotech every Wednesday, but only feature Ann Arbor DJs. “We were like, ‘Fuck that,’” he said. “We spent money, but it was because Ann Arbor. We could do that and charge 25 bucks to get in, which would have been ludicrous, but because of the affluent student body, we could just go for it. And now it’s the norm. People would be surprised if that wasn’t happening now. “The Pig is fucking great. As a talent buyer I can just sit there. It’s like painting.” He motions moving a paintbrush across a canvas. “The club is so solid, and it has a magnificent owner who rolls with the punches and understands the nature of the live music industry.” The Blind Pig’s backlog of shows is impressive. Jason Berry has brought in John Mayer, The White Stripes and Wiz Khalifa’s first show in Michigan. Prior to that, Lee Berry brought in Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Dave Matthews Band and Nirvana, who famously stated the Blind Pig as their favorite venue to play in an MTV interview. Nirvana’s legendary show took place in 1990 on its Bleach Tour. The tour was receiving lackluster response until the Monday before they were set to play; Soundgarden frontman, Chris Cornell, told a sold-out Blind Pig crowd to come back next week for Nirvana.

Between that shoutout and some momentum built from opening for Tap and Screaming Trees, Nirvana took the stage to a sold-out crowd instead of the expected half-empty venue. After the show, Nirvana didn’t have a place to stay, so the band crashed the Prism Productions offices on Fourth Street. Lee Berry walked into his office the next morning only to step over Krist Novoselic’s legs and see Kurt Cobain passed out on his sofa and in his plush office chair.

It feeds off Ann Arbor’s vibrancy and affluence. “I booked a bunch of great shit for my little 17-year tenure, but Lee booked all that famous shit,” Berry said. “But he’s got Dave Matthews and Godsmack. He is the Don Dada.” (Urban Dictionary: “A combination of Don and Dada. Meaning the top pimp, the biggest player and even one step above mack daddy.”) “He booked everything the Pig is really famous for, including every damn time Nirvana played. He is the man.” Step one: buy your husband a blues club. Step two: host all types of bands. Step three: profit. It was the perfect storm that has led to the local goldmine called The Blind Pig. It feeds off the vibrancy of Ann Arbor and the affluence of its inhabitants to put on legendary music shows. “The point of it all is to sell beer, and we are just very good at selling it the way we sell it. It could be simpler, but that’s what the 8 Ball is for,” he said. “That’s just a beer and shot bar and the Pig is some complicated bells and whistles to sell a glass of beer. It all just works really well.”

TRAILER REVIEW If Wes Anderson had a twin brother it would be Noah Baumbach. Many of Baumbach’s films – especially A“The Squid and the While Whale” and We’re “Frances Ha” – exude Young the same A24 cleverness, tactfulness and cinematic poise. In fact, Baumbach and Anderson have co-written two movies together, and have undoubtedly attended many of the same dinner parties (which is more important anyway). They are storytellers of the same stylistic vein: singular, insightful, memorable. With “While We’re Young,” however, Baumbach seems to be taking a more personal turn, one that promises to grapple with the struggles and challenges of aging in a world that’s increasingly dependent on young people. Ben Stiller (“Night at the Museum”) and Naomi Watts (“Birdman”) star as a married middle-aged couple who become enthralled with the lifestyle and energy of a younger couple they counter. Together the two

a certain scene or movement, but I think a lot of the time they’re kind of up in the air to allow (an) audience (member’s) personal backgrounds or what (he or she) is interpreting in the piece to inform what they’re seeing,” Baker said. “I also think a lot of stuff is made initially qualitatively based on the blending of two dancer’s different styles, and sometimes race or identity or meaning fit in, or layer in, where it might make sense, or not make sense, or draw an interesting parallel. I think sometimes those things are crafted and sometimes they come up organically just as the movement does.” The workshops and events surrounding the performances — the night school sessions, brunch download and post-show Q&As following this weekend’s performances — are of equal importance and serve as a forum to digest the heavy material. “It’s really interesting to hear back from the communities and I think it’s important to Kyle, and

A24

couples embark on a series of adventures, including a yoga-like class in which each participant consumes a mysterious drink, hallucinates and vomits their “demons” out from their system. If you’ve ever wanted to see Ben Stiller in a silly hipster context, this is your chance. In addition to the strange and somewhat whimsical situations the couples volunteer themselves for, a broader and more serious commentary underlies the film. “While We’re Young” is about the cultural age gap and the strains it puts on intergenerational communication. It’s evident that, although each couple admires the other for certain qualities or

I’ve seen a number of times, to let the communities hear each other,” Baker said. “I’ve actually sat in many of the small conversations where one person will (say) ‘the dance is so abstract’ and I think a lot of times people don’t know how to watch it, so when they’re forced to talk about it they come up with all these different perspectives and I think that revealing something about themselves helps them learn something about their communities and each other and how to change or develop.” Although not originally conceived as a response to the recent tensions in race relations, The Watershed and When the Wolves Came In could not be more timely in the wake of the recent awakenings of the nation’s awareness around the killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner last year. “I think the pieces and the work (as a whole) raise a lot of questions for people, and starting a conversation can be a catalyst for change or for organizing … But I also think

habits, they all find fault in their relationships. In this way, the film is about learning to accept these marital faults instead of trying to change or ignore them. The title obviously implies a “well, it’s too late” sentiment, but it does nothing in the way of condescending to such an attitude. This will be a smart, well-written comedy about the pains and pleasures of age, and about the ways in which we all can come to fall in love with personal flaws. Plus, James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem is orchestrating the film’s music. Need there be more reason to go and see it? -BRIAN BURLAGE

art and artists have a way of communicating certain things about the times that we live in because they are making art in that time. I think that Kyle’s voice has developed and is really being heard right now — people are taking note and heeding interest because he has a lot to say, and he says it in a really interesting way through movement,” Baker said. Kyle Abraham has been called “the man of the moment” and “darling of the dance world” by Dance Magazine He is a rising star in the dance and performance world — one to watch in the years to come. Not only can we start by watching him this weekend at the Power Center, but we can engage in his conversation. “As dance works,” Abraham writes in his Director’s Note, “The Watershed and its companion piece, When the Wolves Came In were created to live in a skin well aware of the cyclical hardships of our history and the very present fear of an unknowable future.”

the b-side

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Thursday, March 12, 2015 — 3B

MUSIC COLUMN

Dusty old songwriters still relevant L

ast week I was listening to Van Morrison’s “Cyprus Avenue” — the live version, one I absolutely love and have written about before, and I think to myself, This song is lifechangingly great, but the one thing that’s missing is the ADAM harpsichord THEISEN that’s in the studio version of this track. And I keep thinking about that for the rest of the song: what if we also had the harpsichord in there? But then another voice barges into my head and tells me, Adam, this is a 45-year-old song about a street in Belfast you’ve never been to. You wouldn’t even have heard of if it weren’t for this singer. How is this relevant to you? Why are you spending so much time on this? What does the presence (or lack thereof ) of a harpsichord possibly matter to you, an American teenager whose parents couldn’t even walk when this song was released? I’m on a kick where I’m listening to tons and tons of singer-songwriters from a very specific era — your Joni Mitchells, your Paul Simons, Van the Man, even a little Bob Dylan — and I keep thinking to myself why is this relevant? I’ve never felt the need to justify what I listen to, but with this brand of music that’s very quiet, very white, seemingly pretty detached from the modern world, I’m really questioning why I can’t stay away from it, why I should be returning again and again to these old songwriters instead of searching for the next big thing.

It’s music to explore the mind to. You see, the answer to the question of relevancy for almost all other kinds of music is obvious. Many years ago, Public Enemy’s Chuck D called hip hop “the CNN of the streets,” and while I don’t think there were any rap songs about missing airplanes last year, the sentiment still stands: hip hop is still where minority experiences are most visible and understandable to many Americans. Hip hop is where a young, oftentimes

Black person — someone whose voice is far too often silenced by the mainstream — can step into the spotlight and amplify his or her voice for all to hear. Considering Ferguson, Eric Garner and disproportionate poverty as well as centuries of racial discrimination and cruelty towards minorities, it’s probably America’s most relevant genre (more on this next column, after Kendrick’s new album drops). But there’s room for other types of music, too. Punk grew out of the disenfranchisement of the British working class, and still today functions as a space where rebellion, anger and protest can run wild and untethered (think Pussy Riot). Jazz, once dominant and controversial, still exists today as a magnet for some of our most talented musicians; hearing them play is as impossibly breathtaking as watching an Olympic gymnast nail every element of her routine. Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, meanwhile, have both this past year reinforced what we already knew very well: pop music is the simplest, and possibly the best, way to unite everyone you know. Even rock music, lately the most conservative of genres, has for decades brought together folks of different races, broken down gender norms and served as an inspiration to suburban kids that they, too, can form a band with their friends, write a song and hit it big. So what is this singersongwriter stuff good for? It’s old, it doesn’t change the world or bring millions of people together, it doesn’t give a voice to the unheard and, though oftentimes beautiful, the instrumentation typically isn’t particularly virtuosic. What value does it have? What purpose does it serve? I think a lot about music as a social experience, a force that connects us and allows us to be in each other’s’ company, sharing in the pleasurable sounds we hear. What I and many others don’t think about as much, it seems, is music in isolation, music that we listen to with nobody else around, with no distractions other than our own thoughts. I’ve been thinking, too, about the times Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan and Nick Drake were living in — the late ’60s into the ’70s. Back then, when you were alone late at night, you truly were alone. You couldn’t fall down a YouTube rabbit hole of old Steve Yzerman goals, or check Twitter to see what people in other time zones were up to, or even consume any media that you personally

didn’t own a physical copy of. That sounds so different from the world I live in. But then I picture where I’m at and what I’m doing when I listen to these great singer-songwriters. When I was listening to “Cyprus Avenue,” my house was dark, I had finished everything I had needed to do for the day, and was just calming down before going to bed. I listened to all of Joni Mitchell’s Blue the last time I had to shovel snow. Nick Drake and even the more contemporary Elliott Smith are perfect when I’m writing. And even with I’m with people and listening to these types of artists, it’s never more than one or two close friends, and we’re always lost in thought or deep in conversation with each other. Even though I live in a world where I’m constantly plugged into my phone and the Internet, when I find the time to turn all that off, Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison and Nick Drake are there to provide perfect music for me. It’s music to explore the mind to.

So what is this singersongwriter stuff good for? So why does it matter if Van Morrison is accompanied by a harpsichord or not? I don’t want to take anything away from contemporary artists, and I certainly don’t think I should spend all my energy parsing the past instead of looking to the new, relevant music of the future, but when I hear Bob Dylan’s halfdetached sarcasm, Joni Mitchell’s hopeful longing, Nick Drake’s deep sadness, Van Morrison’s ecstatic celebrations of life and I can identify with it and feel what the artists are feeling, try to think what they’re thinking, I’m reassured that music is greater than time, that the most important emotions can be communicated across generations, and that sometimes, one voice is all that matters. When you can express yourself with as much feeling as these artists can, when you can make somebody from an unimaginable future care about your small musical choices and subtle emotions behind the lyrics you sing, even if they don’t always understand why, you’ve done something immeasurably valuable. Theisen has dusty old people on his mind. Send him yours at ajtheis@umich.edu.

SINGLE REVIEW The word “evolution” is thrown around a lot when critics yak about an artist’s career. Is the band “naturally progressing?” Are C they consistently Believe improving from album Mumford to album and & Sons transforming Glassnote their sound? It seems to be coded in our DNA: in order for an artist to remain relevant, the aforementioned changes must take place — if not to appease the critics than to keep the artists’ fans shocked and interested (and the band from getting bored). It’s fun to hear new stuff, but too much change is a turnoff for even the most pious groupie. Enter Mumford & Sons, that group of British lads with the signature fastpaced, folky banjo sound. They built their reputation on throwing it back and stripping it down — no machinery required. Their latest release,

VIRGINIA L OZANO/Daily

Dance Mix members practice in Mason Hall.

Dance Mix a medley of styles and genres By VANESSA WONG Daily Arts Writer

In 2001, six University dance groups — FunKtion, EnCore, RhythM Tap Ensemble, Impact, Indigo and Element 1 — performed a show together, fusing tap, lyrical and hip hop genres together on one stage. And the next year, it happened again. And again and again. This year, Dance Mix celebrates its 15th anniversary. Dance Mix began partly to give performers a venue. It requires a great deal of planning and financial resources to put on an individual show, which can prove a daunting hurdle, especially for young groups. But more than that, Dance Mix sought to showcase the dizzying variety of dance at the University. What were originally six groups flourished into a broad-reaching collaboration between upwards of a dozen dance and musical groups on campus. The five core groups, still active since that first performance, plan and perform in Dance Mix annually. The rest of the lineup consists of six or seven rotating guest groups. “We try to find a good balance of entertainment and diversity,” said Meredith Njus, an LSA senior and member of this year’s 13-person organizing team. For the performers, Dance Mix fosters a tight-knit and lively dance community. Put 200 people who are fiercely passionate about the same thing on one stage, and it’s only inevitable that they bond. “I didn’t really start dancing until I came to college. I grew up mostly with music and singing,” LSA senior Jay Park said. “So what dance means to me is just an entirely new opportunity. It really encompasses my entire college experience down to one medium of expression. Dance to me means community, it means family.” In the month leading up to the show, groups take to Mason Hall’s Posting Wall and practice for an average of six hours a day, increasing to upwards of 12 as the performance draws closer. The time commitment may seem stressful, but preparing for a show is one of the fundamental rites of being a dancer. “You’re forced to be there, but you’re with such a great group of people who love the same things

as you do that it’s really such an unforgettable experience,” Park said. “And this is something that I’ll take with me for the rest of my life and I’ll look back on so affectionately.” That same adrenaline becomes a shared experience among those in the performance, widening the niche, genre-based dance networks and connecting the overall dance community at the University. “As soon as you have a Dance Mix semester and you go through a Dance Mix, you start seeing all of the groups and you’re all backstage, and you’re all amped about the show, and I think that you start to get to know everyone in the other groups,” Njus said. “So you start seeing them at the Posting Wall or you start seeing them around campus and you’ll see people wearing Dance Mix shirts and you’re like, ‘Oh hey!’ ” The sense of camaraderie in Dance Mix is what draws in so many guest performing groups to apply each year. It takes the passion that the dancers have for their individual dance groups and directs it outwards, making the show a sort of meeting of the minds. Business senior Suhind Kodali, a captain of Michigan Izzat dance team, performed at Dance Mix last year and will do so again in the upcoming show. His team mainly performs at competitions, so Dance Mix offers a chance to showcase their talents to their peers. “For us, it’s like, “Oh wow, look at all these dance groups on campus and we can show them our style and they can show us theirs,’ ” Kodali said. The enthusiasm for dance — in all its forms — is evident in the audience. The groups performing in the show don’t just do it for themselves; they eagerly support whoever commands the stage. “It’s just the energy, that’s what we like best,” Kodali said. Which is why after 15 years, the core team still devotes so much time to keeping Dance Mix alive. Following the show’s unified spirit, two to four members from each of the original core dance groups also come together to form the core organizing team. “It’s a very collaborative and democratic process,” Park

explains. The core team starts the planning process as early as the fall semester each year, meeting twice a month for preliminary brainstorming. Winter semester brings the bulk of the work, and the core team must buckle down to run auditions, figure out timing, make up themes, make T-shirts and set up the venue. The show is entirely student-produced, carried on the backs of the 13 dedicated core team members. Having not only performed, but been members of the core team throughout their four years at Michigan, Njus and Park witnessed Dance Mix’s evolution to keep up with the rapidly changing, technology-ridden culture, especially through social media. “(Social media is) a big way we can reach out to a lot of people, reach out to our alumni, and just get people excited about the show very early on this semester or even early on in the year,” Njus said. “Before, it’s been, ‘Your friends come or whatever,’ but now we have alumni that are flying in from all over the country; all over the world. And I think that was always a thing, but now we have an easier way of reaching out to them and being like, ‘Guys, it’s Dance Mix season again. Come back!’” Dance Mix has also benefitted from the growing popularity of performing arts in media. Reality shows like “So You Think You Can Dance” and “America’s Best Dance Crew” have driven a wider appreciation for dance. More people unaffiliated with dance are willing and interested to learn more about it. “We’ve been able to use that and connect it with the integrity of our show which has stayed the same,” Park said. He stressed that ultimately, while Dance Mix has blossomed into a larger event over the past 15 years, it still retains the original roots behind its inception. “This is all fun, this is something that a lot of dance groups look forward to all year. You’ll see us practicing in the Posting Wall for hours, hours, in the weeks leading up to the actual performance. And I think that’s just what we want to keep. We want a very simple message, a simple approach: the unification of dancers and having fun with it all.”

STYLE RECAP

GLASSNOTE

“Believe,” sheds all Mumfordian quirks; it’s a slow-ish, techno-infused fantasy ballad a la “Fix You” by Coldplay. It starts out eerie, weirdly synth-y and blossoms into an electrically charged cry for help. Lead singer Marcus Mumford’s smoky vocals are the only thing connecting the old to the new, and he sounds handsome as always. It’s interesting, futuristic and melancholy; Snow Patrol and all the other I’m-a-vulnerable-man pop-rock groups would be proud. Mumford

& Sons, however, shouldn’t be as thrilled — sure, this new schtick is catchy as hell, catered to pop radio and all its listeners looking for a bit of vanilla passion during their morning commute. But it’s been done before. We hear it on the radio all the time. Is the band truly “progressing” if they’re walking the exact same path as so many others: a mediocre, dead-end street of pseudo-rock (think: Lifehouse) melodies? Not exactly. Bring the banjos back. -MELINA GLUSAC

When Carol Lim and Humberto Leon joined KENZO in 2011 as Creative Directors, they sought to fuse their revolutionary flavor with the house’s heritage. That isn’t to say the original label, started in 1970 by Kenzo Takada, didn’t have the spunk and color for which Lim and Leon have become known. It did — in fact, it toyed with stripes, brights, loudness, all of it. The new CDs have expanded KENZO’s scope, at once in sophistication and patternmaking. There’s a lot going on here, which is likely the result of the duo’s creative synergy over solitude. If Rick Owens centered his pieces on shoulders, KENZO draped in particular from the neck up. A navy knit hoodie that could double as a turtleneck for an entire head obscures an elec-

KENZO

tric blue cap and cuts diagonally through the torso. The muted hoodie gets louder with a greenyellow tribal printed maxi cape that barely hits the floor. Basecolored fishtail anorak jackets float atop schizophrenic striped trousers, as a matching rolled scarf keeps the face front and center invariably. There are doubtless nods

to the serenity of nature, here, with its hearty greenish hues, but never deviating too distantly from its around-town urban wearability. Maroon suits with a mild sheen and snow-white shearling coats with misplaced oversized epaulettes feed into its more urban, spontaneous history. -ANDREW MCCLURE

the b-side

4B — Thursday, March 12, 2015

ARTIST

PROFILE

VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily

When not performing, Chris Bathgate is an instructor in the University’s New England Literature Program.

By AMELIA ZAK Daily Music Editor

Who is the coolest teacher you’ve ever had? Maybe they were well versed, well traveled, or even just very well dressed. Many favorite teachers are described as more relatable, or able to inspire interest or personal immersion into a typically academic topic. Imagine an instructor who teaches only in the summertime, dictates writing techniques and the lessons to be derived from literature on the side of a mountain in the American northeast. He loves John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut and holds garnered experiences

from the real-world application of inspiration derived from literature in the form of lyricism. This is because you have a teacher who also leads a double life as a celebrated indie folk singer-songwriter of especially potent fame in the Ann Arbor community. He’s the coolest teacher you’ve ever had; he is Chris Bathgate. Though some University students may know Bathgate from his role at the University’s New England Literature program, his career extends far beyond the depths of the forrests of New Hampshire. Bathgate attended the University back in the early 2000s and with the gained

support and from the school’s community of musicians as well as the nurturing warmth of the general Ann Arbor music scene. “Ann Arbor helped me the most in providing an infrastructure that allowed emerging musicians to grow;that’s probably the number one thing I can thank Ann Arbor for,” Bathgate said. And musical growth is what followed his collegiate experience. In 2006, Bathgate simultaneously released two albums, A Detailed Account of Three Dreams and Throatsleep, in addition to an EP. This excessive deployment of music was ultimately deemed

successful, grabbing for him the 2006 title of “Best Solo Artist in Michigan” from Real Detroit Weekly. This young initial fame launched his career forward, as far as overseas, and placed him as the opening act of the experimental indie pop band, Saturday Looks Good to Me, in their European tour. He signed on to numerous labels, including the famous European, Björk-approved, One Little Indian. The opening track of his 2007 album A Cork Tale Wake, “Serpentine,” earned the acclaim of the NPR’s Song of the Day back in 2008. And since his accomplishments of the ’00s, and his gorgeously melodic most recent album, the 2011 Salt Year, Bathgate has remained, to the uneducated eye, relatively dormant. “I took a hiatus from performing live for about two years and in the interim in that period of time I’ve been working on a record that’s actually tracking this week. And then I’ve also been working on a collaborative project titled SKULLLS, which is another record that will be coming out hopefully by the end of the year.” All this while bouncing from a film set in Baton Rouge to a recording studio in New Orleans, Bathgate hasn’t abandoned his musical post. With his newest music venture, SKULLLS, a collaborative project that he admits gained more influence in the jazz and hip-hop world, and an upcoming tour for his nearly complete upcoming album, Bathgate’s creativity and musical advancements have not dissipated. Rather, as a riper musician, Bathgate holds the temperament and wisdom of an experienced artist. He holds a practiced process of inspiration

SCHOOLBOY/ INTERSCOPE RECORDS

As he jumps into a cab, an emojiful conversation between Carly and him appears on screen; it’s time for them to meet up at the real video shoot. Walking the last leg of the trip, bystanders are seen swiping right on Hank’s Tinder profile (who wouldn’t??). During final touches, Hanks pauses to recite the song’s short conversation. Hanks: I’m pregnant. Jepson: Okay Hanks: Just kidding. YES. Now the duo, along with a crowd of back-up dancers, perform a thriller-esque street dance. It’s brilliant and infec-

that is still dictated in his most recent work: solitude, location and poetry. “For the landscape I spend a lot of time on the coast, on the East and West, and in the South most recently, but whether or not the cultural music identity of those locations makes its way into the music—the landscape surely advances my state of mind,” Bathgate said. “So in the South there are these beautiful bald cypress groves and swamp land that are incredibly beautiful.” Bathgate dissected himself further, explaining, “I don’t know if you could pinpoint one specific note or lyric that is directly connected to those landscapes but they definitely change my state of mind.” “Solitude is always a necessity, you just need time to work through your ideas and it’s difficult to create with people in that space, but with poetry, it’s kind of always been there,” Bathgate said. “With SKULLLS, this presence is definitely traceable.” Unsurprising, isn’t it, that a jack-of-all-trades musician who holds skill in the complete spectrum of instruments, also assimilates the English language and his literary experience into his music. The Renaissance man himself bashfully implied it too. “As the sole lyricist for my music, and in order to sustain this role, I think I will always find this to be true.” And how exciting it is, really, for those individuals most apt to find indie folk inspiring are also likely to find inspiration in the words of some of Bathgate’s favorites, like Steinbeck and Vonnegut. His perfectionism is another concurrent constant for the Bathgate process, one that he

admits “maybe it’s at the dismay of fans who are waiting for an artist’s newest art but you can only release a record once, so sometimes it just takes me more time.” His complete rejection of any half-ass job, coupled with the seemingly endless amount of hats Bathgate wears, would obviously produce a man who just can’t release new music on an incredibly regular basis. With age and experience, he’s learned to allow himself more liberties with his work, letting “patience play a key role in composing and restructuring a song.” Time and gathered influences have funneled his music into numerous pathways and styles, and so the perfectionism takes its positive toll – one that the fans like myself must dutifully endure. Bathgate returns to the stage this spring with an initial set of shows in Michigan before continuing onto a larger audience on the East Coast. This long set of shows begins this Saturday, Mar. 14 at the Blind Pig where Bathgate will be performing with The Go Rounds and the Antivillains. The cyclical return of watching an Ann Arbor musician, a man so well versed, well traveled, and perhaps even well dressed, return to his original foundation of inspiration. His musical roots never feel far from his present self, a musician who once found inspiration in the accessible solitude of North Campus, surrounded by a landscape of student musicians, allowing the ebb and flow of literary academia impact his sound – everything now has changed, but everything has stayed the same.

STYLE RECAP

MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW An alarm beeps at 5:00 a.m. and an arm covered in blue pajamas swings over and snoozes it. Wait, I A+ have that clock! WAIT, I Really that arm is attached to Like You Tom Hanks! Carly Rae Yes, “Call Me Jepsen Maybe” songstress, Carly Schoolboy/InterRae Jepsen, scope Records managed to cast Tom Hanks as the star of her newest (and bestest) video. As Hanks sits up in bed, the beat slithers in through his penthouse windows amid the morning darkness. Holy shit. In the middle of a five-in-themorning-stare-at-the-carpetin-distress moment he begins to lip-sync the first verse. He rubs his eyes, stretches and the magic begins. As he looks into the bathroom mirror, his demeanor and performance gain some more energy and, BOOM, as he lifts his head from spitting up some mouthwash, he is walking along a street in NYC high-fiving and fist bumping anyone who walks by. I really want a fist bump from Tom Hanks at this point.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

tious. Hanks’s moves are dadmeets-boyband. Wait, who is that dancing next to Jepsen? Oh wow, that’s Justin Bieber. And for a total of 21 life-altering seconds, Bieber manages to not be a tool and Hanks follows Jepsen’s carefree choreography. Hanks gives a humorous and uplifting dub of “I Really Like You.” His stagnant upper-lip just adds another layer of awesomeness. It’s not supposed to be serious, and Jepsen certainly knows how to put on a good time. I really really really really really really like this video. And you do too. -CHRISTIAN KENNEDY

Strobe lights and a rock ‘n’ roll stage defined the environment for Saint Laurent’s Fall ready-to-wear 2015 collection at Paris fashion week. The show opened with the rise of a Courtney Love wannabe model popping out of the ground and stomping her pink high-low prom dress down the runway. Unfortunately, this tacky opening was a grim indication for how the rest of the show’s collection would appear. The punk theme was carried fairly literally throughout the entire collection. So much so that the workmanship of Hedi Slimane’s more constructed pieces was completely ignored in favor of the cliché styling. The shredded tights, up-tohere leg slits and questionable cut outs pushed the collection into garish costume territory. There was also a lot of boob in the show, including a solo boob appearance from a dress that was supposedly intending to cover only half of the model’s chest. As is usual for Saint Laurent, the collection’s decent range of outerwear ended

THE D’ART BOARD

YVES SAINT LAURENT

up being this season’s saving grace. By and far making the coolest statement at the show, the outerwear varied from structured blazers to furry oversized coats to long trenches, all of which played into the oversized androgynous theme. The highlights of the outerwear pieces were of very contradicting styles: a silver, thigh-length trench coat and a flowing leopard print cape.

If this collection is any indication for the future of Slimane’s creations at Saint Laurent, the label may be in trouble of becoming the next overrated fashion house. A serious reconsideration of styling is in order for next season, as without the reckless overkill of bad girl clichés, this collection could have been a top performer at Paris fashion week. -KATIE CAMPBELL

Design by Gaby Vasquez

Han Yolo

Each week we take shots at the biggest developments in the entertainment world. Here’s what hit (and missed) this week.

Harrison Ford crashed a plane, is doing fine.

Bran Eater Hall & Oates sue granola maker Haulin’ Oates.

Got to Give It Up He turned left!

‘Zoolander 2’ stars Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson crash Valentino Paris Fashion Week runway.

Robin Thicke and Pharrel to pay Marvin Gaye estate $7.4 million, putting the entire Hot 100 at risk of being sued.

Her father will hear about this Kim K dyes hair platinum blonde, Draco Malfoy comparisons ensue.