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‘U’ ref lects on #BBUM a year after demands Efforts to move multicultural center, increase minority enrollment continue
LEFT: Ndaba Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, speaks at the Ross School of Business as part of the MLK Symposium Monday. (Andrew Cohen/Daily) UPPER RIGHT: Students join hands on the Diag for the Circle of Unity presented by the Michigan Commuity Scholars Program. (Virginia Lozano/Daily) LOWER RIGHT: Dr. Marc Lamont Hill speaks about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy at Hill Auditorium . (David Song/Daily)
By ALYSSA BRANDON
Programs across campus honor Dr. King’s legacy
Discussions, panels kick off week-long symposium on race and social justice By ALLANA AKHTAR Daily Staff Reporter
Instead of attending classes Monday, University students and faculty honored the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by host-
ing or attending various seminars and discussions to examine social justice in American society. The School of Social Work hosted “Policing Black Bodies: A Dialogue on Poverty, Police Brutality and the Way Out” to reflect on King’s legacy in modern America. Writer Shaun Ossei Owusu, Assistant Prof. Kamau Rashid and Rackham student Finn Bell discussed how poverty, race and police brutality have changed throughout U.S. his-
tory. “The historical configurations of race in the United States, within the context of slavery and colonialism, actually teaches us a great deal about the contemporary manifestations and expressions of racism today,” Rashid said. “Racism is both permanent and indestructible and I think that there’s a lot that we can learn from this.” Rackham student Loren Cahill, who is in the School of Social Work, said the most nota-
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ble part of the event was Rashid’s acknowledgement of racism’s permanency and inability to completely dissolve. “I thought it was phenomenal,” she said. “I liked the discussion about still fighting to do racial work and to end profiling, still striving to improve it. Bell spoke of his experience growing up white in the South and witnessing the racial discrimination his peers through an outside lens. He also warned See MLK, Page 3
On a cold Martin Luther King, Jr. Day last year, members of the University’s Black Student Union stood atop the steps of Hill Auditorium, holding black signs etched with white chalk. The organization gathered to protest stagnant minority enrollment and demand the University meet seven goals for improving campus climate. Engineering senior Robert Greenfield, BSU treasurer, said in early discussions, administrators expressed a genuine willingness to collaborate with the BSU. “University administration is made of the highest and best servants of our University, and the BSU is very appreciative of how they have collaborated with us,” he said. “However, as of now, it is the overall sentiment of the BSU that progress is not being made, and as an execu-
ADMINISTRATION
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Injured, sick ‘M’ readying for Rutgers With much of its roster depleted, Michigan faces an uphill battle By LEV FACHER Managing Editor
John Beilein was frank in assessing the Michigan men’s basketball team’s roster prior to its Tuesday night tilt with Rutgers in Piscataway. “We have more injured or sick players than we have healthy players right now,” Beilein said. The Wolverines’ eighth-year coach is barely exaggerating. As few as six players are entirely healthy and ready to contribute major minutes against a Rutgers team that upset then-No. 4 Wisconsin on Jan. 11, and the rest of Michigan’s roster is hurt, sick, ineligible or some combination thereof. Following the team’s announcement Sunday that junior guard Caris LeVert is out for the remainder of the season with a left foot injury, the Wolverines’ injury tally stands at four. Freshman forward D.J. Wilson may redshirt and has yet to be cleared for full-court play following a December knee sprain. Freshman forward Kameron Chatman is questionable thanks to a knee injury suffered Saturday against Northwestern. And sophomore guard Derrick Walton
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 29 LO: 19
Jr. remains limited by an injured toe on his right foot which has plagued him throughout the year. To make matters worse, freshman forward Ricky Doyle’s status is uncertain thanks to an illness, and junior guard Spike Albrecht is questionable because of an upper respiratory infection. Per Beilein, Albrecht has been “cleared to give it a shot and see how he feels.” That leaves just nine healthy players. But sophomore guard Andrew Dakich hasn’t played this season, and likely won’t — Beilein has said previously that Dakich will redshirt so that he has a fifth year of eligibility remaining should he choose to transfer. Duncan Robinson is also sitting out the season, because NCAA transfer policy precludes him from playing in the year following his move to Ann Arbor from Division III Williams College. But Robinson wouldn’t have been available, anyway — he suffered a sprained ankle in recent weeks, preventing him from contributing to the scout team during practice. The injuries have depleted the scout team and forced to Beilein took advantage of an NCAA rule that allows coaches to occasionally bring in former players to practice with the team. He invited David Merritt, a former Michigan point guard and 2009 graduate, to ensure that 5-on-5 competition was an option in practice. To stop Rutgers, the WolverSee RUTGERS, Page 3
tive board, we’re questioning the administration’s willingness due to how fast things are progressing.” Despite progress on several of the BSU’s demands, which included revising the Race and Ethnicity distribution requirement and providing emergency funding for students, Greenfield said he and other members of the BSU believe progress slowed over the last year, particularly in increasing minority enrollment and establishing a new multicultural center on Central Campus. “It’s been a year, and many of the things that still need to be done, the Black Student Union just can’t control,” he said. “Many of the solutions to the demands have been handed over to people who are very passionate about fulfilling the work, but just simply don’t have the resources to do so.” In November 2013, the BSU had launched the Twitter initiative #BBUM. Students of color used the hashtag, which stands for Being Black at the University of Michigan, to share thoughts and experiences about being a minority on campus. #BBUM soon went viral, accumulating over 10,000 tweets by 10 p.m. See BBUM, Page 3
Schlissel to strengthen connections during July trip to China Envoy to include meetings with several partner institutions ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Washington University student Rohan Khopkar works on his team with Purdue University student Andrew Xia at MHacks Saturday on North Campus.
Hacking competition draws 1,200 participants to A2 Fifth annual MHacks event engages students over 36 hours By TANYA MADHANI Daily Staff Reporter
When the clock struck midnight on Friday, 1,200 people rushed to begin 36 hours of living and breathing one thing: programming. Over the weekend, MHacks, a hackathon competition organized by University students, held its fifth hacking competition. Saturday morning, 11 hours into the competition, teams
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filed into the nooks and crannies of the Bob and Betty Beyster building on North Campus to work on their projects. Rooms called “hacking spaces,” labeled with famous programmers such as Alan Turing, were filled to the brim with teams. Throughout the event, some hackers wore pajamas, others remained in the clothes they had arrived in. A few participants slept on benches outside of rooms or at their desks as the night wore on. Several sleeping bags were scattered in the hallways and on the floors, but a few resisted sleep through the entirety of the event. “There are people who haven’t gone to sleep yet from the (organizing) team,” said
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MHacks Director John Zwick, an Engineering junior. “And I really appreciate that.” Started in 2013 by MPowered, a student organization that encourages entrepreneurship among college students, MHacks promotes programming innovation and encourages students to build both software and hardware they can continue to develop in the future. The closing ceremony of MHacks was held at Rackham Auditorium where family members and observers sat patiently for the top 10 teams to present the fruits of their labors. After each presentation, Zwick read off special prizes See MHACKS, Page 3
Vol. CXXIV, No. 50 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
By MICHAEL SUGERMAN Daily News Editor
In his first international trip as the University’s chief administrator, University President Mark Schlissel will head to China early this July to continue collaboration with the country’s universities, as well as to meet alumni, faculty and students studying abroad. In an interview with The Michigan Daily on Friday, Schlissel said the visit — slated for the week of July 5 — is demonstrative of the University’s growing presence in China. “Michigan is a global university, and I think in the decades ahead more so,” he said. “The world is becoming smaller, people are traveling and communicating with one another, students are traveling the globe, so reaching out around the world is an important part of my job.” Schlissel visit Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Peking University. Fifty University undergraduates currently attend SJTU each summer through the UMSJTU Joint Institute to study See CHINA, Page 3
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS............................. 5
SPORTS......................7 SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6
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2 — Tuesday, January 20, 2015
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Ndaba Mandela explores African equality, future Grandson of Nelson Mandela calls for student empowerment through African heritage BY GENEVIEVE HUMMER Daily Staff Reporter
VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
TOP: Engineering sophomore Chloe Henderson and LSA sophomore Adelia Davis lead the Circle of Unity, a series of performances and speakers in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., Monday in the Diag. BOTH MIDDLE: Students participate in the Circle of Unity by standing together in the Diag for an hour on Monday. BOTTOM: Musician Joe Reilly sings in the Circle of Unity Monday on the Diag.
Ndbaba Mandela spoke to more than 500 students, faculty and community members Monday, detailing his upbringing, problems that plag ue Africa today and the work he is doing to combat them. Mandela, the grandson of the late South African President Nelson Mandela, was the keynote speaker for the 2015 William K. McInally Memorial Lecture, sponsored by the Ross School of Business and the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, and held in the Blau Auditorium at the Business School. He referenced Martin Luther King, Jr. several times, beginning and ending his lecture with excerpts from King ’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Mandela championed progress and social equality throughout his lecture, emphasizing the struggle of the African people. “The American Dream is pervading every part of society across the world but we, as Africans, do not want the American Dream, we want the African Dream,” Mandela said. He said his experiences abroad motivated him to form his own nongovernmental organization, Africa Rising, to spread awareness about African culture and society. “We see ourselves creating a new breed of young Africans that will empower themselves to develop the continent from within, raising the pride and the confidence of young Africans,” he said. “So that when they travel, when they engage with travelers that have come to visit us, that they will talk about Africa with a certain pride and confidence.”
Africa Rising strives to educate and empower young Africans, contribute to the development of Africa and spread awareness to those outside the continent. The organization is currently working to develop a resource center in the small village where Mandela’s grandfather was raised. The center, which plans to house a library and technolog y center, is slated to educate African children so that they can compete on a global scale. Mandela said the biggest obstacle South Africa faces is its lack of quality and accessible education. “The primary barrier that we have in South Africa, and probably across the continent is skills and training,” he said. “We do not have the skills nor the information to service our people, hence we are always working with Europe, with China, etcetera, to get people with skills to come in to service our people.” Mandela branched beyond Africa’s internal struggles and acknowledged that the fight for racial and economic equality across the world is far from over. He called on students to recognize the sacrifice needed to create social change. “Some of us have to take public positions, we have to sacrifice, g uys,” he said. “That is why we talk about these leaders because they sacrificed everything, including their own families. “My grandfather Nelson Mandela sacrificed his own family to become the man that he became and he will tell you, ‘If I was put in the same position I wouldn’t change anything, I would do it again.’ ” LSA freshman Taylor Rick was drawn to Mandela’s platform, “The Power of One,” and felt a desire to learn more about Africa. “People don’t know enough about the problems in Africa so that’s why I came. I’m just not informed,” Rick said. “It has opened my eyes to what I need to do and what I need to learn.”
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‘U’ professors say Beethoven’s heartbeat influenced his music
HuffPost Live host discusses King’s vision for race relations
Research shows composer’s cardiac arrhythmia mirrors tempo, key changes
Keynote speaker encourages listening, unity in today’s society
key changes or tempo changes — and speculates these irregular rhythms may mimic the arrhythmic rhythms of Beethoven’s own heart. Whiting said the idea for the essay emerged out of interdisciplinary curiosity. “It started because of two musically-inclined doctors and a musically-inclined musicologist who wondered together whether this visceral connection to his own heartbeat might add yet another dimension to Beethoven’s music,” he said. The group studied the rhythmic patterns of several compositions of Beethoven, focusing in particular on passages that were both emotionally stimulating and rhythmically irregular. These irregularities were striking, the authors wrote. Whiting said they compared electrocardiograms, which measure electrical activity of the heart, with the music. They
concluded that Beethoven’s own Hill said the U.S. is also cardiac arrhythmia, a condition missing a sense of unity and that causes the heart to beat with is inhibited by a lack of conan irregular rhythm, may have versation surrounding issues influenced some of the rhythms. important to others, but not Beethoven has been linked necessarily a priority to ourwith a host of other health selves. For example, Hill said BY MAYA SHANKAR problems as well, such as liver BY LEA GIOTTO people may be more concerned Daily Staff Reporter disease, kidney disease and deafDaily Staff Reporter with educational reform comness. pared to prison reform, since Fans of Ludwig van Beethoven His deafness, the authors Kicking off the Martin the former is an issue potenmay find his compositions heartwrote in the essay, could have Luther King Jr. Symposium, tially more relevant to them. felt, but their sentiments may be also contributed to a heightened Marc Lamont Hill, host of Though King would not more accurate than they realize. sense of awareness of his own HuffPost Live and BET News, have argued for unanimity or An essay published in Perspecheartbeat. delivered a keynote lecture for everyone to work togethtives in Biology and Medicine by “If you were to sit in silence for to a full Hill Auditorium on er, Hill said King would have Musicology Prof. Steven M. Whita while, you would become more Monday morning. wanted everyone to take the ing; Dr. Joel Howell, professor of aware of your heartbeat,” HowHill spoke on King’s life first step of listening to one history of medicine and Dr. Zachell said. “Beethoven’s world was and legacy in the context of another. ary D. Goldberger, cardiologist silent.” current social conditions in To fully understand King’s at the University of Washington One of the passages studied, the United States. desire for listening, Hill said, School of Medicine, suggests that “Cavatina,” is a movement in “Today, January 2015, pres- Americans must reconstruct Beethoven’s music may have been Beethoven’s String Quartet in ents a particularly interest- conceptions of history. influenced by his own heartbeat. B-flat Major, Opus 130. It is the ing and compelling moment “We remember King as the The essay examines the slow movement in the quartet to think through: Dr. Martin father of democracy and modunusual rhythms found in some and has been long recognized ashttp://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ Luther King’s life and legacy ern democracy, the patriarch Sudoku Syndication of Beethoven’s most famous exhibiting overwhelming emoat a moment when his life of the Civil Rights Movement, compositions — such as sudden tional force. In the passage, the and legacy has been hijacked the leader of empowered lower strings throb slow repeatby all sides, at a time where struggle … But the truth is ing notes, while the first violin is he has been transformed or Dr. King dies an enemy of rhythmically unhinged from the reduced into a sort of revo- the state. April 4th, 1968, lower voices. lutionary or multicultural People Magazine denies Dr. “The passage is almost too action figure,” Hill said. King’s entrance on its ‘Most HARD distraught to align with them Hill described the present Admired Americans’ list; the rhythmically,” Whiting said. time in history as particular- National Baptism Convention The emotion in the passage is ly interesting and compelling kicks King out,” he said. deliberate. In fact, in the comwhen the legacy of King is Hill said recognizing this poser direction written for this compared to that of President idea is critical for helping passage is the word “beklemmt,” Barack Obama. people realize what King saca German word that could be “War has become an instru- rificed when he committed taken to mean “heavy of heart.” ment of foreign policy, rather his life to “dangerous truthThe phrase “heavy of heart” may than a last resort — this isn’t telling.” not only refer to a psychologia motivational speech, clearThe latter part of the Hill’s cal emotion, the authors wrote. ly. But this is our reality as speech covered points that It could also be referring to the we enter this moment. What relate closely to the recent pressure felt on the heart that is would King say about this?” controversial deaths of Black associated with cardiac arrhythHill said King’s idea of rad- citizens, such as Trayvon mia. ical listening, a practice Hill Martin, Eric Garner and “We talk about music being sees as absent from a cur- Tamir Rice. heartfelt, and it is interesting rent age defined by “preoc“We’ve been reenacting the because in some cases, music cupation with the self,” could same ritual of Black people might be literally heartfelt,” “usher in a new possibility of being killed for being young, Howell said. “Music might literjustice.” Black and outside,” he said. ally reflect how your heart feels. “The legacy of King would “Instead of talking about drivYour heart beats continuously say we need to listen to more ing while Black all the time, your entire life. That’s pretty people, we need to listen for maybe we can talk about amazing. You’re intimately relatpoor people,” he said. “We patrolling while racist.” © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com YIKES! ed to your heartbeat, so it’s not can’t just be compassionate by To prevent history from surprising that it might make its proxy — poor people need to repeating itself, Hill said way into great artists’ works.” be at the table.” Americans need a greater
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sense of unity at the community level. “To create a community that includes all of us, we need values of inclusion,” he said. “That means restorative justice must trump contributive justice. Justice doesn’t mean punishment.” To conclude his lecture, Hill emphasized that for change to occur, citizens must make a plan and follow through by taking action. “Dr. King said we must have an analysis, but we can’t succumb to, as Dr. King put it, the paralysis of analysis … What does that look like? It means we must act bravely. No one modeled brave action more than Martin King,” he said. The crowd gave Hill a standing ovation at the conclusion of his speech. In an e-mail interview with The Michigan Daily, Public Policy junior Julie Sarne said Hill’s lecture inspired students to move beyond the classroom and take action. “As students at the University of Michigan, we learn about sweeping societal injustices in the past and present — yet so often, we stop there. Dr. Hill delivered a call to action, an imperative for us to ‘act bravely,’ ” Sarne said. “After all, Dr. King’s legacy demonstrates that ‘to act bravely is to work in the service of justice.’ ” Rackham student Courtney McCluney, president of the Students of Color of Rackham, also wrote in an e-mail interview that Hill’s call to action resonated with her. “Instead of glamorizing the positive messages of Dr. King’s life, (Hill) encouraged us to realize that to take action means that not everyone will agree with you, that you have to sometimes go against the norm, and that you must become a radical listener for change to occur.”
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BBUM From Page 1A the evening of its launch. The creation of the hashtag and the subsequent movement gained national media attention and inspired similar movements on other college campuses. Law Prof. Martha Jones, codirector of the Law School’s Program in Race, Law & History and an associate professor in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, said in an interview with The Michigan Daily that she was not on campus when the movement began, but followed the events via social media. “I recall vividly setting my Twitter to the hashtag, so I could keep up with the hashtag, and I remember seeing the photographs of all the postings on the posting wall,” she said. “Those still, to me, are some of the most powerful images of the movement.” As part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day demonstration, BSU made seven demands of the University administration and challenged officials to respond within seven days. According to the BSU website, the demands would give the group “an equal opportunity to make change” on campus. Shortly after, weekly discussions between the BSU and the University administration commenced. During these meetings, plans to address every demand were developed. Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones was present during the
MLK From Page 1A white social workers not to fall prey to a savior complex that often leads to racist behaviors and mindsets. “I think that it’s important to remember that, for me, I see myself in doing whatever work I do out of a fundamental self-interest,” Bell said. “I do that out of a way to try to reclaim my humanity.” Owusu warned against the use of body cameras as a method for curbing police brutality. He said while it will increase accountability of the problem, it risks normalizing the behavior and desensitizing the community to violence. He also lauded social media’s impact on bringing to light some of the injustice of police brutality and rallying support for victims of it. “There’s a lot of talk about how online activism isn’t meaningful as opposed to traditional means of protest, but I think in conjunction to traditional protest, that’s what
RUTGERS From Page 1A ines will need to stop the highflying scoring duo of Myles Mack and Kadeem Jack, who average 14.7
MHACKS From Page 1A given out by sponsors of the event. One of the prizes, sponsored by Thiel Audio Products, offered NetworkedIn, FoodCompass and Snooze You Lose, three different teams, $1,000 to continue developing their hacks. If the winners were to continue pursuing their projects, representatives from Thiel said their cash prize could increase to $5,000. The top three winners, selected by a panel of judges, were Draw Anything, which placed first, DataWave, which placed second, and Haptic Feedback Suit, which placed third. Rackham students Olivia Walch and Matt Jacobs, developers of Draw Anything, used Wolfram Alpha to program an application that allows an individual to snap a picture of any object and configure a step-by-step instruction on how to draw it. Walch said her MHacks victory was unexpected, particularly because her app was more algorithm-based. “I also love designing iOS apps, so that was the software part of it, and I just figured these awesome people are doing amazing hardware things that I could never do,” Walch said. “So I thought when you do something more theoretical — I mean they’ve got a Nerf gun — we don’t have a chance.” MHacks is the first competition of its kind in the nation and has inspired several other collegebased hackathons in recent years.
News
Tuesday, January 20, 2015 — 3
weekly meetings between the BSU and administration. In an interview with the Daily, she discussed some of the work that has been done since discussions with the BSU began. “Progress was made with every single one of the demands, and several of the demands have been completely rectified,” Dean Jones said. “For example, the Bentley documents have been digitized and stricter Race and Ethnicity requirements have been implemented.” Last April, University officials and the BSU co-authored a press release outlining how each of the seven demands was to be addressed. Dean Jones referred the Daily to the press release when asked about the progress made to address every demand thus far. Among the seven, four demands have been completely remedied, she said. The BSU was granted $60,000, for funding a variety of student groups on campus, an increase from the $37,000 previously allocated to the organization. The University also approved Intergroup Relations courses to count toward the Race and Ethnicity distribution requirement, increasing the classes in credit value from two credits to three. Seven colleges within the University adopted IGR courses as classes fulfilling the Race and Ethnicity requirement. The administration also addressed emergency funding for students with financial need,
which the BSU demanded the University increase. By launching a survey, the University determined that available funds had not been exhausted. As a result, several University units, including the Office of Student Life and Central Student Government, created a central website to raise awareness about available emergency funding options for each school and college. Lastly, officials digitized Bentley Historical Library documents with information on the Black Action Movement of the 1960s. A long-term plan for digitizing the remaining documents is currently in development by the Bentley Library. Talks to address affordable housing are ongoing, though evening and weekend bus service has increased as of May 2014. The Dean of Students Office has also allocated funding for students for whom transportation is an issue. Discussions on increasing minority enrollment and building a new Trotter Multicultural Center on Central Campus are also continuing. Greenfield said developing a business and architectural plan for a new Trotter is difficult when the committee responsible for doing so comprises students and faculty who lack the resources necessary to move the project forward, a challenge which has impacted many of the proposed initiatives. Overall, Dean Jones said the initiatives implemented so far are helping move the University closer toward tangible results. In an interview with the Daily,
E. Royster Harper, vice president for student life, said it is normal to feel like progress is slowing down at this point in the planning process. “They have been meeting weekly and biweekly and doing the planning for the new cultural center,” she said. “This is more long-term work, so it’s going to naturally feel slower than actually making the decision to have (a new multicultural center). We’re at the working phase.” Harper also said the decision to allocate money for the new Trotter Multicultural Center lies in University Provost Martha Pollock’s office, and will be budgeted once a plan for the new facility is finished. Students and faculty are expected to finish planning by the end of the semester. “There is no expectation for the students and faculty to have all the resources they need to actually build a new Trotter,” Harper said. “What we’re asking students and faculty to do is help with the planning. You don’t know what resources you’ll need to execute the plan until the plan is finished being made.” The BSU and University administration agree that the demand for a 10-percent representation of Black students on campus has been the most difficult to address. “By the time we received the demands, admissions decisions had already been delivered,” Jones, the dean of students, said. “At that point, we decided we needed to focus on yield, making phone calls and sending e-mails to students
of color who had been admitted, really encouraging them to accept and enroll.” Dean Jones also said the administration has hired Kedra Bishop to serve as associate vice president for enrollment management to further address minority enrollment. Greenfield thinks the admissions office should focus on targeting urban communities — where students tend not to apply to the University — to raise minority enrollment on campus. “Instead of focusing on race and some of the cultural backgrounds of students, admissions should focus more on geography, and highly concentrated minority areas or even SES status,” he said. “They’re going to have to start considering innovative admissions techniques.” Voters in the state of Michigan banned the consideration of race, among other characteristics, in admissions with a 2006 ballot initiative. Aside from continuing to collaborate — the administration and BSU are currently scheduling meetings for the winter semester — both groups are developing future events and plans. The BSU is currently planning a leadership conference to help increase post-graduate opportunities for students of color. The BSU hopes the event will include professional networking events and speakers. Details for the conference are projected to be released sometime this term. In December, University President Mark Schlissel announced
his intention to release a campus diversity plan and to host a leadership breakfast for various community members Feb. 18 focused on developing a strategic plan for diversity at the University. Many agree #BBUM and the movement that followed had a significant impact on the University and will be remembered by the University community for years to come. “It definitely provoked a lot of listening and thought,” Prof. Jones said. “I was thrilled and so proud of our students for so creatively and so eloquently bringing this movement not only to our campus audience, but to a national audience.” She also said #BBUM will serve as a prime example of student activism to which younger Wolverines can aspire. “BBUM will be linked to a long chain of the history of activism on this campus,” she said. “It has left a challenge for students on this campus. How are you going to leave your mark? What do you care about, and what are you going to do about it?” “Be understanding and be open minded,” Greenfield said. “Don’t allow your social circle to be your end-all-be-all. Consider what others have to offer.” Dean Jones said the work will continue. “We all need to keep working on this together,” Dean Jones said. “We have to keep the momentum going, keep the support going, and keep the lines of communication open.”
helped galvanize people in terms of Michael Brown and the Eric Garner killings,” Owusu said. “I think this is especially true when the media is sometimes uninterested in covering these stories or does it opportunistically.” Several University learning communities sponsored the 28th annual “Circle of Unity” gathering, featuring musical performances and slam poetry to feature the literature and art that came out of the Civil Rights era. Local artists Joe Reilly and Julie Beutel performed original compositions as well as spirituals from antebellum Black communities. The Michigan Gospel Chorale also performed the Black National Anthem. At the end of the event, students stood at the podium to finish the statement “I have a dream…” Rackham student Dan Green, also in the School of Social Work, was one of the event organizers, and said the University community should learn about the ideals and values Martin Luther King embod-
ied. “I think learning what his beliefs actually were is very important,” Green said. “It’s more than what you see in movies and on posters. There’s so much more to Dr. King that should be learned about.” Green hoped the event inspired and challenged those in attendance to be the change they wish to see on campus. “There’s a lot of work to be done,” he said. “Everyone needs to be a part in order to make that change happen.” The Black Volunteer Network also hosted their annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day program for 21 high school students to discuss King’s leadership and the current state of activism, while encouraging them to apply to the University. The day began with the students listening to the symposium’s keynote address, which this year was given by Marc Lamont Hill, host of HuffPost Live and BET News, as well as a political contributor to CNN. Hevhynn Jackson, a senior at
University High School Academy in Southfield, Mich., said Hill’s lecture inspired her to become more socially active. “I thought his speech entirely was really amazing and really spoke to me about how I need to get active and if I want to see a change I have to start making the change,” Jackson said. The BVN event also examined academic, social and professional life at the University, including information on financial aid and scholarship options. LSA senior Asia Bond, who is the BVN’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day co-chair, said the point is to inform visiting students about the University and the application process. “We just want to give them the opportunity to come to Michigan seeing what it’s like, seeing that it’s not that far from home but you can still attend this University. And to meet us most of all, to get that one-on-one experience, that’s having someone who can be a mentor somewhat,” Bond said. Immediately following the
keynote,Honors College residential assistants hosted their sixth annual peer-group discussion. LSA senior Colin McWatters, an event organizer, said the goal of the discussion was to discuss the influence of recent nationwide social movements on student lives, including those against police brutality and for statewide same-sex marriage recognition. “It’s important to focus on the impact of the problems, so we’re not just having conversations for five or 10 years and so we’re actually doing something,” McWatters said. Students discussed how social justice could be used to build a more tolerant and diverse community for all different types of individuals. LSA sophomore Matt Sehrsweeney spoke of his perspective on the fight for social justice as a straight white male. He said it really “hit home” when he saw 1,000 students rally to call for the firing of former Athletic Director Dave Brandon, yet only 200 students participate in
the die-in to protest police brutality in December. “If I wanted to I could ignore those issues and I could be fine my whole life, but so many people can’t,” he said. Rackham student Channing Mathews told the group how her friend heard white students mock students and the event during the die-in. Though Mathews spoke of some of the discouragement she felt after hearing about the encounter, she said by speaking to other like-minded individuals, including Sehrsweeney, she feels more hopeful. “Even listening to Matt just made me feel a lot better than I’ve felt in the past eight months,” she said, turning to Sehrsweeney. The University’s MLK Symposium hosts a variety of social justice themed events throughout the month. — Daily Staff Reporters Alyssa Brandon, Tanya Madhani, Genevieve Hummer and Anastassios Adamopoulos contributed reporting.
and 12.8 points per game, respectively. Mack, a 5-foot-10 guard, is a potential defensive match for freshman guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman if Albrecht and Walton are entirely unable to go.
The injuries, Beilein acknowledged, have flipped Michigan’s status in the Big Ten — the Wolverines were among the conference’s “hunted” teams following a Final Four appearance in 2013 and a trip to the Elite Eight the
following season. “We’re certainly hunters for the rest of the year,” Beilein said. Beyond newfound opportunities for players like Lonergan, along with Abdur-Rahkman and fellow freshman guard Aubrey
Dawkins, the injury void creates an obvious opportunity for sophomore forward Zak Irvin to step up. This year, according to Beilein, Irvin has seen consistent growth as a passer, rebounder and defend-
er. Tuesday night represents a prime opportunity for the 6-foot6 swingman to take the next step — as Beilein said Monday, LeVert’s 19 shots and 39 minutes per game are now there for the taking.
Representatives from a similar hacking competition at Stanford University called TreeHacks were in attendance and planned to fly the winning team from MHacks to their hackathon at Stanford. This is a common practice at hackathons, and MHacks practices a similar method to draw students, both national and international, according Zwick. “We bring in talent from around the country and even outside of the country,” Zwick said. “We have people from as far as South Africa this time around. It’s a building marathon so they can build whatever they want. Most use computer science and others engineering, but it’s more about making connections and, you know, learning how to think in the hacking way.” Individuals don’t necessarily have to have their teams fixed or even their projects planned out; organizers of MHacks provide a networking session for those still looking to join or build a team. Chris Bradfield, a graduate student from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was one of these students that just showed up. He said, aside from convenience, he came to MHacks because he wanted to experience programming. He did not have a team three hours before the hacking began, but said he was willing to work by himself or loosely with another team. “I just want to do something back-end web development,” he said. “When you go to a website you see the front end, everything behind it, that makes it work.
Really, I just hope I get a team I can work with. That’s what I’m here for, the other people. But I’m not just going to ditch it if I don’t get a team, though.” Zwick said people without a set group or people with no coding or hackathon experience can still find MHacks to be a valuable event to attend, as the aim of MHacks is to teach and inspire. “Individuals leave here knowing a lot more than what they came in with,” Zwick said. “I’ve known people who’ve come here never ever coding before in their life and leaving having made an iOS app, and I think that’s pretty incredible.” Jacobs and Walch, members of the winning team, said their next plan is to continue developing their app and participate in other hackathons, including TreeHacks and Seoul Global Hackathon, which fully sponsored the three winning teams’ trips to the international competition. “No expectations going into this, so all these things that are now on the table are on the table,” Walch said. Conrad Kramer, a previous winner, gave a short speech at the closing encouraging participants to continue working on their ideas. Kramer and his team, who had won MHacks III, further developed their now best-selling iOS app, WorkFlow. The app now has over 100,000 downloads and won the Editor’s Choice in the Apple App Store. “Do not drop your projects,” Kramer said. “Build an awesome product.”
CHINA From Page 1A physics, math and engineering. Likewise, 100 Chinese students from SJTU come to the University each year to complete degrees in the same fields. The University has engaged in extensive medical research collaboration with Peking University, so Schlissel’s tour there will largely revolve around its Health Science Center in Beijing, which houses the University’s Joint Institute for Translational and Clinical Research. “U-M has many significant engagements in China, and this trip will allow the president to learn more about those engagements firsthand, and to
meet and build relationships with the leaders of our partner institutions,” said James Holloway, vice provost for global and engaged education in a press release. Holloway will travel to China with Schlissel. University President Emerita Mary Sue Coleman first traveled to China in 2005, three years into her presidency. Developing the University’s relationship abroad was a major theme of her presidency, exemplified by presidential trips to India , Ghana, South Africa and Brazil. Kenneth Lieberthal, a senior fellow in public policy at the Brookings Institute and former University political science professor, said in January 2008 that engaging with China was
a way to gain a deeper understanding of its culture, economy and global impact. Lieberthal was part of a taskforce, commissioned by Coleman, to determine efforts for using University resources to help improve the University’s understanding of China. Currently, China is home to almost 5,000 University alumni and 200 study abroad students. In the 2007-2008 academic year, LSA’s academic theme was “China in the World.” “China is going to be a major force in the 21st century and so I think it’s very important for our students to be exposed and to understand the culture and the politics and the current issues in China,” Coleman said in an October 2007 interview with the Daily.
Opinion
4 —Tuesday, January 20, 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
An invasion of basic rights
it was absolutely appalling to have two comedians who showed such astuteness to sexism making light of it. You can’t quip about the discrimination faced by women out one side of your mouth and spit jokes at the expense of sexual assault victims out the other. Arguably, the intended target of the joke was Bill Cosby and not the women coming forward to name him as their assailant. And make no mistake, he deserves to be called out for his behavior. The problem is that comparing sexual assault victims to Sleeping Beauty trivializes a serious and traumatic real-life experience. The problem is that bumbling impressions of Bill Cosby that present him as a clueless moron relieve him of a degree
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ov. Rick Snyder approved a number of bills concerning criminal justice Jan. 12, including one that requires DNA collection of those accused of felonies, including nonviolent ones, upon arraignment, and another that expands the type of offenses that can be expunged from a person’s criminal record. Senate Bills 105107 were signed with the general intent to decrease overall recidivism. According to Snyder, the DNA collection bill was specifically designed to “help identify suspects earlier in the investigation process.” Though expungement will likely help stimulate economic recovery of past criminals, the DNA sample collection of all accused is invasive and violates basic privacy rights of those who are supposed to be “innocent until proven guilty.” Before Senate Bill 105 was signed into law, DNA samples were only taken from suspected felons in cases of violent crime. Now, this sampling at the time of arraignment will be expanded to suspects of nonviolent crime, including those accused of drug, property and white-collar offenses. In the event that a suspect is charged with an offense, their sample is to be forwarded and kept for departmental use. Concurrently, the approval of House Bill 4186 expands the ability for all persons with one felony change and two misdemeanors to petition for expungement five years after their sentence is completed. Previously, expungement was only possible for those under 21. The list of non-expungeable crimes has been expanded to add felonies including second-degree child abuse and terrorism offenses. The new law broadening expungement ability will help those who have completed their criminal sentencing recover economically and avoid the stigma associated with felonies. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, ex-convicts are seen as significantly less employable, and employment losses from the neglect to hire these individuals lowered the nation’s GDP between $57 and $65 billion in 2008. Increased employability will not only benefit the past offenders themselves, but may also stimulate the state economy. In addition, those with expunged offenses may have a better chance at being approved for housing, which may help to decrease the significant rates of homelessness among ex-offenders. Though collecting DNA samples at the
time of arraignment may be beneficial when convicting repeat violent offenders, it’s an utterly unnecessary protocol for those accused of nonviolent crimes. The Senate Fiscal Agency estimates that the state collects approximately 3,000 felony suspect DNA samples yearly and predicts that, with the new law, that amount may rise to roughly 12,000, an increase that would not come without a cost. Fingerprints are already taken upon arrest, so the need for using additional DNA samples to track repeat offenders is unclear. More importantly, though the DNA samples will only be tested after the accused individual is charged with the offense, the fact that this personal information is on the record is a gross violation of privacy and infringes upon the central tenet of the criminal justice system; that one is innocent until proven guilty. Also concerning is the penalty for a suspect’s refusal to provide the sample. Doing so would result in a fine of not more than $1,000 or up to one year in jail — an unnecessary measure. Snyder’s approval of Senate Bills 105-107 simultaneously benefits certain ex-offenders while threatening the privacy of those accused of nonviolent felonies. Ultimately, broadening expungement after five years for certain offenses is economically positive for both the individual and the state. Conversely, mandatory DNA collection upon arraignment of the accused violates privacy and the presumption of innocence, which could lead to premature decision-making in criminal cases. Together, the new laws will affect those ending criminal sentences and those who may not have them, for better and for worse, respectively.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Edvinas Berzanskis, Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Devin Eggert, David Harris, Rachel John, Jordyn Kay, Aarica Marsh, Victoria Noble, Michael Paul, Allison Raeck, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Linh Vu, Mary Kate Winn, Jenny Wang, Derek Wolfe
I
A bad joke
love Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. I loved them on “Saturday Night Live,” I loved them in “Baby Mama” and I intend to love them a year from now when “Sisters” comes out in the- SYDNEY aters. I would love them if HARTLE all they did was stand up on a stage and read the entirety of the iTunes Terms and Conditions. They’re brilliant writers, incredible comedians and exemplary role models for women working in male-dominated fields. I got suckered into watching the Golden Globes last week in no small part because the duo was hosting. And it’s my admiration for these women that made their monologue at the Golden Globes such a disappointment for me. On the one hand, they were able to humorously capture the particular difficulties faced by women in Hollywood, namely the lack of compelling roles for older women. Of Patricia Arquette’s performance in “Boyhood,” Poehler said the film proves that there are still great roles for women over 40, as long as you get hired when you’re under 40.”
Fey pointed to the absurdity of praising men in Hollywood for sitting through hours of makeup when women — us laypeople included — are expected to be made up just to be presentable in public: “It took me three hours today to prepare for my role as human woman.” The monologue was entertaining and clever, filled with humorous but poignant social commentary on gender inequality. Then there was the rape joke: “In ‘Into the Woods,’ Cinderella runs from her prince, Rapunzel is thrown from her tower for her prince and Sleeping Beauty just thought that she was getting coffee with Bill Cosby,” Poehler said. This was followed by a series of uncomfortable Cosby impressions that were shoddy at best and racist at worst. However, my discomfort with the bit comes from more than the over-the-top impersonation of a Black voice by a white person. It comes also from the reckless insensitivity shown for the victims of the sexual assaults that are the centerpiece of this joke. When sexual assaults are so disproportionately committed against women,
here’s a linguistic problem one encounters whenever talking about “terrorism.” “Terrorism” refers only to violence ZAK done to civilians WITUS for political purposes by non-state actors. Thus, by definition, the United States, Israel and their allies can never do terrorism. But state violence does, as a matter of fact, terrify people. What’s more, state actors can and do do violence on a much larger scale than non-state actors. But terrifying people and the scale of the violence doesn’t define “terrorism.” If they did, the United States would be the largest terrorist organization in the world. Because of the way the English language has evolved, we can’t call what the state (United States, Israel, Britain, etc.) does “terrorism,” even if they terrify more people with violence on a larger scale than the supposed “terrorists” do. Note the asymmetry: There’s no specific word for violence done by state actors. Therefore the prevalence of the word “terrorism” in popular political discourse and the lack of any corresponding term for violence done by state actors makes criticizing the “terrorists” relatively easy while making dissent against the state extra difficult. The word “terrorism” implies a moral difference between these two types of violence and, by extension, a moral difference between those doing the violence. Calling something “an act of terrorism” automatically denounces and delegitimizes it. But when we compare the many instances of violence done by non-state actors and state actors, any intrinsic moral difference between the two breaks down. Thus we see that the word “terrorism” and its great popularity creates the appearance of a moral difference between the types of violence and violent actors, concealing the fact that there is none. While there might be certain distinctions that truly legitimize and delegitimize violence, such as the purposes and consequences of the violence, or the scale of the violence, the distinction between state actors and non-state actors is not among them.
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of accountability for his actions. The impressions reduced the drugging and assault of women from an intentional decision to an “Oopsies!” that renders the victims mere props rather than human beings who were deliberately violated. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are smart women. They are skilled comedians who were definitely aware that the joke was risky when they chose to include it in their Golden Globes monologue. The question is why they did it anyway. I’m aware that good jokes can be bawdy, offcolor and even downright offensive. Lewdness is sometimes the price we pay for biting social commentary, but the Cosby joke made a caricature of his speech pattern instead
of underlining the atrocity of his treatment of women. The Bill Cosby situation absolutely bears further discussion, but a silly impression does not strike me in any way as the correct avenue for doing so. I think “betrayed” is probably the most accurate word for what I’m feeling in the aftermath of that monologue. I still adore Fey and Poehler, but I think that a rape joke is a lot to ignore in the name of blind admiration. Instead, it’s important to integrate their poor choices into my understanding of them as imperfect individuals. They still need to be called out for their mistakes. — Sydney Hartle can be reached at hartles@umich.edu.
Definitions
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Nonetheless, this false moral distinction endures in many people’s minds. Why? Does its existence reflect a natural moral distinction between violence done by state actors and nonstate actors? If that were true, we’d expect to see people across time and space making this distinction, but we do not. The word “terrorism” itself has only been in use very recently. So, the natural moral distinction, if there is one, must at least exist independent of the word “terrorism.” At first glance, the word “communism” seems to reflect a similar distinction, but then again, this word has mostly been associated with enemy states, so the word “communism” doesn’t signify the distinction we’re looking for. Actually, the two words seem to reflect a similar moral distinction because both terms signify an enemy of the United States. Herein lies the salient difference guiding many Americans’ moral intuitions on the matter of legitimate and illegitimate violence: the violence that “we” do (that is, violence done by the United States and its allies) is good because “we” are the ones doing it, whereas the violence that “they” do (that is, violence done by the terrorists, communists and so on) is bad because “they” are the ones doing it. The logic of this argument plainly runs in circles: “We are good because we do good violence and our violence is good because we are good, etc. They are bad because they do bad violence and their violence is bad because they are bad, etc.” If “we” want to assert our moral superiority, we’ll have to find some better logic. So why the endurance of this false moral distinction? Because the mainstream media and the U.S. government repeatedly reinforce the distinction in people’s minds every time they use terms like “terrorism,” “act of terror” or “terrorist.” Through the reinforcement of this false moral distinction, the mainstream media and the U.S. government regulate the flow of discourse by manipulating our language such that it favors certain conclusions over others — e.g., the United States is good and its enemies (the terrorists) are bad. In the wake of “terrorist” attacks, like the recent attack on Charlie
Hebdo, the cry for unity often drowns out dissenting opinions. Investigating the meaning of the word “terrorism” in the parlance of our times will therefore understandably offend some people. Despite our strong, liberal, democratic desire to always be polite, this is not sufficient reason to stop asking these questions. On the other hand, it would be heartless as well as intellectually suspect to deny the feelings of those who are offended. People who feel offended by such questions and ensuing arguments probably empathize very strongly with the victims of these terrorist attacks, and they feel that such questions and arguments aim to criticize their feelings. And in a way they are right. We should inquire: Do these people empathize equally with the victims of state terrorism and with the victims of non-state terrorism? If the answer is no, as I suspect, we should then ask: By what logic do they discriminate between legitimate and illegitimate victims as well as legitimate and illegitimate violence? Some might object, saying that my argument seeks to uncover hidden biases, but that my argument itself is biased — that is, biased in favor of the so-called “terrorists” or the victims of state terrorism. And I understand why it might seem that way. Because the popular bias in favor of violence done by state actors and against violence done by non-state actors is so pervasive and profound, it will seem like I’m valuing the lives of the victims of state violence above the lives of victims of non-state violence, when what I’m really doing is equating the two. By arguing that there’s no intrinsic moral difference between violence done by state actors and non-state actors, I’m also arguing that there’s no reason to empathize more with the victims of state actors than with the victims of non-state actors. Again, we could probably find ways to discriminate between legitimate and illegitimate victims as well as legitimate and illegitimate forms of violence, but the ways of discriminating implied by the word “terrorism” would still be irrelevant. — Zak Witus can be reached at zakwitus@umich.edu.
Preparing for Michigan winter
t’s that time of year when the snow boots come out, the Canada Goose jackets go on and the out-of-staters get ridiculed for think- JESSE ing they knew what KLEIN cold was before they came to Michigan. As a Californian, I took and still take the brunt of this mockery. During my freshman year, “in-staters” asked me if I had ever seen snow before. They asked how cold it gets in my hometown, Palo Alto, during the winter. They made sure I knew that I had no idea what I was getting into for the upcoming months. I held onto the one piece of information that I hoped would give me a bit of weather street cred: I was from Northern California. My winters were not 60 degrees and sunny like in Los Angeles, they were 40 degrees and rainy. Unlike my SoCal dorm mates, I had seen snow, though only when I drove four hours to Tahoe for a family skiing trip. I also knew of and already owned a North Face jacket. I was sure I wouldn’t be as shocked by winter as the surfer dudes down the hall. But was I really prepared for my first Michigan winter? Of course not. The boots I had bought in California were suede, and my feet were soaked and freezing the first time it snowed. I walked home from a party in two-degree weather, only to spend the night curled in a ball in my dorm, unable to get warm. The next day I went out and bought Hunters and a Patagonia winter jacket. Michigan cold was like nothing I had ever experienced: The stinging cold on your face and the way your ears hurt when you are walk-
ing home at night without a hat. The instantaneous cough that rises from your throat when you step out into the cold air for the first time that day. The panic you feel when your phone shuts off because the air is too cold for the electronics to work. I had never known that type of cold. The one benefit is that I found the one thing that will sober me up faster than anything — cold air without a jacket. Michigan cold and California cold are unique in ways beyond the difference in numerical temperature. Winter is the rainy season in California. When I came to Michigan and learned it was colder when the sun was shining than when it was raining, I was very disconcerted, and honestly, it still pisses me off. I don’t think anyone gets used to Michigan winters. “In-staters” complain about the cold just as much as “out-of-staters”. While I got taunted with “Why the hell would you move here?” questions, they get just as much scorn with “Shouldn’t you be used to this by now?” inquiries. We all feel the cold the same and the seasonal depression hits all of us when February comes around. My answer to the “Why the hell would you move here?” question has always been the same. I wanted to prove I could live somewhere other than California, and better to do it when I’m young, drunk and surrounded by people my age to “cuddle” for warmth with than at any other time in my life. However, I will always feel like I didn’t get the full Michigan winter experience. I missed the only snow day in 75 years. I skipped the entire
polar vortex because I was studying abroad in sunny Australia. I will never know what minus-40 degrees with a minus-10 wind chill feels like. But I’m not sorry in the slightest. I picked a really good winter to not be in Michigan. I like to humblebrag to my friends back in California that they shouldn’t be complaining about a 30-degree New Year’s Eve, because if it breaks 25 in the middle of January in Michigan, that is considered a heat wave. The few sunny 36-degree days we get in the middle of winter — thanks to Ann Arbor’s senseless weather changes — give me just enough hope to make it through the rest of winter, which usually lasts until finals week. I got lured into a false sense of security my freshman year when it was 60 and sunny on St. Patrick’s Day. I thought “two months of horrible weather and then it’s fine by March 17, I can do that.” But those snow flurries in April break your heart just when you think you are home free for spring. I really think that some of my friends deal with worse weather than we do. Many of my friends ventured up north to Oregon and Washington for their college experiences. I would take cold and snow over 300 days of rain any day. Rain is dark. Rain is depressing. Rain is wet and inconvenient. But this is my first Michigan winter since sophomore year, and I’m a little worried that I have forgotten just how miserable they really can be. — Jesse Klein can be reached at jekle@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Tuesday, January 20, 2015 — 5
TV REVIEW
COMMUNITY CULTURE COLUMN
‘Broad City’ back Art in a changing By KAREN HUA Daily TV/New Media Editor
Abbi and Ilana hit career high in new season premiere We’ve been counting down (four and three and two and one) since last season, and Comedy Central’s best gal-pals stride are finally back! Abbi A+ and Ilana have returned with Broad City their crop-tops Season 2 high and heads Premiere held even higher, with their Comedy Central sweat stains Wednesdays large and their at 10:30 p.m. personalities even greater so. Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer (“High and Dry”) have brought along Seth Rogen (“The Interview”) for their sophomore season premiere, in what is one of the finest written episodes since the series’ conception (and quite possibly one of the best written sitcoms of the year). The show opens with Abbi and her new boy toy, Stacy (Rogen), amid a horrendous urban heat wave that causes Stacy to pass out mid-climax. Abbi, in her awkward glory, proceeds to finish – but retrospectively wonders if that makes her a rapist the next day. To remedy her wrongs, she decides that her janky apartment needs an air conditioner, so she drags Ilana along to Bed, Bath & Beyond where she shimmies and handshakes with employees who know her on a first-name basis. Unfortunately, the pair avert their eyes for just a moment, and the AC they’ve purchased is stolen in an instant. Ilana proposes they return to her NYU dorm in alumni fashion, and take the AC that should be rightfully theirs. Of course, they classically get sidetracked on their mission – but they end up positively asserting their alumni influence on today’s youth by encouraging the innocent, unsuspecting dorm residents to hit up a bong together. While higher than the empire state, Abbi makes out with one of the boys, who reveals he is (yikes) actually a
visiting high school student. “Broad City” ’s setting is nothing new, nor the premise anything revolutionary – simply two post-grad girls stumbling aimlessly around New York City. However, the show centers on two characters who stray the most radically from any archetypes – and who believe that not only the show, but the universe revolves around them. If the show’s first season had one flaw, it’s that Abbi and Ilana’s experience is so singular and can be hard to relate to. They had no greater ambitions beyond immediate gratification – no career goals, no infatuations beyond fleeting crushes, no fucks to give about anything significant. However, this is the one show where these somewhat pathetic, dispassionate (but oh, so passionate) characters are so endearing, even with every cringeworthy adventure of debauchery. As an audience, we have been wired to see characters always in pursuit of “the dream job” or “the dream girl.” Abbi and Ilana just want an AC – but in their minds, this endeavor is anything but trivial. It is we who must learn to not be surprised about their questionable life choices – not them who must adjust to the responsibilities of the real world. These two women are the polar opposite to the “glamorous,” “graceful,” “size zero” female standards that are seen on television continuously. Their character development (or lack thereof) lies in immediate pleasures. Even progressing from pilot to sophomore season, neither Abbi nor Ilana have matured – evidenced especially when they retort with insults like: “Maybe your dad should’ve pulled out!” They do not attempt to present the audience with any bullshit quasi-poignant lessons about living lives as twenty-somethings. They do not attempt to mask any inadequacies, and they do not attempt to present a façade to obscure any imperfections. They just are, and that is the most refreshing thing. We have defaulted to expecting force-fed “morals” from television, that when the only lesson Abbi and Ilana hand us is the reassurance that our decision-making skills are not nearly as fucked up as theirs. We’re caught off guard. Jacobson and Glazer do nothing more than
tell a story purely for comedy – no ulterior intentions, no instillations of lessons that are supposed to make us “better human beings.” They entertain just to entertain – a concept quite scarce on television. Because Abbi and Ilana have no devotion to anything except each other, we see a raw relationship unhindered by any other responsibilities in their lives. It’s quite revitalizing to see females who genuinely only care about each other (even if that may be at the expense of other cares). While they do include men in their plots, none of their decisions are actually inspired or provoked by them. Stacy may have been the inciting incident to ensure no other sexual partners pass out in the future, but Abbi is the only to come up with that solution, suggested with input from no one else, and with no other support except from her gurrrrl, Ilana. Beyond their quirks, they have a feminism that makes them allpowerful. The duo does not need complex plotlines or pseudograndeur aspirations or air conditioner. They have their friendship and that’s enough. Nevertheless, Abbi and Ilana still inadvertently say something about how difficult living life in your 20s actually is, especially while trying to maintain financial and social stability in New York City. However, while other shows demonstrate this desperation to survive in this urban monster through drama and tears, Abbi and Ilana tear the city apart. They make the city their bitch simply because they are too immature (and too indifferent) to take adult problems seriously. While yelling at a cat in the final scene, in their fit of anger, they accidentally bump their stolen air conditioner out the window, crashing down to its death. Their toil was all for naught – but hey, are we surprised? Well, we shouldn’t be. Karma is a bitch, sometimes for no reason, and everything has come full circle. One thing is for sure: Abbi and Ilana will never fall prey to routine because the epitome of what they are is unpredictable – a quality that seems to be wearing thin in modern television. In their mundanity, there is hilarity.
ALBUM REVIEW
‘Girls in Peacetime’ By AMELIA ZAK Daily Music Editor
My admittedly limited collegiate experiences have taught me that college bands are typically too immature and overeager to focus on creating one particular type of Asound. Excited by the process Girls in and possibility Peacetime of acceptance, young talents Want to generally cre- Dance ate a scurried Belle & amalgamation of sounds that Sebastian derive from Matador their personal strengths or multiple mutual interests and inspirations. In the early ’90s, from the quiet, urban campus of Stow University in Glasgow, Scotland emerged a college band of this definition. An indescribable collection of musicians – including the now famous Stuart Murdoch – were recognized by a music professor at Stow, Alan Rankine, who guided the young tribe into their first recording studio. Upon gaining more members and momentum, the fresh-faced band produced their first fulllength album at the college’s record label as Belle & Sebastian. The album, titled Tigermilk, was met with mild acclaim. Multiple albums followed with a couple subtractions and additions from the group, and the Scottish band entered the 21st century as a critically acclaimed indie band. Purposely eccentric and traditionally adventurous, Belle & Sebastian has inspired the work of many: modern bands like Vampire Weekend, The Shins and Arcade Fire have created content filled
with definitive strains of Belle & Sebastian’s influence. Wistful lyrics and pop music, or sad lyrics with a quiet acoustic guitar, Belle & Sebastian has aged into a musical anomaly. Changing constantly, and vaguely described as a “folk-pop” band, the group has never really been defined by anything certain. Although containing the maturity and talent of an aged collection of musicians, Belle & Sebastian’s musical randomness keeps the band as collegiate as ever. Ending a five-year hiatus the band took for equally random side projects, this well-awaited ninth album, Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance greets fans of new and old in a state of noticeable depression. The first song of the album, “Nobody’s Empire,” tells the story of a boy getting tested and touched by doctors because he won’t leave his room. When interviewed by The Guardian, Murdoch described the opening track as a testament to his daily struggle against myalgic encephalomyelitis, a chronic fatigue disorder causing constant emotional and physical stagnation. The group’s lyrics dip in and out of Murdoch’s personal vat of human sadness consistently throughout the album. The listener is then slipped into the taunting mind of a young girl named Allie who, in a song of the same title, is telling herself “When there are bombs in the Middle East / you want to hurt yourself / When there’s knives in the streets you want to end yourself.” More political than Belle & Sebastian has ever dared to be, the song tells the story of an anxious adolescent battling our violent world — all set to a happy-go-lucky beat and growing electric guitar sound. Here
salutations should be administered once again to the perfected randomness of Belle & Sebastian. Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is deliciously synthesized. Upbeat and fun, “Enter Sylvia Plath” and “The Party Line” are cousins of a Fitz & the Tantrums dance number. “Enter Sylvia Plath” is an especially interesting song; never before has music so synthesized or joyful held Sylvia Plath as the subject. And “The Party Line,” the first single off the album, is a Pet Shop Boys number that is sure to excite the crowds and reiterate the band’s relevance at their upcoming summer festival engagements, including Coachella and Bonnaroo. Coffee-sipping, slow morning songs reminiscent of Dear Catastrophe Waitress and other early Belle & Sebastian reappears in tracks “The Power of Three” and “Ever Had a Little Faith.” Sarah Martin, the keyboardist and occasional vocalist of the band, tells an ironic and seemingly precious story in “The Power of Three.” Filled with references to the world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the concern that “Everybody has their Moriarty,” the song is another reminder that time has not lessened the random genius of this clever little band. Idiosyncratic and overall upbeat, these Glaswegian musicians have released a ninth album far better than most veteran bands. Age and time haven’t lessened the talents of this mismatched group. Instead, they have made the band highly aware of its audience and the freedoms that those followers will continue to adore. This old indie band has the following of a popular college band, one that a university will ardently support despite artistic strangeness.
T
cultural climate
wo masked gunmen stormed the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7 and subsequently killed 12 employees, including four cartoonists, an economist, two police officers and the Editor-in-Chief of the publication. Eleven others at the scene were wounded durKATHLEEN ing the attack, DAVIS some gravely. As a nation rocked under the aftershock of the worst terrorist attack in France since 1961, journalists and civilians, alike, took to their respective mediums of expression to declare the death of free speech by radical extremism. The attacks were in direct retaliation to the magazine’s cartoons, which showed the prophet Muhammad in compromising situations and satirized Islamic ideologies. First and foremost, it should be noted that cartoons, as depicted on the covers of Charlie Hebdo, fall under a large umbrella of art, and should thus be subjected to the same standards other forms of art are granted when it comes to freedom of speech. Artists are guaranteed freedom of expression, except in cases of child pornography, threatening motives or a handful of other exceptions to the rule.
As I write this column, I’m consistently struck by a moral dilemma. While I consider myself non-religious, in my heart I object to several of the Charlie Hebdo covers under scrutiny. The distortion of such an important figure in such a prominent religion is offensive, and the repeated targeting of one specific religion by the publication strikes me as troublesome and xenophobic. However, above all these objections, I hold freedom of speech in the utmost regard, regardless of context. The rights laid out in the first amendment are undoubtedly the foundation of democracy in any society, and we cannot begin to pick and choose when the freedom of speech is appropriate or not, especially in the world of political art. It’s important to learn about art like Andres Serrano’s “Piss Christ” like I did in my AP U.S. Government class, not because it’s a particularly beautiful or influential piece on its own, but because it’s a test of our nation’s ability to question norms — religious, political, what have you — without fear of government persecution. The United States, as well as France and other Western countries, are seeing an influx of immigrants from all different parts of the world, all with different ideas of the limits of free speech. As globalization increases, should satirical art change to accommodate the sensitivities of other cultures?
It comes without question that with increased globalization, cultural awareness is necessary. Every culture has its customs, quirks and taboos, and it’s our job as citizens of a global world to become aware to these quirks and develop sensitivity to certain topics considered rude or blasphemous, even if they may not appear so from our own cultural experiences. However, art is meant to break rules and challenge social norms, and thus shouldn’t be held to the same standards as everyday interactions. Art — real, textbook art — is supposed to incite something within us. We’re supposed to look at a piece and feel an emotion, and that feeling could be happiness, sadness or anger. While there was obviously anger incited by the Charlie Hebdo cover (which reached the point of a terrorist attack), these terrorists were radicals, and changing rules regarding freedom of speech in response will break down a complex system of Western freedoms that entice immigrants to come to America or France in the first place. We must defend the sanctity of art at all costs, because artistic expression is the basis of human culture. The ability to critique our surroundings, without fear of persecution or death, is the core of democratic freedom. Davis is rereading the Constitution. To join, e-mail katjacqu@umich.edu.
ALBUM REVIEW
Lupe’s stellar return By KEN SELANDER Daily Arts Writer
Scanning over my first casual, relaxed account of Lupe Fiasco’s Tetsuo & Youth , I noted that I didn’t Ahear any real “bangers” on Tetsuo & the record. The Youth length of the songs proved Lupe Fiasco tiring and Atlantic Records forgettable, the instrumentals seemed a bit out of place, but I still thought it was well produced on the whole, anyway. It wasn’t until my second time listening through with a more attentive ear that I realized how jaw-dropping this album is: I focused in on the lyrics and structure of each song and had my mind blown. “Mural” is a mesmerizing masterpiece, “Deliver” is filled with soulwrenching symbolism and “Prisoner 1 & 2” manages to take a cliché theme in rap and politics and repackage it in a new, exciting way (with maybe a little inspiration from skits in Kendrick’s good kid, m.A.A.d city). While completely unintentional, my own change of heart is a near perfect representation of the issues Lupe Fiasco has been facing as a rapper and artist throughout his career. He’s experienced resistance because his tracks don’t fit the mold for the music industry’s standard hit. Lupe often complains about the label interfering with his music. “Dots & Lines” calls out major labels for limiting his artistic voice and artists for selling their souls for money, directly telling listeners in a catchy chorus, “don’t sign.” His tracks are often double or even triple the length of an average song – “Chopper” alone runs for 9.5 minutes. It’s hard to get radio play with records that long. Furthermore, it seems that most people don’t want to have to think so deeply about their music. Lupe’s lyrics and rhyme schemes are so intricate you have to listen over and over again just to get a basic understanding of a track. I could listen to “Mural” or “Adoration of the Magi” for a day straight and still not discover all that the songs have to offer.
ATLANTIC RECORDS
Eat, pray, Lupe.
Listening to “Prisoner 1 & 2,” which has numerous references to Maya Angelou’s famous “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” I could not help but directly contrast the soulful, meticulous track to Gucci Mane’s mixtape The State vs. Radric Davis II: The Caged Bird Sings. And how entirely different the two are.
His tracks don’t fit the norm. Artists like Waka Flocka Flame and Gucci Mane don’t care to make complex or highly lyrical music (Waka has been quoted in an interview with Noisey saying just this of himself ). The recent rise of rappers like Migos and Young Thug reinforces the fact that many consumers don’t care for the complex, multilayered works of art that Lupe produces. I can’t understand any words except “lifestyle” and “beginning” in Rich Gang’s “Lifestyle (ft. Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan)” and it landed at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. This trend certainly can’t be good for Lupe’s record sale prospects. “Chopper” on Tetsuo & Youth serves to address those who propagate and imitate the lifestyle of gangster rappers, even referencing Waka and Brick Squad. The song’s simple chorus and bridge parodies the simplicity of such records, and is a powerful satire of the
“hood rich” lifestyle with talk of “Filet Mignon with my food stamps.” The lines “Sayin’ free they guys like I’m dirty / With a clean record but I’m cursed / To make a half a million off a verse,” encompass so much in so few lines. I’d argue that Lupe fell off for a good while, The Cool being the last album where he was true to himself. Probably, in an attempt to compromise with industry pressures, his talents stagnated thereafter. He’s been open about his conflict with music labels over control of his music in the past with songs like “Dumb It Down,” and again addresses the issue of a certain recognition coupled with distaste for his artsy fartsy style in the opening lines of “Adoration of the Magi” on Tetsuo & Youth. “Blur My Hands” is a lovely example of his creative ability, taking something as rude and indecent as flicking someone off and making it a creative, nonvulgar song addressing those who embody any of the criticism he receives. In any event, Lupe’s back. Tetsuo & Youth is mostly amazing, but I don’t feel the instrumentals “Summer,” “Fall” and “Winter” mesh with the tracks musically, and the same for the banjo intro and outro to “Dots & Lines.” My personal dislike for artists who sacrifice pleasurable music or practicality to be artsy definitely factors into my opinion – can you say Yeezus? – but Lupe’s ability to implement such depth and still produce an enjoyable album from a purely pleasure based lens overrides this. I don’t know if Tetsuo & Youthwill sell, but I’m sold on it.
Sports
6 — Tuesday, January 20, 2015
‘M’ holds off Northwestern By MAX BULTMAN Daily Sports Editor
Plagued by sicknesses to two key contributors, the Michigan men’s basketball team found a way to get the job done. Even with junior guard Spike Albrecht out with a respiratory infection and freshman center Ricky Doyle playing minimal minutes due to a cold, the Wolverines squeaked out a thrilling win over Northwestern, 56-54. Junior guard Caris LeVert had 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds in a game that saw Northwestern in prime position to pull off a game-tying buzzer-beater on the game’s final possession. Wildcats’ guard Bryant McIntosh put up a runner with the final seconds ticking down, but his shot rimmed out and LeVert did just enough to clear the rebound as time expired. “I don’t know how (we got the win), but we end up getting it, and we’ll take it,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “I’m really proud of the way our kids played through some adversity.” Northwestern was able to stay in the game by exploiting a stark mismatch down low. With Doyle sidelined, Wildcats center Alex Olah dominated redshirt freshman Mark Donnal in the post, forcing Donnal into foul trouble and leading to big minutes for senior forward Max Bielfeldt. And though Olah held a significant height and weight advantage over both Wolverine big men, Beilein went to various zone defenses in an effort to minimize his advantage. “We couldn’t stop (Olah) down low,” Beilein said. “It’s a matchup
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Behind Enemy Lines: Rutgers’ Myles Mack By DANIEL FELDMAN Daily Sports Editor
Even with an injury report that grows by the day, the Big Ten schedule won’t wait for the Michigan men’s basketball team to get healthy. Tuesday, the Wolverines (4-2 Big Ten, 11-7 overall) will travel to Piscataway to take on Rutgers. While not much was expected this season from the Scarlet Knights (2-4, 10-9), they recently turned heads with an upset over then-No. 4 Wisconsin. They have since lost to Minnesota and Maryland, but Tuesday’s game may not be a cupcake game for Michigan, as it was once billed. Leading the Scarlet Knights is senior guard Myles Mack, who averages 14.7 points and 4.5 assists. The Daily sat down with Mack at Big Ten Media Day in October to talk about the transition to the Big Ten, expectations in the tougher conference and how former NBA coach Eddie Jordan has handled the switch to coaching college basketball. The Michigan Daily: Are you excited to see more of the Midwest this year after being on the East Coast a lot in the early parts of your time at Rutgers? Myles Mack: It’s a great opportunity to come out to the Midwest and play these great teams. (I’m) just happy to have the opportunity to do that. TMD: Is it going to be a hard transition to play in your third
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman hit a key 3-pointer late in the game after starting for the first time this season.
that we just did not like, so we went away from him.” Whereas Doyle’s sickness caused problems on the defensive side of the ball, Albrecht’s absence left Beilein with a difficult decision on who to insert into the starting lineup. Freshman forward Kameron Chatman had the most experience starting, as he did for the first two months of the season, but Beilein thought it would be better to stay with the smaller lineup for the sake of consistency. Accordingly, he turned to freshman guard Muhammad-Ali AbdurRahkman alongside sophomore guard Derrick Walton Jr. in the backcourt. And both young guards delivered. Walton looked as sharp as he has since sustaining a toe injury against Villanova on Nov. 25, making more deliberate cuts and moving better away from the ball. He was even able to find
more open space, getting free and shooting an impressive 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Abdur-Rahkman held his own and kept up with the tempo of the game, even coming up with a few key buckets for the Wolverines (4-2 Big Ten, 11-7 overall). With 8:17 remaining, LeVert saw Abdur-Rahkman cutting to the rim in transition, hitting the freshman for a smooth layup to tie the game at 45. His nine points were the third highest on the team behind LeVert and Walton, and none of them were bigger than his dagger 3-pointer with just under a minute to play, extending the Wolverines’ lead to 56-52. “I think it’s big, especially for the rest of our season, to have these guys sort of out of their comfort zone playing big minutes,” Bielfeldt said. “With Muhammad doing that tonight, you know when Spike is back
he’s probably not going to start, he’s probably going to come off the bench with a lot more enthusiasm.” Early in the game, LeVert and Walton appeared as though they would carry Michigan to a runaway win. LeVert unleashed a wicked crossover before finding Walton for a corner triple eight minutes into the game, then followed it up with a 3-pointer of his own on the next possession to give Michigan an early 21-11 lead. The back-to-back threes were part of an 18-0 Wolverine run in the first half. But Northwestern (1-4, 10-8) answered, riding 13 first-half points from Olah and a buzzerbeater at the end of the first frame to take a 32-31 lead into halftime. The Wildcats went on to stretch their lead to large as five points in the second half before AbdurRahkman tied the game and hit the eventual game-winner.
different league in three years? MM: No, I mean, the transitions haven’t been that bad. I mean, it’s just basketball, so at the end of the day it’s the same thing. TMD: Are people buying into his message? Is he teaching different things? What exactly is he trying to do to connect the team? MM: He’s just trying to connect the team the best way he can. He’s getting us to do more things off the court together. (He wants us) to make better bonds, better chemistry. He’s just doing a lot more different activities off the court and getting after us in practice also. TMD: Coach Jordan has said he’s always willing to talk about his career. Are there any stories that have stuck to you or your teammates? MM: Yeah, man — him making it to the Final Four in ’76. He just talks about that all the time. He says anything is possible, so we’re just trying to work hard and get there one day. TMD: In 1976, Rutgers lost to Michigan in the Final Four. Since you play Michigan twice this year, do you think he might bring that up, try to rev you up before those games? MM: Yeah, I’m sure he will. He doesn’t bring it up that often, but I’m sure on that occasion he will bring it up just to put something in our heads about the opportunity. TMD: What’s the goal for this year? MM: Of course, the goal is to make the NCAA Tournament, just like every college team. We’re just trying to get as many wins as we can. That’s all we can really worry about right now.
WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS
Michigan improves in conference debut By CINDY YU Daily Sports Writer
From the uneven bars to the balance beam and the floor exercise to the vault, the No. 4 Michigan women’s gymnastics team showed improvements on each event in its first Big Ten meet. The Wolverines hit all 24 of their routines on Saturday, took home top honors on every event and swept the podium in the allaround competition. Senior Sachi Sugiyama and freshman Brianna Brown scored their career-best totals of 39.450 and 39.375 to place first and third, respectively. Sophomore Nicole Artz finished second with a score of 39.400. Michigan (1-0 Big Ten, 3-0 overall) scored 196.975 to defeat No. 20 Ohio State (195.025) and West Virginia (194.175) at St. John Arena in Columbus. Though the margin of victory may not seem significant, the improvements in scores don’t begin to do their performances justice. At No. 10 Georgia last weekend, the Wolverines tallied 196.600 to set their highest-scoring season opener in program history. Michigan started out on bars, an event in which the six competitors in the lineup swept the top six spots. Freshman Nichelle Christopherson set the tone for the rest of the lineup by leading off on uneven bars. Her score of 9.825 matched the performance of junior Briley Casanova in the anchor position. Sandwiched in between their routines, Sugiyama and Artz both scored 9.850 to improve upon their scores from the previous week. Brown — named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week — set a career-best 9.875 on bars to rank among the top 20 in the country. Junior Lindsay Williams also topped her career high by earning a 9.925. After the first rotation, Michigan led the Buckeyes and the Mountaineers 49.325 to 48.900
and 48.725, respectively. Beam was an especially impressive event for the Wolverines. Michigan’s 49.225 score propelled it to the top nationl ranking for the event. A West Chester, Ohio native making her homecoming to the state, Brown led the team with a career-high 9.875 routine. “As a freshman, Brianna continues to just impress me tremendously,” Plocki said. “She’s proven to be a really dynamic competitor and very, very consistent.” In her return to the beam lineup, Casanova led off with a score of 9.800. Sugiyama scored her careerbest 9.850 in just her second competition on the beam since freshman year. “Sachi has really just come into her own this year,” Plocki said. “She just competes with so much more aggressiveness and confidence than she had when she came in as a freshman.” Artz and her sophomore counterpart Talia Chiarelli tied Sugiyama in back-to-back routines, with both currently tied for No. 7 in the NCAA standings on the event. Just like the bars squad, the entire Michigan floor lineup in the six-up five-count format placed in the top six. The scores escalated throughout the night, with Williams leading off with a 9.800 routine and Artz capping the rotation by tying her career high with a score of 9.950. “My favorite part of competing is cheering on the sidelines of floor,” Brown said. “I love doing everybody else’s routines and then cheering them on, giving out high fives and seeing their faces at the end of their routines. They’re just so happy and there’s such raw emotion. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Heading into the final rotation, Michigan led by over a point with a total of 147.800. On vault, Sugiyama highlighted the event with a stuck Yurchenko 1.5 in the anchor position, earning her a 9.925 score.
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, January 20, 2015 — 7
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Wolverines claw back to top Wildcats on road Michigan’s strong second half erases early deficit for first road win By MINH DOAN Daily Sports Writer PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Sophomore forward Tyler Motte scored two goals and added an assist in Michigan’s 10-goal outburst at Ohio State.
‘M’ looks to create energy By ZACH SHAW Daily Sports Writer
COLUMBUS — When senior forward Zach Hyman scored his second goal of the game 5:36 into the first period to give the Michigan hockey team a 2-0 lead, the celebratory banging of gloves and sticks was heard loud and clear even from the highest parts of the building. The rest of Value City Arena was shockingly quiet. The fans in Columbus— all 8,156 of them — had been silenced early. For the Wolverines, that meant mission accomplished. “I think it was huge,” said sophomore forward Tyler Motte. “We’re just trying to focus on our system and play our game every night, no matter what building we’re in and no matter what energy there is. “We’re trying to create our own energy.” The 10-6 win at Ohio State marked the start of an eightgame road trip for No. 16 Michigan. The stretch away from home comes after playing 11 of 12 games in Southeast Michigan — two in Detroit for
the Great Lakes Invitational and nine at the friendly confines of Yost Ice Arena. The lone trip outside of the state was to Boston, where the Wolverines fell to then-No. 16 Boston College, 5-1 — the team’s only loss since Nov. 21. After starting the season 1-5 on the road, the Wolverines needed to start fast in the unfamiliar environment Friday. Thanks to the early offensive execution, the 10-6 win showed that the Wolverines are capable of doing just that. “Zach got us out to a good start,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “With (Friday)’s game, you could say we won the game and we scored a lot of goals, but we gave up six goals. “Had they scored the first two or three goals and we had to play catch-up in this building, it could’ve been a different outcome.” Behind Hyman’s goals, Michigan hushed the crowd. With two more goals in the period, the Wolverines successfully sucked the life from the stands, leaving only their own energy to control the game.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Najarian closes out home victory Freshman not fazed by late tension
By CHRIS CROWDER Daily Sports Writer
Alex Najarian’s serve was on fire. After a barrage of aces, her opponent from South Florida, Olga Martinez, tried to use a common stall tactic: icing the server. Fans at the Varsity Tennis Center groaned after her opponent took what they thought was too long to search for a rogue ball. Fresh off a couple of aces, Michigan’s freshman standout was unfazed by the wait. Najarian had to fight through her emotional opponent. After winning the first set handily, 6-1, Najarian battled to win the second set of her last match of the tournament, 7-5. Martinez yelled either with jubilation or disappointment after every point. Najarian simply smiled to the crowd as it whispered about Martinez’s antics. Najarian later jokingly called her opponent’s tactics annoying, but said she respected her play. “She started playing better by picking up her game a little bit, and I backed off when she was doing so,” Najarian said. “I just needed to step it up a little more and take control of the points. I did that in the end, which helped me.” Najarian has been working on being more aggressive since the fall, and it showed on Monday. Her overheads and serves were noticeably powerful, keeping her opponents off balance. She picked up aces at crucial times, especially in her last match. “She’s kind of changed the way she’s played from the (ITA) Juniors,” said Michigan coach
Ronni Bernstein. “She was a little more defensive and (now) she’s coming forward more.” Najarian, a three-time state champion, three-time All-American and last year’s Michigan High School Athlete of the Year, has already made an impact on the team. She went undefeated over the weekend in both singles (playing at the No. 3, 4 and 5 positions) and doubles, where she is in the No. 1 position and ranked No. 10 in the nation. Her success in both makes it tough for even Najarian herself to decide where she excels more. But she does have a preference. “I like doubles better,” Najarian said. “I like having another person out there.” Although team points weren’t scored in the Michigan Invitational, Najarian will certainly contribute to the Wolverines’ success as the season progresses. “She’s come a long way in four months. She’s been doing a great job and has been a great addition,” Bernstein said. “She’s going to compete day in and day out, and that’s all I can ask for.” Najarian lost only one singles match in her entire high school career. The college game isn’t much different, but it comes with heightened competition and pressure. Though Najarian has tweaked her playing technique and strategy to be more successful at the college level, Bernstein has the utmost confidence in her to achieve. “She’s hopefully going to get more confidence in what she’s doing,” Bernstein said. “She’s playing more different and offensive, and hopefully the results will come.” As Najarian’s confidence grows, she and the team will improve and learn, for this year and the years to come. At the same time, her opponents will learn something as well: You can’t ice Alex Najarian.
But in the third period, three consecutive Buckeye scores evaporated Michigan’s five-goal lead and brought the remaining fans to their feet. It was a crude glimpse for Michigan of what can happen when it plays passively on the road. “It’s a game of momentum too,” Berenson said. “We had momentum for parts of the game, but when they had momentum, it was really obvious. “We didn’t like the momentum and the way things were going — the puck was going in too easy.” Friday, the Wolverines travel to Madison, where they haven’t won since 2006. Though the Badgers are just 2-13-3 on the season, Michigan players know that come conference play, there simply are no breaks on the road. “We got the bounces (Friday),” Motte said. “But it’s easy to see that game going the other way if we didn’t get that extra bounce or two. “Obviously, we’ve got to find a way to win on the road if we’re going to compete in the Big Ten.”
After just three minutes, the Michigan women’s basketball team was down 9-0, and it seemed like the Wolverines’ road woes traveled with them to Evanston. But tonight was different. This time, the home team’s lead evaporated before the Wolverines took an insurmountable lead en route to a 73-66 win over Northwestern on Saturday night. Unlike at Rutgers, where the Wolverines closed a 19-point deficit to zero before going behind again, Michigan took the lead in the second half and never looked back. But it was the defense that Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico attributed most to the comeback. “It really started with our defense,” Barnes Arico said. “In the first half, they went up early and we switched our defense and kind of slowed them down a little bit.” The Wolverines started out the game playing a fullcourt press, which worked successfully against opponents such as Michigan State and, at times, Ohio State.
But the Wildcats were ready for the defense and broke the press early and often with top scorers Maggie Lyon and Nia Coffey getting easy buckets in transition. So Barnes Arico changed up her defense to the only thing that would keep the top scorers in check: half-court man-toman defense. And it worked like a charm, with Coffey finishing with just six points. “Early, we tried to press them and they broke that and got a bunch of baskets in transition,” Barnes Arico said. “Then we tried to go 2-3 on misses, and we really weren’t able to locate the scorers in transition. So we just played half-court man, and it was effective for us.” On the other end of the court, senior guard Shannon Smith and sophomore guard Siera Thompson led the way with 20 points apiece. But the way each obtained their points was different. Smith scored most of her points in transition, including an acrobatic layup late in the first half that awed even the Northwestern bench. “(Smith has) been incredible,” Barnes Arico said. “She’s been playing at another level. We want the ball in her hands when the shot clock is running down because she’s able to make some big plays for us.” For Thompson, she stuck with her bread and butter: the 3-point shot.
“We switched our defense and kind of slowed them down a little bit.”
On a night where freshman guard Katelynn Flaherty — Michigan’s leading scorer — went 0-for-5 from behind the arc, Thompson excelled, hitting five of nine 3-point shots including key shots at the ends of both halves. Down low, senior forward Cyesha Goree was her usual self and led the way for the bigs with 16 points. But senior forward Nicole Elmblad led the team in rebounds with nine. While Michigan still has a tough schedule ahead with the bulk of the Big Ten schedule still remaining, a win over a team undefeated at home will do wonders for a team that has struggled on the road. “Anytime you have a win against a really good opponent, it gives you confidence,” Barnes Arico said. “If you can do it on the road, even better, and if you can do it and play well like we did in the second half tonight, I think it’s definitely going to help us moving forward.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan Women’s Basketball
20
Point totals for guards Siera Thompson and Shannon Smith
13
Largest deficit overcome by Michigan at Northwestern
55.6
3-point shooting percentage by Thompson (5-for-9)
10
Northwestern blocked shots against Michigan
Coon, Murphy strong in defeat Michigan can’t overcome early deficit in loss to Ohio State By OLIVER HENRY For the Daily
Brian Murphy raised his arms in triumph. He overcame the odds and beat his nationally ranked competitor as the soldout crowd in Cliff Keen Arena erupted in cheers. In spite of Murphy’s efforts, though, the Michigan wrestling team dropped its home opener to No. 4 Ohio State by a total score of 25-15. Despite surging after intermission, the Wolverines were unable to climb back into the match and earn the victory. Ohio State (2-1 Big Ten, 7-3 overall) boasts a catalog of highly ranked wrestlers who dominated Michigan early in the bout. In three successive fights, the Buckeyes posted two majority decisions and a pin to jump out to an early 15-0 lead. From there, Ohio State cruised to a victory, as the Wolverines were visibly demoralized. But all was not lost for Michigan, as it salvaged a few prized victories. Sophomore Brian Murphy was one of the Wolverines’ bright spots, improving his personal record to 14-6 and taking down the No. 5 wrestler in the country in the 157-pound weight class. During the match, Murphy and his opponent, Josh Demas, remained even through the first period. But at the beginning of the second period, Murphy chose to begin in the down position and escaped Demas’ hold to earn himself a point and the lead. Murphy surged to a 3-1 lead with a takedown entering the third period before he decisively earned his team three points with a powerful takedown. “Before the match I try to tell myself if I get a lead, I gotta score again,” Murphy said. “So I put
ANDREW COHEN/Daily
Sophomore Brian Murphy improved to 14-6 after a victory over No. 5 Josh Demas at the 157-pound class.
the match away, and it felt really good to get that last takedown.” Murphy’s victory is an example of the kind of grit and determination that Michigan coach Joe McFarland has tried to instill in all his wrestlers. He firmly believes that toughness and determination are the key contributors to success in wrestling matches. “We’ve got to have that toughness in those moments,” McFarland said. “We have got to be the ones firing off those shots.” Other shining moments in the defeat for Michigan (1-2, 3-3) were majority-decision victories by freshman Alec Pantaleo and sophomore Domenic Abounader. Both wrestlers fought for six tireless minutes to earn victories and a combined six points for the Wolverines. But the most impressive performance of the night for
Michigan came from sophomore captain Adam Coon. After a disappointing outing for the Wolverines throughout the day, the heavyweight was the last to step on the mat. And he did not disappoint, putting on a clinic instead. Coon quickly earned two points by taking down his opponent, and with still 1:22 left in just the first period, he secured a pin to give Michigan 15 total points for the match. Coon, ranked No. 8 in his weight class, improved to 19-2 in his career after the victory. “Coon’s approach is everything, bottom line — just the way he approaches his academics, the way he approaches our workouts, our training and his competitions,” McFarland said. “He’s great in all those areas, and he’s really focused and he’s got a lot of character, too.”
“Coon’s approach is everything, bottom line.”
Despite a few hardfought victories, the team was underwhelmed by its performance. “I feel like we didn’t get the job done today, but I feel like our team is capable of beating these guys,” said Murphy. “But we have some even better opponents coming up, so we just gotta prepare like we always have.” McFarland, in particular, was unhappy with the effort and toughness his wrestlers put forth on the mat. “If you want to beat a team like Ohio State in Cliff Keen Arena, you better be able to lay it on the line, and you better be able to really gut out an incredible performance to win those tough matches,” McFarland said. “That’s what it takes to win a national championship, that’s what it takes to be an All-American, and that’s what it takes to win a Big Ten title.” While Michigan’s loss to Ohio State sets it back on its quest for a conference championship, the Wolverines will get a chance to right the ship on Friday when Wisconsin comes to town.
Sports
8 — Tuesday, January 20, 2015
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
In need of a miracle M iracles happen. Just ask the 1980 United States
Olympic hockey team, or the 198283 North Carolina State basketball team. Better yet, just ask ALEJANDRO anyone who ZÚÑIGA has seen Full-Court Miracle. The movie follows the journey of Philadelphia Hebrew Academy, which has the worst basketball team in the history of the sport. It enters a tournament without a coach but has surprising success, reaching the final against the school’s biggest rival. There’s a major storm on the night of the championship, and the power goes out at the school, so officials use a generator to keep the lights on, with an agreement that whichever team is ahead when the gym goes dark wins. In a miracle of miracles, the generator restarts despite having run out of gas, and the Philadelphia Hebrew Academy ekes out a buzzerbeating win. It’s a classic feel-good story of a group of ragtag underdogs overcoming the odds to accomplish greatness through wild and improbable circumstances. Right now, the Michigan men’s basketball team needs a Full-Court Miracle. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, the power grid at Crisler Center is doing just fine.
“(My role) is to be the leader of the team, one of the captains,” he said. “Hopefully me and Spike can really take on that role.” And he had from the very beginning of the season. He scored 20 points against Hillsdale, 21 against Detroit, 18 against Oregon and 16 against Syracuse. But then the NJIT game happened, and it started a four-game losing streak. LeVert didn’t score more than 10 points in the final three. And when Big Ten play began, Michigan suffered deflating defeats at Purdue and Ohio State. And as the season progressed, it became obvious: LeVert was everything. Stop him, and you’ll stop Michigan. If he gets hot, well, watch out. LeVert saved the game for Michigan on Saturday. Northwestern’s Alex Olah, the 7-foot center, had boxed him out, and yet the guard managed to tip away a contested rebound. Had he not made the play, Olah could have scored on a putback at the buzzer, and maybe the Wolverines would’ve lost in overtime. But LeVert knocked the ball away, then went tumbling to the ground in pain as the celebration began around him. Without LeVert, the Wolverines are a “wounded animal,” as Rutgers coach Eddie Jordan explained Monday. Michigan is trapped in a corner, and its only hope for survival is scratching and clawing to escape. This was LeVert’s team, and it was struggling plenty with him. Now it has to move on without him.
Michigan is clinging to its NCAA Tournament hopes.
***
J
ohn Beilein is a great coach, but the circumstances facing him today are remarkably difficult. The Wolverines have more injured or sick players (seven) than healthy ones (six). Their best player, Caris LeVert, is done for the year with a fractured bone in his foot. Their starting point guard, Derrick Walton Jr., couldn’t practice Sunday due to a toe injury. Their backup forward, Kameron Chatman, injured his knee that day in practice. Zak Irvin, Ricky Doyle and Spike Albrecht — who is also already nursing an unspecified midsection injury — are suffering from an illness. Turn on your TV for Tuesday’s game against Rutgers, and you’ll see plenty of unfamiliar faces on the court. Players such as Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Aubrey Dawkins might need to accept starting roles, while former walk-on Sean Lonergan could see major time. How crazy is that? It’s mid-January, and Michigan is clinging to its NCAA Tournament hopes. Tuesday is a must-win game, but it’s on the road, and the Wolverines may only dress eight players. Can they do it? ***
D
oyle, Chatman and Irvin should all return to complete health this year. Albrecht and Walton probably won’t, but at least they’ll play. But LeVert isn’t coming back this season. He might not ever play another game in a Michigan uniform. And that’s a shame, because this was his year, and this was his team. That’s what he said on Oct. 16 at Big Ten Media Day, when losing to New Jersey Institute of Technology or Eastern Michigan seemed unfathomable.
***
E
xpectations for the 2014-15 Wolverines have been adjusted from competing for the Big Ten title, to making the NCAA Tournament, to simply treading water and developing players for next year. Michigan can’t succeed this season, right? Not now, not with so many freshmen and unproven players. But remember: In 2011, the Wolverines broke a sixgame losing streak by beating Michigan State at the Breslin Center. Then they came within a basket of making the Sweet Sixteen. Remember: In 2012, Michigan won a Big Ten title with Stu Douglass and Zack Novak starting a majority of games. Remember: In 2013, Mitch McGary transformed from an underperforming, out-of-shape freshman into a potential NBA first-round pick over the course of a handful of games in March as he helped lead Michigan to the national championship game. The challenges facing this team are much larger than anything the Wolverines have faced lately. They need several key road wins available, beginning Tuesday in Piscataway. They need three or four players, including several freshmen, to make in-season leaps to greatness; and they need a new leader, a more efficient offense and a less porous defense. It would take a near-miracle for this team — led by a pair of hobbled guards and a duo of developing centers — to make the NCAA Tournament. It would be Beilein’s best coaching job yet. It would be worthy of a Disney movie. Alejandro Zuniga can be reached at azs@umich.edu and on Twitter @ByAZuniga.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
LeVert (foot) out for season Junior will have surgery this week By MAX BULTMAN Daily Sports Editor
Junior guard Caris LeVert will miss the remainder of the season with a left foot injury, the Michigan men’s basketball team announced Sunday. LeVert went down hard after clearing a rebound to seal the Wolverines’ 56-54 win over Northwestern Saturday night, and MLive.com reported LeVert had been seen on crutches following the game. “Caris has been working so hard this season and for this to happen is very unfortunate,” said Michigan coach John Beilein in a press release Sunday. “If we know anything about Caris, he will do everything it takes to not only get better, but to help his teammates during this time. He is a tremendous young man who I will really miss coaching the remainder of the season.
However, I am optimistic he will have a complete recovery.” The press release stated that LeVert will have surgery this week and will undergo a 12-week recovery period. LeVert also had surgery on his left foot in May 2014. LeVert was leading the Wolverines in scoring with 14.9 points per game, rebounding with 4.8 boards per contest and averaged 3.7 assists in a teamhigh 35.8 minutes per game. In the press release, LeVert emphasized his confidence in the Wolverines to build on their 4-2 record in Big Ten play, as well as his own recovery process. “While this is obviously not what I wanted, I know this team will come together and be stronger because of it,” LeVert said. “Now more than ever, it is important for all of us support this team. For me, I am familiar with the recovery process and what work lies ahead for me. I am very confident that I will return 100 percent and have already begun work to ensure that happens.”
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
Caris LeVert leads Michigan in points, rebounds, assists, minutes and steals.