CELEBRATING OUR ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Thursday, January 29, 2015
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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HEALTH
University lab makes new E. Coli discovery CsgC protein in bacteria could help treat degenerative disorders By ALAINA WYGANT
Survey finds support for federal emission limits
EPA plans to cut carbon by 30 percent of 2005 levels by 2030 By EMMA KINERY Daily Staff Reporter
According to a University survey released earlier this month,
67 percent of Americans support the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, a framework for curbing carbon emissions. The Center for Local, State and Urban Policy at the University’s Ford School of Public Policy and the Institute of Public Opinion at Muhlenberg College conducted the telephone survey
from Oct. 6, 2014 through Nov. 6, 2014. Pollsters spoke with a random sample of 942 Americans, and report a 3.5 percent margin of error. The Obama Administration created the Clean Power Plan in June 2014 to increase efforts to combat climate change. By 2030, the EPA hopes the plan will have
cut emissions from electricitygenerating facilities by 30 percent below the 2005 output levels. Additionally, the survey showed 73 percent of Americans support proposed requirements that would require new power plants to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. See SURVEY, Page 3A
For the Daily
University researchers have discovered CsgC, a protein made by the gut bacteria E. coli, which may one day play a role in treating dieses such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. Molecular Biology Prof. Matthew Chapman was a principal investigator on the project and Rackham student Margery Evans served as the study’s lead author, acting as a research assistant and conducted her doctorate thesis on the study. A number of undergraduate students both from the University and abroad collaborated on the research. Chapman explained how the CsgC is able to prevent the formation of amyloids — inappropriate-
HOCKEY
RESEARCH
Rivalry week cuts deeper for Cliff Martin
‘M’ freshman spent his childhood in East Lansing By JEREMY SUMMITT Daily Sports Editor
It’s rivalry week for the Michigan hockey team, and that means this week cuts a little deeper for freshman defenseman Cutler Martin. He spent his entire childhood in East Lansing and admits to rooting for the Spartans, though his parents were never adamant about supporting any particular school. Michigan State has been a part of Martin’s life in one way or another for 20 years. He grew up a short drive from Spartan Stadium and attended East Lansing High School, a building that essentially rests on Michigan State’s campus, directly next to one of its sorority houses. Martin attended games at Munn Ice Arena, home of the Spartans’ hockey program, and soaked in the splendor of the heated Michigan-Michigan State matchups of the 2000s.
Martin watched Ryan Miller line up against Josh Blackburn and witnessed offensive duels between Justin Abdelkader and Kevin Porter. Now he’s on the other side of the glass, immersed inside all he knew as a young hockey fan. For nearly a year now, Martin has been a part of the Michigan family, but his first game against the Spartans still brought back a flurry of memories. “I think it was strange the first time I played against them in the (Great Lakes Invitational),” Martin said. “But now I think I’ve come to grips with it a little bit, and I’m ready to play them hard and play them tough.” The first opportunity to line up against his hometown team might turn out to be the most memorable, too, as the Wolverines eked out a 2-1 victory to claim the GLI championship at Joe Louis Arena on Dec. 29. But there’s more to be desired. Martin hopes there are even better days ahead for one of college hockey’s premier rivalries, one he’ll never cease to treasure. Friday, another chapter will See RIVALRY, Page 3A
ly folded proteins that have been known to cause neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. “For decades it was thought that amyloid formation was always a cellular mistake,” he said. “We realized that cells sometimes build amyloid fibers on purpose. That is why we were looking for factors in E. coli that prevented intracellular amyloid formation.” After working on the study for two to three years, Chapman and his colleagues discovered that CsgC, native to E. coli bacteria cells, guards the cells and prevents amyloids from forming inside them. Evans emphasized the role of amyloid formation in diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and said isolating CsgC is a positive step in treating these ailments. “Our discoveries have moved the field closer to understanding and preventing the very widespread biological process of amySee BACTERIA, Page 3A
Safer lithium battery shell developed in ‘U’ program
ANDREW COHEN/Daily
Dr. Ruth Browne, CEO of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, discusses how the health care delivery system can work with community partners to address issues regarding health equity.
Urban health expert talks community partnerships Dr. Ruth Browne stresses role of expertise in medical inequity By JACKIE MILLER For the Daily
Inside several Brooklyn barbershops and salons, stylists are beginning to talk not only about hair, but also health. Wednesday afternoon, Ruth Browne, CEO of the Arthur Ashe Institute of Urban
Health, lectured on the Community Health Empowerment model, of which the Institute’s barbershop programs are just one example. “I think that the process of community engagement with the academic medical center and with government allows us to really affect change at a level that we couldn’t each individually, as organizations, do,” she said. “The power of that, I think, is very profound.” Salons and barbershops, Browne said, are examples of community assets or key plac-
es to foster conversations on health and wellness. Within salons, the program Heart of a Woman works to train stylists to engage their clientele in discussions about heart health for women. Barbers are similarly trained to talk about HIV/AIDS among the heterosexual Black, male community through a program called Barbershop Talk With Brothers. For many, this environment may be more favorable than the traditional medical facilSee URBAN HEALTH, Page 3A
Kevlar found to block buildup of electrical currents, prevent short circuit By CARLY NOAH Daily Staff Reporter
In 2013, the lithium-ion battery on a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner caused a fire. Though no one was harmed in the accident, the issues still needed a solution. Lithium batteries work by moving the ions in the element lithium from one electrode to another. The motion creates a charge imbalance, ultimately causing electrons to move through a circuit and power systems. To prevent future accidents like the Japan Airlines battery fire, University researchers developed an advanced type of barrier between the electrodes in a lithium-ion battery. University researchers used Kevlar, the tough material in bulletproof vests, to create the barSee BATTERY, Page 3A
the weed-side This week, our arts staff examines a local dispensary
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 57 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A SPORTS......................6A
SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A B-SIDE ....................1B
News
2A — Thursday, January 29, 2015
MONDAY: This Week in History
TUESDAY: Campus Voices
WEDNESDAY: In Other Ivory Towers
BONE HUNTING
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
THURSDAY: Twitter Talk
FRIDAY: Photos of the Week Each week, “Twitter Talk” is a forum to print tweets that are fun, informative, breaking or newsworthy, with an angle on the University, Ann Arbor and the state. All tweets have been edited for accurate spelling and grammar.
LSA sophomore Alex Weiner talked about her plans for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s lecture.
“Ordering a Notorious RBG t-shirt to wear when Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks at Hill Auditorium next week: reverent or tacky?” — @ayweinz
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
Pandit Mami, Midwest Campus Coordinator for the Zionist Organization of America, speaks at a candlelight vigil for victims of the recent terrorist attacks in France and Nigeria in the Michigan League Wednesday.
“
The Ross School of Business tweeted about this year’s series of Multidisciplinary Action Projects.
Our #RossMAP assignments are out, and our MBA students will be traveling to more than 25 countries this spring!” — @MichiganRoss
“
LOOK AT OUR #TWEETS (please) @michigandaily Literati Bookstore shared one of the surprisingly profound messages left on the shop’s public typewriter.
‘If life is nothing but a blank slate ... books are our paint brushes and their messages the paint.’ —Note left on our typewriter.” — @LiteratiBkstore
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
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THE WIRE
CCRB robbery BY AMABEL KAROUB A 22-year-old campus visitor allegedly stole a laptop from the Central Campus Recreation building Monday night, according to the University Police’s incident log. The suspect has since been arrested and brought to jail.
Pre-Med consultations
International Classical business chamber music
WHAT: Students will have the opportunity to meet with admissions representatives from the Duke School of Medicine. WHO: The Career Center WHEN: Today from 9 a.m to 3:50 p.m WHERE: The Career Center
WHAT: Two Japanese studies graduates will discuss their careers in international business. WHO: Center for Japanese Studies WHEN: Today from 12 p.m to 1 p.m WHERE: School of Social Work Building 1636
Grant info session
THE FILTER
Blink-182
Hummus lecture
WHAT: Information session for the 2015 Tinker Field Research Grant. This program will give grants to students who wish to do fieldwork in Latin America. WHO: Center for Latin American and Carribbean Studies WHEN: Today from 2 p.m to 3 p.m WHERE: School of Social Work 2609
BY MICHAEL FLYNN Flynn writes about the recent statement Blink-182 released Monday, announcing that the band’s longtime vocalist and guitarist Tom Delonge would be replaced for the upcoming 2015 Musink Festival in Costa Mesa, Calif.
WHAT: Residential College head Katri Ervamaa will perform with Naki Sung Kripfgans. WHO: Gifts of Art WHEN: Today from 12:10 o.m to 1 p.m WHERE: University Hospital Main Lobby
Poetry reading
WHAT: Poets Emily Wilson and Michael Morse will read WHAT: Prof. Dafna Hirsch their poetry. WHO: University of will give a lecture on food Michigan Museum of Art and politics in Israel, focusing on the case study of WHEN: Today from 5:10 p.m to 6:10 p.m hummus. WHO: Judaic Studies and where: University of MichiCenter for Middle Eastern gan Museum of Art and North African Studies WHEN: Today from 4 p.m. •Please report any error in to 5:30 p.m. the Daily to corrections@ WHERE: School of Social michigandaily.com. Work 1636
THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
1
Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has left many villages in northeast Nigeria’s Adamawa state without protection, CBS News reported. Their raids have left 40 dead and no troops are being deployed.
2
Ann Arbor’s medical marijuana market is alive and well at People’s Choice Alternative Medicine, you can pick up a piece at Bongz & Thongz and listen to some Beatlesinspired tunes by Ian Perfitt. >> FOR MORE, SEE B-SIDE
3
Former Real Madrid and Barcelona soccer star Luis Figo has announced to run against current FIFA President Sepp Blatter, CNN reported. Blatter has held the position for 17 years.
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E-cigarettes classified as health risk in California State seeks heavier regulation, increased study of side effects
Health Officer Ron Chapman. “They are not safe.” New generations of young people will become nicotine addicts if the products remain largely unregulated, Chapman said. Last year, 17 percent of high school seniors reported using e-cigarettes, known as vaping, according to the report. “Without action, it is likely that California’s more than two decades of progress to prevent and reduce traditional tobacco use will erode as e-cigarettes re-normalize smoking behavior,” the report says. E-cigarettes heat liquid nicotine into inhalable vapor without the tar and other chemicals found in traditional cigarettes. A cartridge of nicotine can cost anywhere from $5 to $20 dollars and can be reused. California banned the sale of e-cigarettes to minors in 2010, but the report raises concerns
about the products appeal to children with flavors such as cotton candy and gummy bear. Reports of children under 5 with e-cigarette poisoning jumped from seven in 2012 to (AP) — California health offi154 last year. cials Wednesday declared elecThe California report says tronic cigarettes a health threat e-cigarettes emit as many as 10 that should be strictly regulated toxic chemicals, but advocates like tobacco products, joining say there is no evidence those other states and health advosubstances are released at dancates across the U.S. in seekgerous levels. ing tighter controls as “vaping” “Despite the health officer’s grows in popularity. false claims, there is ample eviSUSAN WALSH/AP The California Department of dence that vaping helps smokers Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch testifies on Capitol Hill, before the Senate Judiciary Committee Public Health report says e-cigquit and is far less hazardous arettes emit cancer-causing than smoking,” Gregory Conchemicals and get users hooked ley, president of the e-cigarette on nicotine but acknowledges advocacy group American that more research needs to be Vaping Association, said in an done to determine the immeemail. “Smokers deserve truthdiate and long-term health ful and accurate information effects. about the relative risks of dif“E-cigarettes are not as ferent nicotine products, not http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ tent critics, asked at one point. Lynch said she had no Sudoku Syndication harmful as conventional cigahype and conjecture based on “No, I’m not, sir,” Lynch involvement in drafting the rettes, but e-cigarettes are cherry-picked reports.” responded with a smile. measures but called them “a not harmless” said California Health officials called for It was a moment that summed reasonable way to marshal limrestrictions on the marketing up a Senate Judiciary Commit- ited resources to deal with the and sale of e-cigarettes, protectee hearing that was often more problem” of illegal immigration. tions against accidental ingesabout Obama and Holder than She said the Homeland Security tion of liquid nicotine and an about Lynch, who is now the top Department was focusing on HARD education campaign on the dan(AP) — Confronting skeptical federal prosecutor for parts of removals of “the most dangergers of using e-cigarettes. Republicans, attorney general New York City and Long Island. ous of the undocumented immiA state senator introduced nominee Loretta Lynch pledged If confirmed, she would become grants among us.” legislation this week that would a new start with Congress and the nation’s first black female Pressed by Sen. Jeff Sessions regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco independence from President attorney general. of Alabama, a leading immigraproducts and ban their use in Barack Obama Wednesday, even Holder, Cornyn contended, tion hard-liner, she said citizenpublic places such as hospitals, as she defended the president’s “operated as a politician using the ship was not a right for people bars and schools. A similar bill unilateral protections for mil- awesome power conferred by our in the country illewgally but was defeated last year over lions of immigrants in the coun- laws on the attorney general.” rather a privilege that must be opposition from tobacco comtry illegally. Lynch asked the senator to earned. However, when Sespanies. “If confirmed as attorney take note of “the independence sions asked whether individuChapman, the health official, general, I would be myself. I that I’ve always brought to als in the country legally or would not take a position on legwould be Loretta Lynch,” the every particular matter,” and those who are here unlawfully islation, but said his department nominee told her Senate confir- she said that when merited she have more of a right to a job, would be rolling out an e-cigamation hearing as Republicans would say no to Obama. Lynch replied, “The right and rette awareness campaign with showered criticism on the curOn immigration, Lynch the obligation to work is one possible television and radio rent occupant of the job, Eric faced numerous questions that’s shared by everyone in this advertisements. Holder. They said Holder was from Republicans critical of country regardless of how they E-cigarettes have become more contemptuous of Congress and the administration’s new poli- came here.” visible as they grow in popularity too politically close to Obama, cy granting work permits and Sessions quickly issued a and commercials for the products and repeatedly demanded temporary deportation relief news release to highlight that air in places where traditional assurances that Lynch would do to some 4 million people who response. Under later questioncigarette ads have been banned. things differently. are in the country illegally. The ing by Democratic Sen. Chuck Businesses related to e-ciga“You’re not Eric Holder, are committee chairman, Repub- Schumer of New York, Lynch © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com SRIRACHA. rettes, including vaping loungyou?” Texas Republican John lican Chuck Grassley of Iowa, clarified it, stating there is no es, are rapidly popping up in Cornyn, one of the current called the effort “a dangerous right to work for an immigrant cities across California. attorney general’s most persis- abuse of executive authority.” who has no lawful status.
SUDOKU
Lynch hearing highlights independent perspectives Attorney general nominee seperates herself from Pres. Obama in testimony
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NEWS BRIEFS YPSILANTI, Mich.
Basketball team mourns student and player lost in crash The men’s basketball team at Eastern Michigan University has honored two students who were killed in a car accident over the weekend. A moment of silence was held Tuesday before a game against Ohio University to mourn the loss of women’s basketball player Shannise Heady and Eastern Michigan senior Jordan Hopkins. The two students died Sunday morning after Heady lost control of her vehicle in Ypsilanti Township and crashed into an oncoming vehicle. Fans in the student section wore T-shirts and players wore sweatbands honoring Heady with her No. 32.
FLINT, Mich.
Bottled water given out in Flint amidst system transition Flint residents have been quick to take advantage of a bottled water giveaway program, the latest response to persistent quality problems during the transition to a new municipal water system. Michigan Radio says it took about half an hour Wednesday morning for volunteers to give out about 200 cases of bottled water. Mike Sargent of the group Flint Strong says it’s a Band Aid but better than nothing. Flint switched off its pipeline from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department in the spring and has been getting its tap water from the Flint River.
TAMPA
Domestic cat, hit by car and buried, emerges from grave Bart the cat was hit by a car, buried and seemingly crawled back from the dead. Earlier this month, a car hit the 1 ½-year-old cat in Tampa. Bart’s owner was so distraught, he couldn’t stand the thought of burying him, so he asked neighbor to dig a shallow grave. Five days later, on Jan. 21, a matted and injured Bart emerged, meowing for food. “At first it blew me away,” said Dusty Albritton, the neighbor who buried Bart. “All I knew was this cat was dead and ‘Pet Sematary’ is real.’
BILLINGS
Warmer weather halts response to Yellowstone spill Authorities say the struggle to recover 30,000 gallons of oil from a pipeline spill into Montana’s Yellowstone River could grind to a near-halt in coming days. Warmer weather has made the ice on the river increasingly dangerous. That means crews trying to recover oil trapped beneath the ice will soon be pulled off.
SEOUL
US research shows North Korea could be building reactor North Korea may be attempting to restart its main nuclear bomb fuel reactor after a five-month shutdown, a U.S. research institute said Thursday. If true, the finding, which is based on recent commercial satellite imagery, will be an added worry for the United States and the North’s neighbors at a time of increasing animosity over recent U.S. sanctions against the North and Pyongyang’s fury about a U.N. push to punish its alleged human rights abuses. —Compiled from Daily wire reports
News
Indiana’s state news agency causes uproar INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said Wednesday he regrets the “confusion” caused by a memo about his administration’s planned state-run news website and will kill the project if it doesn’t respect the role of an independent press. Pence’s comments followed criticism from around the country about the proposed “Just IN” site and came as the Republican governor’s staff worked to portray it as a project aimed at bettering organizing and presenting news releases from state agencies. Pence told WIBC-FM that a memo describing the site as a news outlet with a managing editor and editorial board was “poorly crafted” and did not meet his expectations. “It is not appropriate to describe the objectives of a clearinghouse website of press releases with news-related terms,” he said. “I regret the confusion here.”
SURVEY From Page 1A To accomplish that goal, the EPA is working with states to create individually targeted emission reduction goals. The poll also addressed policies and restrictions states could employ to comply with the Clean Power Plan. Eighty-four percent of the 942 survey participants supported the requirement of energy efficiency standards for new homes and appliances. Seventy-nine percent approved of renewable portfolio standards — policies that would increase the generation of electricity from renewable resources. Nic Clark, the state director for Clean Water Action, said he was not surprised by the high support for environmental initiatives. “Resoundingly, when we go out and talk about issues of our changing climate, such as emissions from coal-fired power plants,” Clark said, “people really see it as a no-brainer and are very supportive of measures to reduce our impact on our changing climate.” In his State of the State address, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder announced the creation of a new state energy agency. He will give a speech in March focused on energy and his plans for the new agency. “It needs to be an adaptable policy because of the lack of federal policy and the challenges of a global market place,” he said in his address. “We need to focus in on important things, such as, eliminating energy waste and the conversion from coal to natural gas assets of the state of Michigan and renewables.” Currently, Michigan is working under the Clean, Renewable and Efficient Energy Act, signed
URBAN HEALTH From Page 1A ity because many members of the community lack medical health insurance, and as a result, opportunities to engage in conversation with experts about their health. As the CEO of the Arthur Ashe Institute, Browne works to promote health equity, particularly for minority communities. Browne began her lecture Wednesday reciting a quote from Arthur Ashe himself, which provided a central theme for the rest of the talk. “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can,” she said. Browne said that mantra guides the Institute’s strategy. The Institute works to provide community members in Brooklyn with tools, information and resources necessary to encourage residents to gain knowledge and empowerment to manage their health.
The Indianapolis Star first reported Monday that internal documents about the site’s launch detailed a plan to have state communications officials write news stories and distribute them through “Just IN.” That plan said the site would include stories and news releases written by state press secretaries for the public and the media and at times would break news. The site isn’t expected to be in operation until mid-February and terminology such as “managing editor” and “stories” will be replaced with “content manager” and “news releases” to clarify the source of material, said Christy Denault, Pence’s communications director. The site would replace the state’s current online listing of agency news releases, she said. The notion of stories prewritten for the media set off a wave of criticism from journalists around the country, who used headlines such as “Pravda on the Plains”
to liken the Indiana endeavor to state-run media in Russia and China. A Twitter account parodying the site had more than 1,700 followers by Wednesday. Though Pence has fueled talk of a possible 2016 White House run, such parodies likely aren’t reaching much beyond news media watchers and political junkies, said Kelly McBride, a vice president of the Poynter Institute, a Florida-based journalism think tank. But she said the site could be used to promote a political agenda if it has certain features. “They’ll build audience by having some sort of personality on the site — and that’s how it could easily become an arm of politics,” McBride said. Denault said the website plan was still being finalized and that organizers hope to discuss it with the Hoosier State Press Association and Society of Professional Journalists before the site launches.
into law in October 2008, which mandates that Michigan electricity suppliers include at least 10-percent renewable energy sources by 2015. Though the survey showed most Americans support actions for energy efficiency, people had differing opinions about what their individual states should do. Forty-three percent of Americans want their state to wait to implement new policies until there was more knowledge on the Clean Power Plan, and to see how other states pass legislation to handle the standards. Another 41 percent feel adopting new standards should not be up to the states, and instead they should all cooperate with the federal government on a Clean Power Plan program. Conversely, a 9-percent minority feels their state should refuse to cooperate with the new standards and instead band with other individual states to jointly sue the federal government over the ordeal. According to the survey data, both Republicans and Democrats see value in the plan to reduce emissions, but differ in their view on how to address the issue at the state level. Fifty-two percent of Republicans support waiting until other states pass legislation, and then modeling their state plans off of those piloted by other states, while 52 percent of Democrats support making the initiative a more federally guided project. In Michigan, both legislators and special interest groups see Snyder’s state energy agency as a start, but are unsure of what the proposal will bring. State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D–Ann Arbor) said Snyder has made some strong statements on conservation and energy, but it remains to be seen what, exactly, he will do with his opportunity to lead on the issue. “I think there really is an
opportunity for a bipartisan compromise and a real coming together of the parties on conservation, which is not the most sexy element of energy policy, but is probably actually the most important,” Irwin said. Irwin said energy policies not only help the environment, but by creating initiatives that put people back to work and help save citizens money, help the economy as well. Clark, of Clean Water Action, also noted the ways in which combatting climate change could be beneficial for economic reasons, pointing to the large sums of money Michigan spends annually to repair damage caused by extreme weather. While they were happy to hear Snyder was showing positive support to the cause, Clark and Irwin both questioned how much change he would actually bring. “The governor announcing his plan to address this is great,” Clark said, “but we need real-world action now.” Irwin added that this issue could be an opportunity for bipartisanship. “I think there may be some real, bipartisan, coming together on efficiency and conservation, which certainly can lead to a reduction of emissions,” Irwin said. “But when it comes to focusing on a purely environmental goal, like reducing emissions, I think it’s going to be very, very difficult to get the attention of the Republicans.” He also pointed to the influence fossil fuel companies have over the Michigan legislature. “When you get over to the other issues, such as trying to wean ourselves off of dirty fuel, that is going to be harder,” he said. The survey results reflected Irwin’s viewpoint: 59 percent of Americans opposed increasing taxes on fossil fuels used to produce electricity.
Rachael Podesfinski, a Public Policy graduate student, said she believes in what the Institute stands for. “It’s so great that the Arthur Ashe Institute actually lives their creed by community empowerment and by working with the community members,” she said. Browne also discussed efforts through the Institute’s ACCESS program, which targets previously, incarcerated individuals returning to their community. The program is designed to narrow gaps in access to health care. Browne said the opportunities now available to people under the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion will work to cover people who are up to 138 percent of the poverty level, while the new insurance marketplace will provide subsidies to those up to those who are up to 400 percent of the poverty level. However, Browne emphasized in order for these new changes in policy to make a
difference, they must include treatment options for mental health and substance abuse. Still, the Institute faces other challenges including the time it takes to train community members to serve as advocates. Podesfinski also noted the unique qualities associated with working with minority communities. “It’s important that we have that holistic lens as we move forward in our work,” she said. “It’s not just about the quantitative work that we keep touting. It’s also about human compassion and looking at historical racism in underrepresented communities.” LSA senior Joel Adu-Brimpong said Browne’s speech had the power to expand the ways in which communities approach health challenges. “It can broaden people’s horizons about what some people are doing and what people can do,” he said.
Thursday, January 29, 2015 — 3A
BATTERY From Page 1A rier. It stops the growth of metal appendages that can create unwanted pathways for electrical currents to travel through, ultimately disrupting electron flow to the battery’s circuit. The disruption can cause potentially dangerous accidents. Kevlar’s heat resistance can also help make batteries safer because the membrane material is more likely to survive a fire than types of materials. Chemical Engineering Prof. Nicholas Kotov wrote in a release that unlike previously used materials, Kevlar is an insulator. “This property is perfect for separators that need to prevent shorting between two electrodes,” Kotov said. To market their product, the researchers founded Elegus Technologies in Ann Arbor. University alum John Hennessy, Elegus CEO and cofounder, said the project emerged from the University’s Masters in Entrepreneurship program. “A lot of people want to make thinner and thinner batteries, but the components to do that
BACTERIA From Page 1A loid formation,” she said. Though it is possible that the research could lead to treatment for Parkinson’s, Chapman noted that this notion is “within the
RIVALRY From Page 1A take place when Michigan and Michigan State meet at Joe Louis Arena for the second time this season in the “Duel in the D”. With both teams riding waves of momentum — the Spartans have won six of eight, while the Wolverines have won seven straight — Friday’s showdown should allow hockey fans to reminisce about the early 2000s. Martin has little time to ponder his childhood, though, as he has been thrust into consistent action for much of his rookie campaign. In impressive fashion, he has responded by posting nine points in 17 games. With Martin’s allegiance already pledged to Michigan, senior forward Zach Hyman said Martin rarely receives heat for hailing from East Lansing. Nevertheless, it’s a place that the freshman defenseman keeps in the back of his mind. “It is exciting that it is my hometown,” Martin said, “and I have a little bit of extra excitement to beat them.” There was never a lot of thought about attending Michigan State and lacing his skates each weekend in the bowels of Munn Ice Arena. Instead, Martin felt the need to branch out and explore. “My parents really encouraged me at a young age, even when I wasn’t sure if I was going to play hockey or not, to travel out, go down south, go do a different state, get out of East Lansing,” Martin said. “They were never against it, but they definitely wanted me to explore, see new cultures, meet new people elsewhere, because East Lansing is a small town and everyone seems to know everybody.” In the midst of what has been a memorable freshman season, Martin seems to have found a second home. He cited Michi-
are very hard to make,” Hennessy said. “If you can safely make a battery thinner and put more energy in it, that’s very desirable.” The battery fires on the Boeing 787 were thought to have started by lithium atoms transforming into “dendrites” — fernlike structures that can poke through the battery membrane. If these dendrites reach the electrode, the electrons have a path into the battery and can short out the circuit. The Kevlar membranes developed at the University are large enough to let individual lithium ions pass, but small enough to block the tips of the fern structures. Dan VanderLey, who helped found Elegus through the University’s of Entrepreneurship program, wrote in a release that the material is special because it can be made very thin. “We can get more energy into the same battery cell size, or we can shrink the cell size,” VanderLey said. “We’ve seen a lot of interest from people looking to make thinner products.” Mass production for the battery is expected to begin at the end of 2016. So far, 30 companies have requested samples of the material.
realm of optimistic thinking,” but added that there is much more research to be done. “Understanding what the potential therapeutics for a particular disease are just the first step,” he said. “We still have lots of work to do to provide a cure.”
gan’s prominence paired with Michigan State’s demise in the late 2000s as a secondary reason he ultimately chose Ann Arbor over his hometown. “Ann Arbor — it’s East Lansing on steroids,” Martin said. The transition from East Lansing to Ann Arbor isn’t as far-fetched as one might think, either. Martin’s great grandfather was once the president of the M Club, and Martin’s aunt, who currently resides in Ann Arbor, made a persistent push for her nephew to check out the campus and eventually enroll at Michigan. “She definitely had an influence on me at an early age,” Martin said. A culmination of familial influences and a craving for a fresh scene gradually built the foundation for Martin’s decision. On Nov. 20, 2013, the Michigan hockey program officially announced that his letter of intent had been signed, and the memory of rooting for Michigan State as an elementary-school kid was reduced to just another childhood memory. His small white-and-green shirts from those hockey nights in East Lansing with his family are tucked away somewhere. Martin dons distinctive maize attire these days, and he rarely misses an opportunity to remark on how honored he feels to play at Michigan. Rivalries pull at the heart, for better and for worse, within every sports fan. This one has been pulling at Martin since he was growing up, walking the streets of Michigan State’s campus and roaming the halls of the local high school. Now, as he walks around Yost Ice Arena just days before the Spartans and Wolverines are set to meet for the 301st time, he smiles and remembers, because this rivalry won’t be fading anytime soon.
Opinion
4A — Thursday, January 29, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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RYAN FREELAND | QUEER IN ACTION
Fear and uncertainty I live in fear. I fear that I will be denied a job because I may be living with someone of the same gender. I fear that I will have to choose a job based on its equal-opportunity policies, rather than it being my dream job. I fear that my immediate family and friends hide their true thoughts about my identity and life choices. I fear that my extended family will cut me out and keep me out of their lives. I fear that my pansexuality is not seen as a Queer identity in the eyes of “the community.” I fear that I am expressing a façade to the public. I live in uncertainty. I live uncertain about whether I will be able to marry. I live uncertain about whether I will marry a woman, a man or someone of another gender. I live uncertain about whether I will be creating my own children or whether I will be filing for adoption. I live uncertain about whether my family will accept my children if they are adopted. I live uncertain about whether my connection with God truly is in its best relationship at this moment. I live uncertain where I will be able to live and where I will be accepted once I leave this bubble we call “hoMe.” But if I live each day in fear and in uncertainty, how will I see what is ahead of me? How will I understand that my daily choices will affect my future? How will I accept the fact that everyone in my life is impacted by my love, laughter and compassion? How will I succeed in life if I identify with the Queer community? I will not know the answers to
these questions if I continue to live in fear and uncertainty. I live as Ryan Freeland. I live as a lover, a giver and a fighter. I live as a college student, a friend, a son and a brother. I live as a Christian and a white male. I have many identities and I am honored to call them my identities because they make me visible to the public. But I am not hesitant or in denial of my sexuality. I am proud of my pansexual identity. I am proud of myself. I love myself. To truly accept your inner self and expose it to the public takes a lot of courage, and I send my gratitude to every Queer individual because YOU conquered the most difficult task of all: loving yourself and accepting yourself. It has only been six months since I have openly identified as pansexual. It has been difficult. It has been heartbreaking. It has been ugly. But I know that this is my life and I truly love every daily experience. Yes, I do live in fear. Yes, I do live in uncertainty. But also, I live with love. I love my identity because it is the one identity that makes me feel real juxtaposed to my other identities. I live with pride. I am proud to be pansexual. I am proud of my immediate family and friends for acknowledging and listening to my words. I am proud of my achievements. I am proud to continue living with my identity. I am proud to commit to pursuing whatever I want in life without my one identity being a drawback. Q & A is the Daily’s designated space by and for LGBTQ students at the University of Michigan. To contribute your voice or find out more about Q & A, e-mail Michael Schramm at mschramm@umich.edu.
SANDER BREGMAN | VIEWPOINT
Why it’s hard for white people to talk about race Being white, we do not have to care about race. Some of us make the choice to do so, but it’s not necessary. Our lives, the lives of our friends and families and the livelihood of our communities, are not negatively affected by race. Thus, we have no obligation to care about it. Being white, we are also afforded the luxury of believing race doesn’t exist. I’m very thankful to say I went to one of the top public school systems in the nation, but we learned almost nothing about race. We learned that first there was slavery, then Abraham Lincoln (a white man) came along and freed the slaves. After that, there was widespread racism until Martin Luther King Jr. swooped down with his dream and made racism go away forever. When we’re told that race doesn’t exist anymore, and when we don’t experience it, it’s very easy to believe that racism is over. This is where the problems really begin. In light of the incidents of Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner, race has been thrown back into the national spotlight. It has been a hot topic on campus, as well, with many students of color speaking out against injustice, and many white students denying the existence of these injustices. I’ve been involved in many of these conversations, and it’s particularly infuriating. I only know what it’s like to be a white man, I do not know what it’s like to be a person of color, and so I won’t speak on their behalf. This is written by a white person as a way to provide people of all colors insight into why it’s so difficult for white people to talk about race. There was a time in which I truly believed racism didn’t exist, and was fairly racist myself. Thankfully, that time has passed. Here, I’m trying to outline the mental roadblocks that prevent white people from recognizing race. In truth, it all comes from our egos. It’s much easier for the human ego to argue that a problem doesn’t exist than to admit that a problem does exist and that we are a part of it. When we deny the experiences of people of color, we are putting our ego before our integrity, our sense of self-accomplishment before our sense of justice. This is because when we’re told that racism still exists; this implies that we have been benefitting from racism our entire lives. This implies that to accomplish what we have accomplished as individuals, a person of color
would have to conquer many more obstacles than we have faced. This is basically saying that we didn’t really earn everything the way we thought we did, and people hate to hear that harsh truth. That truth damages our precious egos, which we will do anything to protect. So instead of admitting that racism is still a huge problem in this country, we argue with the people of color who are speaking the truth to us. By denying their lifelong experiences of racism, we are being racist. We are saying that we know racism better than the people experiencing it. We are saying that our concept of racism is more important and more accurate than the concepts of racism expressed by people of color. We are proving our racism by denying our racism. But wait, there’s more! This denial of racism is often rationalized by believing that people of color today aren’t experiencing “real racism.” This is basically saying that because racism isn’t as out in the open and obvious as it was before the Civil Rights Movement, that racism is over. By saying this, we are also saying that we can’t possibly be racist, because “real racists” constantly enact violence upon people of color and use racial slurs comfortably and regularly. The only “real racism” is the racism that people of color speak out against, which now includes the comments we make when we deny the reality of racism in this country. So how do we begin to understand racism in our country? As crazy as it sounds, let’s try listening to people of color. Let’s try to educate ourselves on what racism is today. Let’s try to put our integrity before our ego. Let’s try to admit that we’re wrong. Once we admit to the reality of racism, we will feel guilty. This is a normal reaction, but we need to move on from guilt. Turn that guilt into anger! Be angry that we’ve been lied to our whole lives, be angry that we’ve been racist without realizing it and be angry that so many people are terrified of the truth! So make the choice. We can decide to care about race and choose to fight it wherever we see it. Or we can choose to not care about race, and stand up proudly to exclaim, “I’m white, I don’t care about people of color and I am racist!” Make a choice of where you stand in this fight. If you don’t choose, you have no right to complain when you get caught in the crossfire. Sander Bregman is an Education senior.
DAVID MOOSMAN| VIEWPOINT
Heresy of Harbaugh We have a Muckraker in our midst. With a capital M. Muckraker is a term considered to be popularized by Theodore Roosevelt in reference to journalists or reporters just looking to stir up controversy. Now we have one embedded in the fabled hall of Bo Schembechler himself. This Muckraker denounced the Michigan Athletic Department for its “ways to get borderline guys in and, when they’re in, they steer them to courses in sports communications.” In 2007, Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh talked about the standards that other esteemed institutions such as Stanford hold, standards that should be the model for the entire National Collegiate Athletic Association. These are the same standards that our beloved Michigan has let slip. In retort, former football player Michael Hart, our fearless and never-outspoken leader, said of Harbaugh that, “He’s not a Michigan man. I wish he’d never played here.” Well, Harbaugh did play here, and now he’s coaching here. Not coaching here – he’s the coach. Harbaugh is said muckraker, and we shunned him for what he said. How could he dream of talking about his alma mater like this? His only feeble counter was, “I learned from a great man named Bo Schembechler that you speak the truth as you know it. It may not be the popular thing, but you speak your mind.” Well, Bo was right. They were both right. No matter what has been shown to the contrary, it seems other people have noticed this same problem persisting. Newly appointed University President Mark Schlissel admitted, “We admit students who aren’t as qualified, and it’s probably the kids that we admit that can’t honestly, even with lots of help, do the amount of work and the quality of work it takes to make progression from year to year.” Maybe we let two dissidents into our ranks: the wrong coach and the wrong president. Or maybe we finally have the right two — Michigan Men — in the two of the highest positions of power. Neither wants to relax his standards as to what this great University should and will hold. And on
both campuses, they are high for sure, but our standards for Michigan aren’t high, they’re the highest. We’re not the leaders and the average. We’re not even the leaders and the pretty good. We are the leaders and the best. The best. We shouldn’t be condemning Harbaugh and Schlissel, questioning their loyalty when they’re only questioning our mediocrity. Michigan is a tough place to make a living. Things are never good enough. Ask Devin Gardner or Brady Hoke. Both great, unquestionably classy guys. Gardner gave a helping hand to the Buckeyes’ quarterback, J.T. Barrett, on national television, but he wasn’t the most successful quarterback we’ve ever had. He’ll be remembered as a failure. In 2006, the Michigan football team went 11-2. They were basically three touchdowns away from doubling points scored versus points against. But we lost the two most important games, the last two. Another failure. At Michigan, all we want is more. All we want is the best. As fans, we want more wins, more success and more victories over Ohio State. We ostracize the critics who are only asking for the better Michigan they know it can be. Then, they come home to fix those problems, and we applaud them as Michigan Men. This idea of the Michigan Man, a tough one to narrow down, has come to seem like just being here would give you this distinguished title. Just like the idea that those who stay will be champions. Some, possibly, took that as a promise. As in, “Don’t worry, your championship will come in time.” Like someone else was going to win that title for you. That’s not a Michigan Man. This ideal, this vision of a Michigan Man, has caused our recent stumble. It was because this school needed a “Michigan Man” that we got rid of Rich Rodriguez for Hoke. That lineage was more important than skill. This idea that if we slap a moniker on someone, they have it for life, and are better suited for the job than someone without it. Behind the idea of the Michigan Man is that this selfless person is striving for the greater good. Something beyond himself. Something more important than his own wellbeing. What we need is every person working and competing for the
University of Michigan. This is the aspect that we need to keep and pass on about the Michigan Man. But unfortunately, there’s more to it. There’s a stigma that all one needs is the block ‘M.’ That everything will be fine as long as you’re Michigan. Michigan expects to win. Michigan Men have a tradition of winning – the winningest program in college football. But it was never the name that won all those games. It was never the Big House that scared the opponents. It was never the winged helmet that sent them cowering. And now it isn’t our shiny new coaching staff. What won those games and what will win them again in the future is the binder for all these facets. Toughness. Toughness was what Bo Schembechler built his program on. It’s why Harbaugh spoke out about what he believed even against all the backlash of his alma mater. Apparently it meant something to shake hands with Frank Sinatra; who knows? Around here, shaking hands with Bo meant something, but not as much as taking a jab from him, right to the sternum. Those who stay will be champions. Back then it was hard to stay and even harder to do. Staying meant that there would be more pain to endure. Staying meant that there would be less sleep, more work, more practices and tougher practices. Quit, go ahead, we wish not one man more with which to share the glory. It has always been the people that bring glory to the ‘M,’ never the other way around. Those who stay will be champions, but only at a place where the only options are becoming a champion or quitting. We have an opportunity to right this ship with an old heretic at its helm. The cynicism of a once-ostracized muckraker is now the resurrection of Schembechler’s long standards. The ideals of Bo are back. The ideals of toughness over selfishness and intelligence aiding toughness and Michigan woven throughout. It’s hard to tell if we’ll have a winning team next year, but you can be sure it’ll be brimming with tough men, intelligent men, Michigan Men. David Moosman is a 2009 LSA graduate. He played offensive line for Michigan from 2005 to 2009 under Lloyd Carr and Rich Rodriguez.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Devin Eggert, David Harris, 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
“
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
We are simply responding, being very careful and making sure we’re taking the best care of students and staff.”
— Desert Sands Unified School District Spokeswoman Mary Perry on sending unvaccinated students and staff home until Feb. 9 due to the measles ourbreak stemming from Disneyland.
Weekend Roundup
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, January 29, 2015 — 5A
to do on 4 THINGS Super Bowl Sunday By ALYSSA BRANDON
Thursday, 1/29
DON’T WATCH THE
Cultural Connection show 8 p.m. Lydia Mendelssohn Theater Circles for Women in Computer Science & Engineering 11 a.m. The Michigan League
Super Bowl Sunday has arrived! Here are four SUPERBOWL, WATCH things to do to prepare THE PUPPY BOWL yourselves for the showdown between the New Let’s be honest: for England Patriots and Sesome, watching large attle Seahawks in the Unimen tackle each othversity of Phoenix Stadium. er for fun isn’t always the most pleasant sight. If you’re a little fainter at EAT LOTS OF FOOD. heart, skip the Super Bowl LOTS OF IT and watch the Puppy Bowl! Let the spectacle Everybody looks for of puppies of all kinds an excuse to splurge and nonsensically running nix that restricting diet around warm your heart. for a day, so why not do it for the Super Bowl? ResTHROW A WATCH taurants and food joints always have great deals PARTY for Super Bowl Sunday, especially in Ann Arbor. What better way to Take advantage of those spend the Super Bowl than great deals and eat to your to spend it with friends? heart’s content. Whether Throw a little soirée and it’s takeout from your favor- invite some good friends ite barbecue joint or a sim- to enjoy those funny Super ple box of pizza, grab some- Bowl commercials with. thing you like and munch Not the party type? No on it during the game! problem, there are a lot After all, the only of places where you can thing better than watch- enjoy the football game ing a football game is eat- in a more lively setting.
Friday, 1/30 The Data of Life Writing conference 9 a.m. Lane Hall
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will faceoff this Sunday in the NFL Super Bowl XLIX.
Going to a restaurant Katy Perry is scheduled like Buffalo Wild Wings to perform at this year’s is a great way to enjoy halftime show Sunday and the game with friends fireworks are surely goand eat good food, too. ing to go off. I suggest a 48-hour binge session on all of her classics from PREPARE FOR KATY “One of the Boys,” “Teenage Dream” and “Prism” PERRY
Ahead of the game: winter study tips Weekend Roundup Contributor
It may not feel like it, but we’re already a month into the new semester, and there’s an avalanche of papers and exams waiting for you. There’s no need to worry, though. We’ve got a few study tips to help you beat the storm. Get rid of distractions
EVENTS
ing while you’re doing it.
Weekend Roundup Contributor
By TANAZ AHMED
CAMPUS
guide into a mock exam and quiz yourself. Give yourself the same amount of time as your actual exam, and take it in a quiet place, modeling the test environment. This will help you quickly identify areas you need to study more carefully or in which you may need help. Chew gum Pop in some Doublemint or Trident while you’re studying or writing a paper. According to Scientific American study, chewing gum may increase students’ concentration and improve their reflexes, due to the increased flow of oxygen to areas of the brain that control attention.
This one’s a no-brainer, yet also the hardest to do. The Internet is full of distractions like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Buzzfeed. You may think you’re only taking a quick five-minute study break when you go on Buzzfeed, but let’s be honest, you’ll be Sit in the same place on the site for much longer than that! Try programs like If your test is being adCold Turkey or Self Conministered in your usual trol to temporarily block classroom, sit in the same sites on your computer. place you usually sit during lecture. A Montana Make a practice test State University study found when students are If your professor doesn’t tested in the same environprovide you with practice ment where they learned tests, make your own. Inthe information, they are stead of just looking up the more likely to remember answers, turn your study what they were taught.
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Student Veterans of America fundraising gala 6 p.m. Michigan Union ballroom
3 Presidential nickname 4 Petrol unit 5 Gave up a seat 6 One of six British kings 7 Year in Tuscany 8 “Wait for me” 9 Pension law signed by Ford, briefly 10 Jordan neighbor: Abbr. 11 Gillette razor 12 Hole enlarger 13 Cleave 21 Comes to the surface 22 Harsh-sounding, to some 23 Traffic stopper? 24 Notion 25 “Elf” actor 27 Shoshone Falls river 30 Shroud city 33 Chinese evergreen 34 Zoo security features 36 Droopy-eared hound 38 Wonderful container?
39 Bordeaux bean? 40 “The Dukes of Hazzard” officer 41 Tammany Hall caricaturist 44 Mortarboard frill 45 “That upset me!” 46 Speakers of Tolkien’s Noldorin language 48 Costing more
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Sports
6A — Thursday, January 29, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Harbaugh secures staff Michigan slows down FOOTBALL
Five assistants come from NFL jobs By MAX COHEN Managing Sports Editor
One month has passed since Jim Harbaugh was introduced as Michigan’s head football coach. In that time, he has been tasked with hiring a coaching staff and filling out a recruiting class that was decimated because of questions surrounding Brady Hoke’s job status. Now, the first of those tasks is complete. You already know offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Tim Drevno as well as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach D.J. Durkin, but here’s a rundown of the rest of Harbaugh’s staff. Jedd Fisch, passing game coordinator, quarterbacks coach, wide receivers coach Like Harbaugh, Fisch’s most recent job was in the NFL. He spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he was charged with developing an offense stacked with young players. Throughout his coaching career, Fisch has bounced between the college ranks and the NFL. Before his job with the Jaguars, Fisch was the offensive coordinator at the University of Miami for two seasons, following a one-year stint as the quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks. Fisch isn’t new to the Big Ten — he spent the 2009 season as Minnesota’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Tyrone Wheatley, running backs coach Harbaugh isn’t the only member of Michigan’s coaching staff to return to Ann Arbor after starring for the Wolverines in college. Wheatley was a three-
time All-Big Ten selection at running back from 1992 to 1994 and was also an All-American in track and field in 1995. Wheatley comes to Michigan after spending two years as the running backs coach for the Buffalo Bills. Wheatley’s son, Tyrone Wheatley Jr., is a senior in high school and a top Michigan target. He was in Ann Arbor for an official visit this week. Jay Harbaugh, tight ends coach, assistant special teams coach Yes, Jay is Jim’s son. The 25-year-old is the youngest member of Michigan’s coaching staff, coming off of three seasons working for his uncle John as an offensive quality control coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Many expect Jay’s youth to be an asset on the recruiting trail, where relatability can be a key factor in a prospect’s decision. Harbaugh’s Twitter profile refers to Michigan as “The New Tight End U.” He has wasted little time setting the bar high. Greg Mattison, defensive line coach Mattison returns to Michigan under Harbaugh’s regime after spending four years as the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator under Hoke. Though Mattison regularly cited his close friendship with Hoke as the primary reason he was at Michigan, Mattison also has ties to the Harbaugh family. Under John Harbaugh in Baltimore, Mattison first served as the defensive line coach before moving up to defensive coordinator. Mattison also worked under Jim and John’s father, Jack, at Western Michigan from 1982 to 1986. Greg Jackson, secondary coach Jackson is another member of
Michigan’s coaching staff with an NFL pedigree. He spent the last four years as a member of Harbaugh’s staff with the San Francisco 49ers, serving as the team’s assistant secondary coach for all four of Harbaugh’s years there. As a player, Jackson spent 12 years in the NFL, recording 32 career interceptions. Michael Zordich, secondary coach The specific roles for Zordich and Jackson in the secondary have not yet been defined. Zordich spent the past two seasons as the safeties coach and co-special teams coordinator at Youngstown State. Prior to that, he spent four seasons on the coaching staff of the Philadelphia Eagles. An AllAmerican safety at Penn State in 1985, Zordich played 12 seasons in the NFL. John Baxter, special teams coordinator Baxter comes to Michigan after spending four years at Southern California from 2010 to 2013. He isn’t short on coaching experience, having taken his first job at Loras College in 1981. Baxter’s 2013 special teams unit at USC thrived, ranking second in the country with three blocked punts and fourth in blocked kicks with six. Kevin Tolbert, director of strength and conditioning Tolbert is the second member of Harbaugh’s staff in San Francisco to follow him to Ann Arbor. Tolbert worked with Harbaugh for all four of Harbaugh’s years with the 49ers as the team’s assistant strength and conditioning coach. Tolbert also worked with Harbaugh for two years at Stanford and was an assistant strength coach for Michigan from 2001 to 2007 under Lloyd Carr.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Senior forward Cyesha Goree has averaged 20.5 points over her past five games heading into Thursday’s showdown.
‘M’ to host No. 5 Maryland By MINH DOAN Daily Sports Writer
With Maryland coming to town just 72 hours later, it wouldn’t have been inexcusable for the Michigan Maryland at women’s basketball Michigan team to look past an Illinois Matchup: Maryland 17-2; team ranked in Michigan 13-6 the bottom half When: Thursof the Big Ten. day 7 P.M. But it wasn’t until after Where: Crisler 40 minutes Center against the TV/Radio: Fighting Illini BTN Plus and a hardfought 70-57 win that the Terrapins first crossed Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico’s mind. “I’m not really looking two games ahead,” Barnes Arico said. “I really wasn’t preparing for Maryland before Illinois because if you do that, especially our team, you lose focus of your opponent, and you’re going to lose.” Barnes Arico and the Wolverines (5-3 Big Ten, 13-6 overall) will have their hands full Thursday night when they take on No. 5 Maryland (8-0, 17-2). But one advantage Michigan will have is its home crowd. The
Wolverines have lost only once at home and have already posted key victories over Michigan State and Ohio State at Crisler Center. “Our home crowd has just been tremendous,” Barnes Arico said Tuesday on WTKA radio. “And it’s getting better and better every game. I think there’s a buzz in the community and around campus about the way the team is playing.” If there’s one player who will need to play well against the Terrapins, it’s senior forward Cyesha Goree, who has averaged 20.5 points over her last five games. “Cyesha has just been incredible,” Barnes Arico said. “She’s kind of been unstoppable against every opponent we’ve played so far, and I think a lot of it is due to her effort. She keeps on working and continues to go, go and go. She chases after rebounds on the other side of the court that I think nine other people can’t get. She’ll come up with them.” Behind the arc, freshman guard Katelynn Flaherty has found her shot again of late, posting double-digit point totals the past two games. On the other side of the court, Maryland coach Brenda Frese’s squad has been on fire. After losing to No. 4 Notre Dame on Dec. 3, the Terrapins have won
11 straight games, including eight in the Big Ten, which puts them at the top of the conference standings. Boasting the No. 6 scoring offense in the country with 82.8 points per game, Maryland is led by guard Shatori WalkerKimbrough, who leads the Terrapins with 13.9 points per game. Much like Michigan, the Terrapins have a dominant post presence. They boast two centers in 6-foot-3 Brionna Jones and 6-foot-4 Malina Howard and are shooting 48.5 percent from the floor, good for fourth in the nation. “I would say their biggest thing is they have such a great insideoutside presence, and they’re big, strong and physical,” Barnes Arico said. “They’re playing extremely well right now.” But as formidable of a task as it seems to take down the fifthranked team in the country, there won’t be a lack of motivation for the Wolverines. “It’s always nice to play one of the best teams in the country,” Goree said. “When we played Notre Dame, we had an experience to see where we were, how we were at our game. Now that we have a few more games under our belt, it’s always great to play a top-five team in the country.”
game to gut out win By JAKE LOURIM Managing Sports Editor
Last season, the Michigan men’s basketball team welcomed Nebraska to Crisler Center as a heavy favorite. Early in the first half, the Wolverines took a lead and smelled blood. Using their talented lineup complete with two future NBA draft picks, they stepped on the gas and ran the Cornhuskers out of the gym. They ran the floor to the tune of 63 possessions and won, 79-50 — and it wasn’t even that close. They led by as many as 41 in the second half. Tuesday, Nebraska made its return to Ann Arbor, but this time, Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III were gone, junior guard Caris LeVert was out with a foot injury and sophomore guard Derrick Walton Jr. tested his foot in warmups but sat out. Michigan didn’t have the luxury of running up the score on the Cornhuskers, so it slowed things down and slogged out a 57-possession, 58-44 win. It was just as impressive, but not as flashy — as Nebraska coach Tim Miles said, “At the end of the day, I just thought that they out-competed us, they out-executed us and we didn’t show much heart.” Facing an uphill but doable battle to get to the NCAA Tournament with nine games left, the Wolverines may have to use that strategy more and more. With LeVert out for the season and Walton on the shelf for an undetermined length of time, they sent a combination of unheralded recruits, walk-ons and freshmen at the Cornhuskers. And it worked. “We gotta bring that effort every night,” said sophomore forward Zak Irvin, who had the first double-double by any Michigan player this season with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman scored nine points in his second career start.
“I think we had a big chip on our shoulder after that tough loss we took to Wisconsin. We just brought it out on Nebraska tonight.” The Wolverines clung to a fivepoint lead at halftime but kept their lights-out defense going in the second half. After a quick 13-0 run, they led by 18 and had the Cornhuskers on their heels just like last year. This time, they slowed the tempo enough to frustrate Nebraska. Instead of starting the fast break after rebounds, they settled into their offense, led by junior guard Spike Albrecht. They mixed up their defense and held Nebraska’s Terran Petteway to 1-for-11 shooting. “In the second half, we made a little run against their 2-3 zone,” Miles said, “and never saw it again.” Without its two best players, Michigan knew it couldn’t shoot 13-for-31 from 3-point range like it did last year. So the Wolverines took just 14 triples and connected on six, getting help from freshman guard MuhammadAli Abdur-Rahkman’s strong dribble penetration to make up the difference. “You don’t want to take too many crazy shots,” AbdurRahkman said. “Sometimes it’s a
good shot, sometimes it’s not, so you just want to control the game.” Added Michigan coach John Beilein: “We were going to take what was open to us, but certainly when we got ahead by that, we weren’t going to keep shooting so quickly. We wanted to value the clock and make sure they had to work really hard against every defense we threw at them.” After Tuesday’s win, the Wolverines are no healthier than they were before it. And a brutal month of February still beckons: Michigan will play six of its seven games against teams in the top half of the Big Ten with trips to Michigan State, Indiana, Illinois and Maryland. Despite the depleted lineup, the Wolverines may just have found a way to steal a few wins without their injured players. “These are things we can control right now,” Beilein said. “We can control the type of rest we’re getting in between and when we’re going to bed, how we’re eating. We can control our effort. We can control our attitude. We can control how fast we run. … There’s nothing more important than getting your guys to understand that concept, and the rest of the stuff sort of comes together.”
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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | Thursday, January 29, 2015
BY KATHLEEN DAVIS Photo by Virginia Lozano Design credit: Levi Kipke and Shreya Razak
SENIOR ARTS EDITOR See DISPENSARY, Page 2B
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2B — Thursday, January 29, 2015
EVENT PREVIEW
DISPENSARY From Page 1A Editors note: Due to the legal sensitivity of the topic, some names have been changed. I pulled into the parking lot of People’s Choice of Ann Arbor on a gray and slushy afternoon, equal parts excited and nervous to step into a medical marijuana dispensary for the first time. A large purple wall greeted me in front of my windshield, featuring a large mural with the name of the establishment and the painted skyline of Ann Arbor. Sun-deprived from months with Michigan weather and kicking the snow from my boots, opening the door to the dispensary provided a sensory explosion to contrast the dreariness of a January afternoon: walls painted in warm hues of orange, reggae playing softly on the waiting room speakers and that distinctive skunky smell. Sarah, the manager of People’s Choice, greeted me promptly with a warm smile and a handshake, and gave me a tour of the store. We walked from the waiting room to the managerial office to the product room, where shelves of various marijuana strains sat behind a large glass cabinet filled with edibles (marijuana-infused food or candy products) and the walls were lined with pipes and bongs. The store in its entirety was modest-sized, but what it lacked in size, People’s Choice made up for in coziness and comfort. I was brought back to the private office where I was introduced to owner and president of People’s Choice, Daryl. Sarah and Daryl, both soft-spoken and easygoing, radiate a vibe that rides the threshold between humanitarian and business. They did not come into the medical cannabis business to find a legal way to help their friends get high, a stereotype enforced by years of dispensary raids on cop shows and Showtime’s addictively popular “Weeds.” In fact, that could not be farther from the truth. Both have personal histories of why they became acquainted and interested in the medicinal effects of marijuana due to watching loved ones suffer from the effects of debilitating diseases and the harsh prescription pills that come with it. “When I started five years ago, I had a true reason to jump into this business and try to help people who need it. My mother has MS (multiple sclerosis), and she tried different medications her whole life and nothing really worked,” Daryl said. “My cousin has RA (rheumatoid arthritis) very bad, and the first time I gave him medical cannabis he called me the next day and said, ‘Daryl, last night is the first time I slept through the night in three years.’ For that powerful of a statement to come out of someone’s mouth re-solidifies our purpose.” Both Sarah and Daryl became involved in the medical cannabis industry in California when it became legalized in the state for medical purposes. Both Michigan natives, they returned after Michigan voters passed the Michigan Medical Marijuana Initiative, also known as Proposal 1, which allows patients suffering from debilitating conditions, inscribed as including cancer, multiple sclerosis and HIV, to use marijuana with a Medical Marijuana Card. The store itself has been around since July 2010. Before her introduction to the medical cannabis industry, Sarah’s husband had been suffering from substantial back pain and was trying to find alternative treatment options. It’s the understanding of marijuana as a medicine that drives the work at People’s Choice, and the passion of helping others that encompasses the attitudes of Daryl and Sarah. The two believe that the general public’s changing attitudes toward medical cannabis has been greatly positive. “I would say that the general population has really turned a corner,” Daryl said. “When medical marijuana first came out, I think there were a lot of questions like, ‘Oh, is this really medicine?’ or, ‘Does this really work?’ or, ‘Are these people just hippies trying to find a reason to get high?’ But as time goes on, more and more medi-
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Folk Festival returns to Ann Arbor Friday By CAROLYN DARR Daily Arts Writer
cal evidence comes out, and people are opening their eyes and saying, ‘Wow, this is real medicine that is changing people’s lives daily.’” And Daryl used science to back this up. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the active physiological compound naturally found in cannabis. This compound treats nausea in cancer patients and increases appetite, also called “the munchies.” CBD, or cannabidiol, is another active compound found in cannabis, which researchers say treats a wider range of disease than THC. Your brain does have cannabinoid receptors, which are associated with mood, appetite, pain sensation and memory. Your body, like many mammals, also produces cannabinoids naturally, which attach to these receptors. When a body ingests cannabis, the body can test positive for marijuana for around 30 days. “When your body holds onto something for a month, like marijuana, it’s because it wants it. Your body has natural CBD receptors in it, pre-built in. When people understand this, they can understand cannabis as a medicine and understand how it helps people.” Lloyd Johnston, a distinguished senior research scientist at the University’s Institute for Social Research, has studied the effects of drug use on young people for decades. While he does believe the pro-medical testimonials of those suffering from certain illnesses, Johnston is skeptical of laws increasing the availability of marijuana to the general public, as he still sees marijuana as a drug. “The jury is still out on what all the consequences of marijuana are,” Johnston said. “We know it is very rarely lethal, but it does have the potential to create dependence, contrary to what was believed for some years. And there’s increasing evidence accumulating that it may interfere with brain development when used chronically in adolescence and early adulthood, when the brain is still developing.” Johnston is not convinced that medical marijuana will become legal nationwide, and sees an increase of non-medical use of the drug as an extraneous result of legalization for medical purposes. “I’m not at all sure that (legalizing medical marijuana) is likely to happen,” Johnston said. “Young people have come to see marijuana as considerably less dangerous in recent years, no doubt in part because of the medical marijuana and legalization debates, and their use of it has been rising.” Daryl disagrees with Johnston’s prediction of nationwide legalization. “There is not an inkling of doubt in my mind. About half in the Union is already in some stage of the medical level, so at some point the national government has to recognize that,” Daryl said. “I would say within the next three to five years we may see some sort of national marijuana policy change in favor of medical.” Daryl cited a 2014 House of representatives decision to limit the Drug Enforcement Administration from pursuing medical marijuana use in legal states. With help from high-profile physicians, like University alum Sanjay Gupta, a staunch medical cannabis advocate, more people are being turned on to the idea that marijuana can
be a medicine rather than a taboo. “We see a lot of people who come in (to People’s Choice) for the first time and they feel the stigma, and are worried about what to expect,” Sarah said. “Once they realize that it’s no big deal, they can finally relax, and that attitude has definitely changed over the years as well.” “You can go all the way from babies having seizures and give them a high CBD dose in medicine and their seizures will stop,” Daryl said. “You can look at an older person with serious chronic pain who has been on Vicodin for years and it’s tearing up their GI tract. When they switch over to medical cannabis they get away completely from the Vicodin, and their GI tract will start to heal itself, and they’re actually starting to feel better because they aren’t dealing with the bad side effects of the narcotics.” “We see examples of this daily,” Sarah added. “We’ll have a Crohn’s disease patient feeling sick and as soon as they start medicating they gain 40 pounds and they’re finally feeling healthy again. There are just countless stories like that.” “From the outside looking in, it’s hard to see these examples because you don’t see the pain coming from these people’s faces,” Daryl said. “People come in crying, or they leave crying because they’re so elated, they’ll say, ‘Oh my God, I finally feel normal and well, instead of high off these narcotics, off the Oxycotin and the Vicodin,’ and they can go back into their lives and function again.” The business of a medical marijuana dispensary is, according to Sarah and Daryl, not much different than that of any other local pharmacy. People’s Choice is a firm supporter of buying locally, and all the product within the store is Michigan grown. The glass pieces sold are almost all from local artists, and the pair pride themselves on being a Michiganbased company. “I’d say 90 percent of the operations are the same as any other business,” Daryl said. “You need to have a patient database, a record of everything they’ve purchased, so it’s looked at in mostly a pharmaceutical light, which it should be. If it’s medicine, you need to treat it as such.” People’s Choice relies on the help of volunteers for secretarial functions and has a small paid staff, all of whom are required to hold Medical Marijuana Cards of their own, and well as to be licensed Medical Marijuana Caregivers. “I’d say the volunteers who are drawn to this are somewhat humanitarian, in the sense that they see there’s a need for their help,” Daryl said. “And they’re willing to risk a little, if you will.” The risk Daryl referred to was exemplified by an unexpected DEA raid on People’s Choice in August 2013. The event was traumatizing for the workers of the dispensary, but the owners fought and won their case against the federal agents, as there was nothing incriminating or illegal at the scene. “The people working (at People’s Choice) at that time were here because they were willing to put themselves on the line in order to get people the medicine they need,” Daryl said. As I finished my interview with Sarah and Daryl, I was filled with a sense of humanitarianism I did not expect from my experience at the dispensary. Walking back through the hallway I first came from, mentally saying goodbye to the calming reggae and the poster of Bob Marley on the wall, I had nearly forgotten how gray and cold the world outside was.
This year, the much-loved local venue The Ark will have treated Ann Arbor to fantastic folk and roots music for 50 years. As a nonprofit organization, a great part of The Ark’s funding comes from its annual Folk Festival. This weekend’s lineup will feature different artists on Friday and Saturday nights, including some big names such as Amos Lee, Ani DeFranco and Brandi Carlile. The Ark was created in 1965; yet by 1977 the venue was having a hard time making ends meet. The idea for a fundraiser was conceived, and the format of a music festival was decided upon. The first Folk Festival took place at the Power Center in 1977, and, due to the proceeds from the fundraiser, The Ark was able to stay open another year. The Folk Festival quickly became an annual event that is still necessary for The Ark as an organization to survive. As a non-profit mostly staffed by volunteers, The Ark puts on over 300 shows a year. Barbara Authier, The Ark’s current Marketing Director, began as a volunteer herself. “The Ark presents a pretty broad range of genres. We have blues and bluegrass and singer/ songwriter, and that whole gamut of rootsy Americana kind of music,” Authier said. “That’s a lot of different things and we want the (Folk Festival) bill each year to have a balance of those different styles. You want people to have a taste of what the whole range of stuff is that we do throughout the year.” The Folk Festival now takes place at Hill Auditorium, as The Ark only seats 400, and the Festival has grown much larger than that. Originally only one night, when Hill Auditorium was being renovated and the Festival had to be moved to the Michigan Theatre, The Ark expanded it to two nights to accommodate the usual
FROGPAD
String bass forever.
audience. Now, each evening features separate artists, and the Festival usually sells out, with over 7000 guests attending. “We do book a couple of big name headliners that help draw people in that don’t know The Ark, and might not have heard of the other artists, but will come to see the big name and then discover something great,” Authier said. “So one goal is to bring in those big names to raise the money for the fundraiser. Then the other goal of the festival is to introduce those smaller artists, the emerging artists or just lesser known people who play The Ark through the year. We try to achieve a balance between those big names, the unknowns and also local Michigan artists.” This year the Folk Festival will serve as a sort of homecoming to some of the headlining artists who were featured at The Ark before they were famous. Amos Lee played at The Ark’s “Take a Chance Tuesday” Series before he was even signed to a label, and Ani DeFranco’s first show at The Ark hosted less than 20 people. “We knew they were good, we know good music and we see it and then we put them in front of an audience. That’s part of
our mission,” Authier said. “We work with these unknown artists and then we stay with them through the arc of their career because the music is the most important thing.” The Ark receives over 1200 demos a year, and their programming staff takes the time to listen and rate every single one. The Ark also hosts events like Open Stage where, once a month, artists can put their name in a drawing to play a few songs. Some artists are selected to host their own showcase or even to play the Folk Festival. “It’s amazing music,” Authier said. “If you like music chances are there’s going to be something at the Folk Festival that you will like. Not everybody likes the same kind of music, and we’re a folk venue, it’s a folk festival, and everyone has this small idea of what that means to them, but our perspective on it is that it’s really huge. Folk isn’t a small thing, it’s a really wide range of different styles, so we’ve been talking about it as full spectrum folk, its every kind of thing. Our slogan for the last few years has been ‘Find Your Folk’ because whatever it means to you, you’ll probably find it at the Folk Festival. Find the music that you love.”
MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW Bizarre definitely lives up to his name and image in “Juice & Gin,” and not in the same way Bthat the “Justin Bieber” ‘Juice & music video Gin’ was creepy Bizarre and repugnant, but sim- Self-Released ply that it’s weird. The video opens with Bizarre angrily playing with a lighter with a crazed expression on his face. There’s plenty of gin to be seen in the background of the studio — in still shots and in Bizarre’s hand. You can always count on Bizarre to appear drugged up. “Juice & Gin” is also full of eye-catching fashion choices – in one scene, a furry purple bomber hat, no shirt and red
SHADY RECORDS
gym shorts. In another shot, he’s leaning up against an apartment hallway wall, rocking a t-shirt with “I pop molly, I don’t rock Tom Ford,” in bold, bright letters. Cinematographically speaking, the video has an overabundance of film burns. I suppose they prove to be smooth, trippy transitions, but the effect is abused. The
shots themselves are also headache provoking. The camera deliberately pans back and forth in a swift and shaky manner, out of sync with the slower paced song. Bizarre adds a little bit of flavor with his expected antics, but in the end, “Juice & Gin,” proves to be an average, low-budget music video. -KEN SELANDER
SINGLE REVIEW “FourFiveSeconds” comes in the same fashion as Kanye’s “Only One.” Without the technical flashiness of A pop or hip hop, the song ‘FourFive finds its eleSeconds’ gantly simple tempo Rihanna, from just an Kanye West acoustic guiand Paul tar for the McCartney chorus and Roc Nation keys for the bridge. Not only is this new Rihanna music — it is fresh Rihanna music. It’s a song about keeping it together, whether for four to five seconds, until Friday or until you can make it back home. Lyrically, it’s relatable, finding its thematic roots in everyday struggle as opposed to the lavish lifestyles RiRi and
ROC NATION
Ye often sing about. The track could feel absent without Paul McCartney’s great vocals, but its minimalist production is remarkable for the pop and rap stars. Typically characterized by heavy beats and techno synths, the unplugged sound McCartney’s
production brings to Rihanna and Kanye is smooth and enriched, allowing the singers to show what they can really do. As I type this, “I got three more days ‘til Friday,” and I plan on listening to “FourFiveSeconds” the entire time. -CHRISTIAN KENNEDY
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Thursday, January 29, 2015 — 3B
FILM COLUMN
The flaming swerve of visual storytelling Mild spoilers to “Whiplash” and “Blue Ruin” ahead. In perhaps the most gripping 10 minutes of film released last year, there are no explosions. There is no rubble. No smoke. No gunshots. Smoldering through in spasms between just three paltry lines of diaAKSHAY logue, there is SETH only fire. Terence Fletcher — a gargoyle of a jazz instructor whose educational technique would make most drill sergeants look like Mr. Rogers — piles the firewood high in the very first scene, but it’s his student who grinds the spark. Andrew Neiman does it alone, sitting behind his drum kit in those haunting 10 minutes, a steady stream of sweat pouring down to mix with the halo of blood that surrounds his fevered hands, blurring with activity. It collects at the tip of his drumstick. It dribbles into a slight pool, the size of a silver dollar, atop the drum’s batter head. And as when gasoline meets a struck match, hellfire emanates. These are some of the thoughts, visceral and razorsharp, that hew through you in the closing moments of Damien Chazelle’s sophomore feature, “Whiplash.” Lyrical, pulpy imagery belying the fact that there’s nothing even marginally poetic about the brand of screenwriting that inspires it. Chazelle’s script is a bare-bones, skeletal framework of dialogue that only reveals its pulse when Fletcher’s queued to pipe in, his cadence more symptomatic of dragon’s breath than spoken word. The 30-year-old Chazelle, whose Best Director snub at the Oscars sadly recalls the year a young Paul Thomas Anderson wasn’t nominated for “Boogie Nights,” understands the blank palette his no-frills script offers. He uses it. The visual storytelling, on display in every corner of this movie, is breathtaking not just because the coloring and lighting garnishing it appears siphoned off an Edward Hopper painting. It’s also brutally efficient in a way that leaves very little room for recoil (or, dare I say, whiplash) by the time the credits roll. Chazelle has you on board, then jumping out of your seat even though the seatbelt is fastened. This is the only movie I’ve ever seen in a theater that demanded I be there for the next showing. The ending inspires this fanatic kind of commitment, one bordering on a hit of cocaine. And it’s done without words.
Nothing about Chazelle’s characters is obvious — nor should it be — but the story and visuals he constructs around them are tangible in a way that’s rarely seen in American cinema. The best way to describe it involves being swept down a river while clutching a retail mannequin: There’s almost nothing to be derived from what’s in your hands, or the two guides Chazelle has written on screen. They’ve been placed here for utility, their intentions almost one-note to the point of fault, but there’s no questioning the exhilaration in how immediately, forcefully even, the young writer-director is able to shove us in the right direction, following nothing but a current of bold filmmaking. In that mesmerizing last scene, a jazz concert stage takes the place of a boxing ring. Neiman is the one doing all the hard work, but every drum stroke and rimshot takes the place of body blows he’s exchanging with Fletcher’s equally stubborn brand of savagery. One wants to prove his greatness, even if to no one else but himself. The other wants to prove he’s forging greatness, even if to no one else but himself. They’re a match made in heaven, an idea that comes to the forefront in those final 10 minutes. But any bluntness this simplicity could imply is replaced by frenzied pacing, glowing, roving lighting and a type of editing that can only be described as seizure-inducing in the best way. The frame leaps from Fletcher to Neiman and back to Fletcher and back to Neiman and often settles right above him, reverberating with the breakneck tempo of the music while we watch his hands, in their dance from one drum to the next, do their best to mimic a hummingbird in flight. In one brief shot, the camera sits right outside the drum kit and does nothing other than pan quickly left to right and back, like someone quickly shaking their head, or more accurately, eyes darting from one end of the page to the next. The effect, the sparkling verve, is emblematic of this closing act, though in a larger sense, the rest of the film as well. The 100-minute runtime is full of brutal sections where we see nothing more than Neiman abusing himself to attain a quicker beat. In essence, hit the drums faster. He practices until he can do nothing more than scream obscenities at himself and little rivers of hemoglobin run from his fingers down his kit. It’s further stylized in a shot where Neiman slumps the bloodied hands into a pitcher of ice water, then as while the frame-rate increases, we see the clearness of the liquid slowly
become an imposing red. The kicker, though, and what makes this picture a beacon of great visual storytelling is the image that comes right after: A highangle shot of Neiman’s face. Time has passed. It’s gaunt, broken under the eyes in a way that suggests manic turmoil. It’s also efficient storytelling — we’re still clutching to that blank mannequin with the vacant look on its face, but the current tells us exactly why we’re there, it lets us guess at what’s inside. Another film that gained notoriety last year for its inventive use of visual plot development also centers on a lonely misfit. In writer-director Jeremy Saulnier’s “Blue Ruin,” Macon Blair plays Dwight, a homeless man emotionally devastated by his parents’ deaths who sets out for revenge after the killer is set loose. Over long stretches, the film features no dialogue, just Dwight’s perpetually aghast face as he plays a game of reverse cat and mouse with his targets. He almost seems surprised at his own confidence, and it’s the confidence that, as in “Whiplash,” takes center stage. We see it when Dwight steals a gun. Again when he stabs his target in the temple. And finally, in the closing shots when he decides to die. The conviction in these films is a direct result of simplicity, something that’s often forgotten at the American box office these days to make room for bigger budgets and bigger ideas. “The Avengers” have their qualities but it would be hard to find more than a minute in the movie without Robert Downey Jr. trying to push the plot along with a tersely worded insult. “Interstellar” represented a hallmark in grand, breathtaking imagery, a movie I loved, but again, it would be near-impossible to find a few seconds in its sprawling three hours without Matthew McConaughey’s twang. Harder still to fish out any ideal in the film that dared be smaller than “what is the mathematical meaning of love?” Amazing as the final product is, you’d be hard-pressed to find a moment of pure catharsis in “Boyhood.” By contrast, the movement and framing for Chazelle’s concluding sequence is sealed off by an image so simple, so brilliant, I uttered an earnest “fuck yeah” on each viewing. Just two closeups of both characters exchanging a grin, in total understanding of one another and the fire they’ve scorched in our eyes. Fuck yeah, indeed. Seth doesn’t work well without visual cues. To send him some, email akse@umich.edu.
EPISODE REVIEW The meat locker. For those who don’t know, the meat locker is a television staple. It’s an episode where A two characters, trapped ‘Parks within a confined location, & Rec’ are forced to Season 7, resolve their Episode 4 differences. It’s common, Tuesdays but when done at 8 p.m right, can pro- NBC duce genuine humor and emotional payoff. “Leslie and Ron” is one such episode where the two characters played by Amy Poehler (“Saturday Night Live”) and Nick Offerman (“The Lego Movie”) are forced to resolve the rift that has torn apart their ten-year friendship or “work proximity associate-ship” as Ron refers to it. Written by series co-creator Michael Schur (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), the episode truly understands its characters as they’re locked in their
VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
Bongz & Thongs has served the Ann Arbor community since 2011.
Bongz & Thongz: A store like no other By CHLOE GILKE Managing Arts Editor
I’d never been in Bongz & Thongz before, but I went into this interview with some expectations. The store would probably be inexplicably hazy, with dim lighting and lots of tapestries. I didn’t know much about B&T, but I knew there would be bongs, and I knew the stereo would be blasting Sublime. Upon entering the infamous store, I was immediately struck by how light it was. The huge front window illuminates a gorgeous and intricate interior, looking more like an artist’s gallery than the cave I so incorrectly imagined. My eyes were especially drawn to the elaborate paintings on the walls. Countless colors and illustrations dance across the interior of the Ann Arbor specialty shop, swirling and careening from wall to wall with the inscrutable beauty of a stoner’s dream. I had to ask about them. Store co-owner Mohammad Hassan, leaning comfortably on the counter and wearing a beanie and an easy smile, remarked that the wall art was “hand-painted, done by one guy.” For Hassan, this dedication to artistry reaches far past the walls. Since it was established in 2011, Bongz & Thongz has supported local artists and glassblowers, selling only Michigan-made bongs and pipes. The merchandise is elaborate and beautiful — some of the bongs can run as expensive as $1,300, though many are more affordable. “We hand-pick everything. We’re at a point where artists call us now, and we get to check out their stuff and make sure there are no flaws or any of that,” Hassan said. *** Hassan broke off from my interview for a moment to help a young woman pick out a pipe. He showed her one shaped like a majestic elephant, pointing out the details in its craftsmanship. I waited while they chatted, then interjected with more questions. Hassan decided to open Bongz & Thongz because there weren’t any other stores like it in Ann Arbor. There was the Safe Sex Store on South University Avenue, but their
merchandise didn’t include anything like a hand-painted glass elephant pipe. Hassan noted the liberal attitude of the locals, and knew that the college atmosphere would be the ideal place to open this passion project. “Why did I decide to open Bongz & Thongz? Well, you gotta do what you love,” Hassan said. “And Ann Arbor also fell in love with us.” Locals embraced the store immediately, but the clientele isn’t just stoner college kids. Hassan remarked that his customers don’t fit any sort of profile. “We get everyone from 18-yearolds to almost dead,” Hassan explained. “People with walkers and wheelchairs come in and buy our pipes.” But while the community embraced Bongz & Thongz, city officials took a little while to warm up. B&T faced several frustrating setbacks shortly after opening, mainly due to zoning ordinances limiting the sale of sex paraphernalia (the “Thongz” component of the store’s name). This was especially infuriating because the Safe Sex Store (just a few streets down) was able to sell similar merchandise without any objection. “(Some Ann Arbor city officials) didn’t think it was legal for us to sell dildos — we actually fought them on that,” Hassan said. Though Bongz & Thongz did fight to include “Thongz” in their store, the basement space is currently empty. Get Curious With SafetyGirl, a city-approved sex shop, used to occupy the lower level of B&T, but since that store closed, Hassan and his associates are now seeking a new strategy. “I don’t think we’re gonna (open a sex shop) again. We’re hoping to turn the basement into a vape lounge, where people can buy from upstairs and then hang out downstairs,” Hassan said. So where does that leave Thongz? In the past, Bongz & Thongz used the space to sell costumes and non-genitaliarelated products, but Hassan looks forward to turning over a new leaf and converting the space into a vapor lounge. “But I really want to try
and keep (the store’s) name,” Hassan said. *** After observing the elephant pipe, the young lady in the store inquired about a different one on another shelf. Hassan left me again to help her, and asked if she’d always had gauges (she had). The two conversed like old pals, but it was hard to feel like a third wheel because when he came back to our conversation, Hassan was just as warm and easygoing as he’d been with his customer. “Bongz & Thongz is a familyowned business. People tend to feel really at home here because we aren’t shy about what we are. We have a huge sign out front that says what we sell in here — people feel welcomed by our name,” Hassan said. Hassan knows he has the greatest job in the world. Despite the difficulties the store faced early on, it’s grown into a well-established Ann Arbor staple today. Bongz & Thongz is the kind of place where a young lady with gauges and an old man in a wheelchair (and this uptight journalist) can all find beautiful art, unique merchandise and a family atmosphere. For Hassan, that family atmosphere is the hallmark of his business. “I love that I get to build a relationship with my customers every day,” Hassan said. “I just like to make people happy. In all my years working here, no one has ever left (the store) without a smile.” *** Three guys burst into the store, momentarily illuminating the room with more of the bright Sunday afternoon glow from outside. But as the door swung closed, the friends relaxed. Bongz & Thongz may just be a store, but when it’s filled with hanging beads and eccentric artwork and cool people, it feels more like a friend’s house. Hassan extended his typical warm greeting to the three new customers. “Hey guys, what can I help you with?” I packed up my notebook and winter gear and left before I could hear an answer, but whatever Hassan helped these guys with, you can be sure they left the store with a smile.
TRAILER REVIEW
NBC
old workplace.“Everything’s different,” Leslie notices. By jumping forward to 2017, “Parks and Rec” allows it’s characters to grow but “Leslie and Ron” looks at what people have lost. While Poehler’s attempts as Leslie to crack Ron are fantastic (“Hey guys, Ron loves plastic!”) it’s Offerman who delivers the biggest revelation in the episode. As he talks about everyone leaving the Parks Department he says, “One day, I looked up. Just didn’t recognize any-
one.” Offerman’s delivery is subtle and heartbreaking, as Leslie realizes, “You missed your friends.” In their old office, Leslie sees the friendship that was left behind as Ron reflects on that inevitability: “It was a punctuation mark on a sentence that had already been written.” This moment of honesty defines the episode, showing the true heart behind the characters of “Parks and Rec.” It will truly be a loss when TV moves on without the show. -MATTHEW BARNAUSKAS
The trailer for “A Most Violent Year,” a Valencia-filtered introduction to the tense crime-drama, leaves the Aviewer longing for more. ‘A Most Set in 1981, Violent statistically one of the Year’ most violent A24 years in New York City history, the drama-thriller follows the dealings of businessman Abel Morales, (Oscar Isaac, “Inside Llewyn Davis”) as he successfully tries to expand his Brooklyn-based company. Violence infiltrates Morales’s idealistic life when his drivers start getting assaulted and deadly threats are made. To combat the brutality, the District Attorney (David Oyelowo,
A24
“Selma”) begins to investigate the business, finding more than anyone bargained for. It seems that some of the qualms of the legitimacy of the business come from Morales’s wife, played by Jessica Chastain, (“Interstellar”) who substitutes her signature red locks but maintains a fiery disposition in her desperate protection of her husband,
children and reputation. The trailer builds on the suspicions and tensions off which the talented cast can play. By the end, it is impossible to know where all the scheming and violence are coming from, but the trailer pulls us in enough to make us wonder where it’s going. -REBECCA LERNER
the b-side
4B — Thursday, January 29, 2015
ARTIST
PROFILE
VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
LSA junior Ian Perfitt performs as Neighbourhood!.
Ian Perfitt blends creative and analytical thinking in his music BY CAROLINE FILIPS Daily Arts Writer
LSA junior Ian Perfitt is the ideal convergence of the leftbrain/right-brain theory on personality — he has a palpable zeal for music and thoughtful intentions to maintain equilibrium within all aspects of his life. Though debated in terms of its validity, the evidence behind the postulate suggests people are either predominantly right-or left-brained thinkers. It attempts to justify why some are more creative, abstract thinkers (rightbrained), while others are more logical and conceptually-minded (left-brained). The theory poses a reasonable explanation as to why we are the way we are, or why Perfitt enjoys the University’s rigorous physics curriculum and maintains a passion for music. Theoretically, the convergence of the two would be a well rounded individual much like Perfitt.
As a physics major and musician, Perfitt maintains a balance between the realm of explainable scientific theories and the intangible euphoria of the creative process. In the spirit of his personal mantra to stay balanced, Perfitt lives out his motto. When asked which route he intends to pursue professionally, Perfitt declared his love of physics. “I’m passionate about it, and it will also pay the bills, hopefully,” Perfitt said. “Music is my less heady thing, and physics is my heady thing, so I keep a balance with that.” Primarily the project of his girlfriend, Music, Theater & Dance senior Summer Krinsky, and his friend Sam Naples, a SMTD senior, Perfitt dabbles in drumming and vocals for the band Caves. However, he ultimately prefers to stay out of the limelight of performing, and is recording a solo album instead. “I’ve done a lot of performing in the past, and not to say that I’ve been there, done that, but if I don’t have to perform that’s fine with me,” Perfitt said. “With my solo stuff, I’m not very interested in performing right now. When I write songs, I’ll play them around the house, that’s my performing.
I don’t need to make it a big deal on a stage. For now, that’s just me.” Perfitt began his studies at the University last semester after transferring from Washtenaw Community College, yet his love of music began at an early age. Perfitt believes his appreciation for the craft runs in his blood, as he grew up in a musically minded family where all of his uncles are musicians. “One of my first memories was dancing to Elvis Costello records with my mom in the house I grew up in,” Perfitt said. “I took drum lessons pretty early, my parents signed me up for lessons at age four, but I wasn’t old enough to focus on it and understand what was going on, so I didn’t start until I was nine and got more serious about it.” By his junior year of high school, Perfitt devoted the vast majority of his time to recording. He became serious about drumming, branched out to other instruments, added vocals to his repertoire and also recorded an album. But at times, Perfitt felt out of balance. “I wrote a lot of music, took a lot of breaks,” Perfitt said.
LITERARY COLUMN
When authors are assholes “It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” –William Blake You can say that again, Will. A column of mine that ran on Nov. 11, 2014 entitled “Finally, A Series of Very Fortunate Events,” revolved GRACE around my PROSNIEWSKI enthusiasm for the upcoming television adaption of Daniel Handler’s, aka Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and included my praise for Handler’s unique writing style. A few days later on Nov. 19 at the annual National Book Awards, Handler made a racist joke after African-American author Jacqueline Woodson won an award for her novel “Brown Girl Dreaming.” Handler subsequently apologized via Twitter and matched donations to “We Need Diverse Books,” an organization dedicated to addressing the lack of diversity within children’s literature. However, many people, myself included, were still left with a bad taste in our mouths. While I won’t retract my praise for Handler’s writing ability, I admit I was embarrassed to have so publicly complimented someone who could make such offensive and ignorant comments. I debated for a while whether to even write on this incident, as it occurred some months ago and largely faded from the public discussion. Nevertheless, I believe it raises age-old ques-
tions about our understandings of and interactions with art. Namely, where is the dividing line between art and artist? Does such a line even exist? Whenever this topic comes up, there are always those who deride thinking too deeply on art as an extension of the artist. They look at works of art as sensory, and thus objective. In this interpretation, authenticity of reaction is based solely on the visceral experience of the viewer. In other words, your enjoyment of a book, movie, album, etc. can be wholly separated from your knowledge of the artist’s character. Unfortunately, this opinion all too often mutates into a perverse form of hero-worship, in which the memories of pleasure in a viewer are privileged above those whose experiences, and, in fact, very existence are made vulnerable by the artist’s bigotry. To me, the interaction with art, whether through watching a movie, reading a book or gazing at a painting, is an intimate experience between viewer and artist. It is an encountering of souls, in which both parties give and take, with the actual work serving as a conduit of sorts. Thus, when a favorite artist, someone we believe to have both known and been known by, disappoints us, the betrayal is that much more intense. Examples of such betrayals abound, though of a more extreme nature, like the pedophilia and rape allegations against Woody Allen and charges against Roman Polanski, and the current debates over the broadcasting of “The Cosby Show” amid the numerous rape accusations against Bill Cosby.
Focusing again on literature, there is an unhappy excess of cases, both contemporary and historical, in which the prejudices of the author spark conversation around denouncing their work. Recently, the film “Ender’s Game,” based on a science fiction novel of the same name, was boycotted by many in the LGBTQ and ally community over the overtly homophobic views and remarks of the author Orson Scott Card. The situation becomes even more convoluted when we look to authors of the past. Racism, sexism, antiSemitism, xenophobia — almost no historical author is left unmarked by these prejudices. Even authors that seemed impressively progressive in some areas are often revealed to have been horrifyingly intolerant in others. L. Frank Baum, the author of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” was a strong supporter of women’s suffrage and gender equality. He also condoned the wholesale genocide of Native Americans. Jack London, author of “The Call of the Wild,” was a passionate advocate for worker’s rights and for the prevention of cruelty to animals. He was also a supporter of violent, racially based colonialism. As a society, we tend to excuse the humanitarian failings of historical figures. We hem and haw about looking at the orthodoxical context and prevailing social norms of the time. We say they couldn’t have known better. But what differentiates someone from being labeled a “product of the times” to being recognized as plainly hateful? Is it the depth of their convictions? The amount of divergence from the popular opinion of the time? The quality
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
“Sometimes you get exhausted working on songs all the time.” That balanced attitude that permits Perfitt’s academic interests to coexist with his hobbies also extends to his music. Spanning from “Babe Has Got a Black Heart,” the electronic jam influenced by music of the ’50s and ’60s, to the deeper lyrics and harmonic structure of “Roots,” Perfitt’s SoundCloud showcases his impressive range. He doesn’t subject his music to one distinct genre, but rather attempts to classify his tracks by the differing moods and emotions that inspired them. “A lot of my music has deep, intellectual things and then some have some more shallow, feel-good, upbeat elements to them,” Perfitt said. “Usually it’s things that I’m struggling with, those are usually my deeper songs, and then I’ll have songs where my girlfriend will say stuff to me that inspires a song and there’s also just things that I just enjoy writing about.” When asked of his songwriting process, Perfitt simply replied, “Write, record, release,” exhibiting his leftbrained pragmatism, which followed up with a refined, right-brained explanation. “Sometimes it just comes to me,” he said. “It’s so fascinating how you can sit down and come up with this idea, and a lot of times you don’t even know where you get the idea from and then to expand upon this idea and create something that moves people, moves yourself and no one knows how or why they’re moved. No one understands. It’s so fascinating to me.” Once he runs with an idea, he writes a song in full with what he refers to as “scratch lyrics, or lyrics that don’t make any sense,” to fill the place of a melody and structure an outline. He later returns to and polishes up the lyrics and adds the drums and acoustic instruments, and lastly electronics. Yet without sufficient inspiration, Perfitt cannot begin his creative venture. He mainly seeks creative fuel from his favorite artists and bands. “My biggest influence is Baths, an electronic musician with a unique style, but sometimes I think his songwriting could be better, so I tap into people like the Beatles, who I think write great songs that inspire me to write songs, but then sometimes I feel like their lyrics are too shallow,” Perfitt said. “So, I like people like Bob Dylan and his style of
lyricism. Sometimes I feel like all of that is not harmonically deep enough so I like Nick Drake a lot.” He also accredits his artistic drive to his many, insightful conversations with the muse of his work, his girlfriend. “I’ve written about just being with my girlfriend because that’s so important to me,” Perfitt said. He hinted that his song, “Today,” was written about their time spent together, stating it’s about two fictional characters contentedly passing time and sitting on the beach. Though an admirer of music’s legends and the newcomers alike, Perfitt is mindful of possible accusations of imitation, and in turn strives for absolute originality in his musical endeavors. “I have a couple songs that sound like Beatles songs, but then I try to make them not sound as much like Beatles songs,” Perfitt said. “I would never want to write a song that sounds like Paul (McCartney) or someone wrote it. I think that everyone has their own expression, so they should try to tap into that, however you do that. I’ll think, ‘Where did my most original thought come from, and how can I keep them coming?’ ” An enthusiast of the wisdom that follows from making mistakes, Perfitt recognizes the importance of trial and error in his songwriting that leads him towards personal growth in the craft. “It’s important to tell myself, ‘Oh, that’s just an OK song, I’m not going to put that out, because I know something better will come,’ and once that better thing comes, you end up releasing something better,” he said. “Learning how to skip things that are just ‘OK’ is better for you, because then you produce something better. I’ve become a lot more picky with things and I think that’s important.” Aside from his interests in physics and music, Perfitt also satisfies his creative desires with drawing. His favorite form of the craft is abstract expressionism, due to its open interpretation and lack of convention. “I got into the whole drawing phase of my life and I remember making a lot of abstract drawings,” Perfitt said. “I emailed a UM art professor and I wanted to show him my work and see if he could teach me some stuff. I brought my work to him in a coffee shop and he just kind of flipped through my stuff and I don’t think he really liked it that much at all.” Though criticized for his own perception of art, Perfitt
concluded that the meeting with the professor was pivotal in both his personal and artistic development. “At the time, I didn’t really have a full realized idea of what my art was meaning, but after that, I learned that I wanted to start figuring out drawing things that have meaning, or putting more meaning into my art, whether its music or drawing,” Perfitt said. “I also realized that I didn’t necessarily need to listen to him because we just had different styles. He was an art professor, so he probably knew a lot more than me, but I remember at that same coffee shop he pulled out one of his drawings, and it was just a drawing of a cat. I thought it was cool, just not the only way to make art.” When I felt our interview was nearing its end, I asked Perfitt if he had anything else to add. His response was, yet again, an example of his stimulating intellect and commendable creativity. Perfitt began describing the math term of neighbourhood, which inspired his SoundCloud name, albeit minus the ‘u’ and plus an exclamation point; and like any outstanding mathematician, he applied the term to everyday life … and then some. “It’s a set of points that are a certain distance from a given point It’s used for calculating limits,” Perfitt said. “At that time I was thinking about how a lot of structures we have of reality and theories of science are similar to a neighbourhood in that they’re a set of ideas that are a certain distance from what things in reality actually are.” The dual connotation of neighborhood, that being a community of family and friends, was also related to Perfitt’s title choice. “Whenever I’m having trouble or in a bad place, not the happiest, whatever, I have this neighborhood community of friends and family to fall back on and they can help me cheer up,” Perfitt said. “The factorial sign at the end of ‘Neighborhood!’ came up from a conversation I was having with my girlfriend about taking a series of experiences that you’ve had and taking that factorial that adds them up and shows all the different combinations they could occur in.” For now, those wishing to hear the sequence of events that led to Neighborhood! can listen to Perfitt’s SoundCloud of demos. He is also planning to release the demo, “Kiss and Cry Benches”, and one finalized, mastered demo of “Today.”
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of their work? I don’t have the answers to these questions. I’m not sure what the correct course of action is when we confront such issues. I think it is essential to acknowledge and discuss the ethical failings of artists we very often place on pedestals. I do not believe, however, that the ultimate answer is to simply not read authors with problematic views or histories. I think the solution lies in part in reading the works of the “Others,” those attacked, marginalized groups grappling with the injustices of both the past and present. Through their stories we can encounter their souls, and hopefully we may see the humanity that has too often been denied. As a literary community, we can also continue to stand up and speak out against harmful remarks like those made by Handler, which seek to belittle and erase those diverse voices fighting to be heard in mainstream publishing. Prosniewski is writing and reading about assholes. Are you an asshole? To let her know, email gpros@umich.edu.