ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Wednesday, October 14, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
GREEK LIFE
Fraternity pledges join SAPAC for training day
EMILIE FARRUGIA/Daily
Piper Kerman, author of “Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison,” discusses her experience with the criminal justice system in the United States during an address in Rackham Auditorium on Tuesday.
‘Orange is the New Black’ author calls for prison reform Piper Kerman, whose book inspired Netflix series, addresses packed Rackham By TANYA MADHANI Daily Staff Reporter
The Rackham Auditorium was packed to full capacity Tuesday night as Piper Kerman, author
of “Orange is the New Black: My Time in a Women’s Prison,” spoke about her experience in the criminal justice system and mass incarceration in the United States. Kerman’s memoir inspired the award-winning Netflix series of the same name. Created by Jenji Kohan, the show, now in its fourth season, features an Emmy Award-winning and -nominated cast. The series has received widespread critical acclaim for shedding light on prison conditions and the social effects of
mass incarceration in the country. The Netflix series follows the story of Piper Chapman, an upperclass woman from New York who is sent to prison for several years after laundering drug money overseas. Kerman’s story is very similar. After graduating from Smith College in 1992, Kerman said she felt lost and unsure of her career and became involved in trafficking drug money after entering a romantic relationship with an older woman who worked for an international
drug ring. Their travels included locations such as Bali and Zurich. Kerman now travels around the country advocating for prison reform and an end to mass incarceration. Kerman is a white, middle-class woman with a college education, a demographic statistically unlikely to be incarcerated, she said. But by writing about her time in prison, she said she hopes more people will have the drive to become informed See OITNB, Page 3A
IFC partners with campus groups for sessions on alcohol, sexual assault By ALLANA AKHTAR Daily Staff Reporter
The Interfraternity Council teamed up with several campus organizations to host an educational forum for new fraternity pledges on alcohol, cultural appropriation and sexual misconduct. In the first discussion of its kind, around 450 fraternity pledges gathered in Angell Hall auditoriums for this mandatory seminar over nearly three hours Sunday afternoon. Pledges received presentations from the University Health Service, Expect Respect, the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center and their fellow fraternity members in a lecture format before breaking
into small groups of about 25 for more intimate discussion. IFC President Alex Krupiak, an LSA senior, organized the educational seminar after conceiving the idea in June. He said though many fraternity members do learn about these issues and ways to prevent them at some point in their first year, he wanted to give new pledges the tools to prevent harmful situations as soon as they join Greek life. “The whole plan for the meeting was to get new members coming into the Greek community, specifically within IFC, to have some education right away,” Krupiak said. “I really wanted to extend to them education right when they are stepping into the Greek community because they are a part of our community and they are representing it as soon as they become new members.” LSA junior Nico Espinosa, a SAPAC student volunteer, said though alcohol, sexual assault See GREEK LIFE, Page 3A
ARTS
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
SMTD stages Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’
CSG talks draft policy on sexual assault
Late, famous playwright honored with performance in namesake theater By GRACE HAMILTON Daily Arts Writer
Some pieces of art, despite changing times, tastes and popular culture, remain “timeless.” These works are ones that not only reflect, but also All My Sons define culture. One of Arthur Miller these is Arthur Theater Miller’s 1947 Weekend of Oct. 15 play, “All My General Admission Sons.” From $28, Students $12 Oct. 9 to Oct. 18, the play returns with valid ID to its birthplace to celebrate the 100th year of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the centennial of Arthur Miller’s birth. SMTD has produced the play with a cast of 10 actors and director Wendy Goldberg. The premiere
of the play last week kicked off a series of events in honor of the anniversaries. Playwright Arthur Miller is arguably one of the most important American makers of these works. His subtle critique of the American Dream and intimately recognizable characters are graspable to any audience. “All My Sons,” one of his earliest and most popular plays, perfectly captures his artisty and commentary. Based on true events, the story follows Joe Keller and his family. Joe authorized the sale of defective airplane parts during WWII, leading to 21 plane crashes. The blame, however, is put on Joe’s partner while he is exonerated. The family struggles with the grief of their lost son, Larry, as their youngest, Chris, prepares to propose to Larry’s ex-fiancée. In 24 hours, grief, guilt and moral dilemma unfold. “All My Sons” made its Broadway debut in 1947 as Miller’s second large professional production. His first had closed after only four performances in 1940, in what can See MILLER’S ‘SONS’, Page 6A
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
Assembly votes to allocate funds for early game day dining program
LSA sophomore Nick Kolenda, the president of Students for Sanders, reacts to the the Democratic Presidential Debate during the watch party hosted by Students for Sanders at an apartment on Liberty Street on Tuesday.
Clinton, Sanders the focus of first Democratic debate College Democrats, Students for Sanders hold watch parties By ALLANA AKHTAR and CAMY METWALLY Daily Staff Reporter and For the Daily
At the two public watch parties held on campus Tuesday night, students generally said they felt the first Democratic debate covered the most important issues. Even so, students were
divided on whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won the debate. The University’s chapter of the College Democrats and Students for Sanders both held watch parties for Thursday’s debate, which aired on CNN. In addition to Clinton and Sanders, the two Democratic frontrunners, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee also participated. The College Democrats’ watch party filled two large auditoriums
in the Ford School of Public Policy, while a Students for Sanders event drew about 40 students to an apartment off-campus for pizza and drinks. Aaron Kall, director of the University’s debate program, said he thought Clinton gave the best overall performance. He added that he thought the Democratic debate was less contentious than the Republican one, with far less negativity and back-and-forth between candidates. “They wanted it to be more of a discussion on the issues and See DEBATE, Page 3A
By JACKIE CHARNIGA Daily Staff Reporter
Holly Rider-Milkovich, director of the Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Center, joined Central Student Government on Tuesday to outline proposed revisions to the Student Sexual Misconduct Policy. Rider-Milkovich, who helped draft the policy revisions, said proposed changes include definitions of terms such as force and coercion and changes to the ways witnesses are identified in reports. Rider-Milkovich said potential changes were based on data collected from the results of the University’s campus climate survey, which was released earlier this summer. She said the report provided a See CSG, Page 2A
THE STATEMENT Housing Headache: Finding a place to live off-campus
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 65 LO: 36
GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Center for Entrepreneurship hosts Innovation Corps MICHIGANDAILY.COM/SECTION/NEWS
INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 10 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A ARTS........................5A
» INSIDE
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A T H E S TAT E M E N T. . . . . . . . . 1 B
News
2A — Wednesday, October 14, 2015
MONDAY: This Week in History
TUESDAY: Campus Voices
THURSDAY: Twitter Talk
WEDNESDAY: In Other Ivory Towers
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FRIDAY: Photos of the Week
G L O B A L H E A LT H
CAMPUS SAFETY
Princeton DPS to have rifles In an effort to update its method of response in the case of an active campus shooter, Princeton University will give officers in its Department of Public Safety access to rifles in emergency situations, the Daily Princetonian reported Monday. DPS Executive Director Paul Ominsky announced the new policy at a meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community — a body comprising undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and administrators. “The national best practices for responding
to an active shooter have evolved,” Ominsky said. “It is now a law enforcement best practice to get an armed officer to the scene as quickly as possible to save lives.” California governor bans concealed weapons on college campuses California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation over the weekend to prohibit concealed weapons in schools and on college campuses, the Daily Bruin reported. People with concealed weapons permits were previously permitted to carry on campuses and were
Editor in Chief 734-418-4115 ext. 1251 jcalfas@michigandaily.com
exempted from the GunFree School Zone Act. The University of California system sent a letter to the governor in September advocating for the ban. The legislation comes a week after a shooter at a community college in Oregon killed nine people. Last month, the University of Michigan filed a court brief defending its policy not to follow the state’s open carry laws, which allow those with open carry permits to bring guns into public places.
WHAT: Professors Kathryn Edin and Luke Shaefer will discuss their new book, “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America.” A book signing and reception will follow a discussion about income inequality. WHO: National Poverty Center WHEN: 4 p.m. WHERE: Weill Hall Annenberg Auditorium
WHAT: Representatives from Amazon Japan will hold an information session to answer questions and potentially recruit students. WHO: The Career Center WHEN: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. WHERE: Ross School of Business, Room R1218
UMFA faculty reception WHAT: The University’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Faculty Alliance will hold their annual reception. WHO: Spectrum Center WHEN: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. WHERE: Rackham Graduate School - East Conference Room
Intersectional identities talk WHAT: Wendy Smooth — an associate professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Ohio State University — will discuss strategies available to African-American women state legislators attempting to access power. WHO: Department of Women’s Studies WHEN: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: Lane Hall, Room 2239
WHAT: Laura Kusnetzky, a Chinese Studies lecturer at Wayne State University, will discuss the practice of yiku (“recollecting bitterness”), Chinese miners, and their relation via historical reenactment. WHO: Confucius Institute WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: Michigan League, Koessler Room
Law lecture WHAT: The Muslim Law Students Association will host a lecture with Law Prof. Julian Davis Mortenson on U.S. policy, torture and Muslim bodies. WHO: American Constitution Society: Michigan Law Chapter WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: South Hall
Newsroom
News Tips
734-418-4115 opt. 3
news@michigandaily.com
Corrections
Letters to the Editor
corrections@michigandaily.com
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Arts Section
Editorial Page
arts@michigandaily.com
opinion@michigandaily.com
Sports Section
Photography Section
sports@michigandaily.com
photo@michigandaily.com
Display Sales
Classified Sales
dailydisplay@gmail.com
classified@michigandaily.com
Online Sales
Finance
onlineads@michigandaily.com
finance@michigandaily.com
Lev Facher
Managing Editor
Sam Gringlas
lfacher@michigandaily.com
Managing News Editor
gringlas@michigandaily.com
SENIOR NEWS EDITORS: Shoham Geva, Will Greenberg, Amabel Karoub, Emma Kerr, Emilie Plesset, Michael Sugerman ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS: Tanaz Ahmed, Alyssa Brandon, Katie Penrod, Sami Wintner, Gen Hummer, Emma Kinery, Tanya Madhani, Lara Moehlman, Lea Giotto, Isobel Futter
RITA MORRIS /Daily
LSA sophomore Maggie Shope writes why Global Health is meaningful to her during the Timmy Global Health 5K Glow Run outreach in Mason Hall on Tuesday.
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
China and Amazon Japan meeting class struggles
Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 rfilipp@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL STAFF
—MICHAEL SUGERMAN
Book signing and discussion
420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com JENNIFER CALFAS ROSE FILIPP
Minor in Writing info WHAT: Students interested in the writing minor will have a chance to talk to current students in the program. The minor’s application deadline is noon on Oct. 26. WHO: Sweetland Center for Writing WHEN: 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union, Wolverine Room
Engineering fireside chat WHAT: The College of Engineering will host a talk on international careers. WHO: The Career Center WHEN: 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. WHERE: Chrysler Center lobby (North Campus) Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@ michigandaily.com.
THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
1
Planned Parenthood will no longer accept reimbursement for fetal tissue it provides to researchers, NPR reported Tuesday. Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said this will debunk the myth that tissue donations are for profit.
2
As students sign leases for off-campus housing earlier and earlier, the stress of finding a place to live can be felt as early as Welcome Week. How are landlords and students responding? >> FOR MORE, SEE THE STATEMENT Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency meeting of top officials Tuesday after four attacks by Palestinians killed three Israeli Jews and wounded at least a dozen others, The New York Times reported.
3
Aarica Marsh and Derek Wolfe Editorial Page Editors
opinioneditors@michigandaily.com
SENIOR EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS: Claire Bryan and Regan Detwiler ASSISTANT EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS: Mary Kate Winn, Melissa Scholke, Stephanie Trierweiler, Ben Keller
Max Cohen and Jake Lourim Managing Sports Editors
sportseditors@michigandaily.com
SENIOR SPORTS EDITORS: Max Bultman, Minh Doan, Jacob Gase, Simon Kaufman,Jason Rubinstein, Zach Shaw ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITORS: Chloe Aubuchon, Chris Crowder, Kelly Hall, Ted Janes, Kevin Santo, Brad Whipple
Adam Depollo and Chloe Gilke Managing Arts Editors
adepollo@michigandaily.com chloeliz@michigandaily.com
SENIOR ARTS EDITORS: Jamie Bircoll, Kathleen Davis, Catherine Sulpizio, Adam Theisen ARTS BEAT EDITORS: Alex Bernard, Karen Hua, Jacob Rich, Amelia Zak
Allison Farrand and Ruby Wallau Managing Photo Editors
photo@michigandaily.com
SENIOR PHOTO EDITORS: Luna Anna Archey, James Coller, Virginia Lozano ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITORS: Amanda Allen, Zach Moore, Sam Mousigian
Emily Schumer and design@michigandaily.com Shane Achenbach Managing Design Editors Ian Dillingham Magazine Editor statement@michigandaily.com DEPUTY MAGAZINE EDITORS: Natalie Gadbois STATEMENT PHOTO EDITOR: Luna Anna Archey STATEMENT LEAD DESIGNER: Jake Wellins
Hannah Bates and Laura Schinagle Managing Copy Editors
copydesk@michigandaily.com
SENIOR COPY EDITORS: Emily Campbell and Emma Sutherland
Amrutha Sivakumar Online Editor amrutha@michigandaily.com Kaylla Cantilina and Katie Colosimo Managing Video Editors Carolyn Gearig Special Projects Manager
BUSINESS STAFF Hussein Hakim Finance and Operations Manager Claire Ulak Production Manager Jordan Yob Marketing Manager Matt Pfenning UAccounts Manager Asja Kepes Local Accounts Manager Colin Cheesman National Accounts Manager Anna He Special Guides and Online Manager Claire Butz Layout Manager The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110. Winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press.
University to receive papers of noted euthanasia advocate Jack Kevorkian’s documents will be available at Bentley Historical Library By LARA MOEHLMAN Daily Staff Reporter
Papers belonging to the late Jack Kevorkian, a University alum and prominent euthanasia activist, will be donated to the Bentley Historical Library on North Campus, the University announced Tuesday. Donated to the University by Kevorkian’s niece, Ava Janus, the documents include correspondence, published works, manuscript drafts, photos, court records, news coverage and interviews from Kevorkian’s career as a promoter of “medicide,” or assisted suicide. The digitalized documents
are available to the public, many of which contain medical histories, photos, video and audio recordings of consultations with Kevorkian’s patients. Kevorkian, who passed away in June 2011, aided more than 130 voluntary suicides throughout his career, after which he spent eight years in prison for second-degree murder. Born to Armenian immigrants in Pontiac, Kevorkian attended the University’s Medical School. In addition to his career in pathology and euthanasia medicine, Kevorkian was a composer, musician and scientist. In a statement, Terrence McDonald, director of the Bentley Historical Library, said these documents will help the public learn about the motivation behind Kevorkian’s controversial career. “The release of his papers will allow scholars and students to
understand the context of and driving forces in an interesting and provocative life,” he said. Olga Virakhovskaya, Bentley’s lead archivist, recently spoke to the Society of American Archivists on the ethical considerations surrounding the Bentley Library’s decision to make these files public. “Many of the medicide patients and their families — who remain very close to this day — are still advocates of their family member’s choice to die, so anonymity was not an issue,” Virakhovskaya said. “We felt very strongly that by not providing access to this collection and to the medicide files, we would be choosing to hide a very important story.” The Bentley Historical Library promotes the study of the University and the state of Michigan and has a conservation lab for books and papers.
FOLLOW TMD ON TWITTER AND ON INSTAGRAM Help us defeat The State News
@MICHIGAN DAILY
ZOEY HOLMSTROM /Daily
Holly Rider Milkovich, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, discusses proposed changes to sexual assault policies at the University at the Central Student Government meeting in the Michigan Union.
CSG From Page 1A starting point for determining the efficacy of current policies. “We now how have, for the first time, University-specific information on unreported as well as reported behavior of sexual misconduct,” Rider-Milkovich said. “We now have a baseline which we could use going forward whether our activities taken as a whole have moved the needle on this unbelievably heartbreaking issue.” Rider-Milkovich said SAPAC aims to increase the number of students reporting sexual misconduct by strengthening student confidence in SAPAC and improving its policies. One change the University is considering is how witnesses are identified in ongoing investigations. Currently, witnesses are identified as numbers in reports and documentation. The amendment to name each witness aims to increase due process and transparency so the accused can provide proper counter evidence. Still, Rider-Milkovich said the policy could also have negative consequences. “We also have contemplated the potential chilling effect of including the names of witnesses,” Rider-Milkovich said. “It could mean that fewer witnesses are willing to be witnesses, and that that could mean that we have less meaningful investigations.”
An amendment was also proposed to clarify witness’ obligation to provide truthful information. Witnesses are subject to disciplinary action if they knowingly provide false information under the statement. “This is an articulation which is already the case,” RiderMilkovich said. The draft policy also adds definitions and conditions. Rider-Milkovich said the behavioral goals of SAPAC are different than their definition of consent, which she said is in line with the University policy. “I’m not going to relinquish that we do have better goals,” Rider-Milkovich said. “The threshold (for consent) is clear and and unambiguous agreement expressed in mutually understandable words of actions to engage in an activity.” Rider-Milkovich said the hope for all students is that consent is sober and enthusiastic. In evaluating whether consent is confirmed, amendments regarding incapacitation aim to clarify whether the respondent knew or reasonably should have known the person was incapable of giving consent. Rider-Milkovich said there have been no proposals to change the definition of consent, but definitions for incapacitation, coercion and force would been clarified. She said these improved definitions will allow students to clearly understand what behavior
violates the statement. In the policy, incapacitation is defined as deriving from more than just alcohol intake. The University intends to enact a revised policy by winter semester, and the University plans to seek input on the draft policy during several roundtable discussions scheduled in the coming weeks. BAMN resolution The group By Any Means Necessary discussed a resolution on Tuesday calling on University President Mark Schlissel to make the University a sanctuary campus, which means the University would not use its resources to help the federal government enforce immigration laws. The resolution was officially proposed by Rackham student Lamin Manneh, a Rackham student representative. Manneh said the resolution is relevant given a recent proposal in state legislature to defund sanctuary cities like Ann Arbor and Detroit. The resolution calls on Schlissel and the Board of Regents to issue a declaration of support on behalf of those cities, as well as asks the University to provide free legal services to undocumented students through a sanctuary student center. “These are people who usually have parents that have come here illegally, but they have grown up here, and many times their parents pay taxes,” Manneh said. “Now See CSG, Page 3A
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS BRIEFS
University centers support struggling democracies For the first time, The Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia and the William Davidson Institute are co-sponsoring an NGO Leadership Bootcamp, a program dedicated to making organizations more sustainable for the leaders of 20 nongovernmental organizations from countries that have recently undergone transitions to democracy. The program is scheduled to take place October 20-23 in Bratislava, Slovakia. The Pontis Foundation, a Slovak-based NGO, is collaborating with the University in the planning of the event. In a press release, Amy Gillett, vice president of education at the William Davidson Institute, said the WDI’s partnership with the Weiser Center is natural. The Weiser Center is dedicated to the enhancement of knowledge and engagement with European and Eurasian history, institutions and culture.
New technology to aid Solar Car Team in Australia race The University’s Solar Car Team is set to compete this weekend in an 18,000-mile race through the Australian Outback. Their vehicle, Aurum, is a one-seater completely designed by the student team. This year marks the the 25th anniversary of the University’s Solar Car Team and the first year the team will use unique solar energy forecasting technology, courtesy of a partnership between Michigan Solar Car and IBM Research. The new technology is expected to improve weather predictions and give team members a better idea of how much energy they can expect to receive from the sun.
CSG From Page 2A they’re in college with us.” Manneh said higher education is a path for undocumented students to become full-fledged citizens. “This is about the fact that we have a certain number of students on our campus and because of the ways laws are set up, they have certain barriers to become full citizens,” Manneh said. “One of these barriers is higher education.” Additional questions were raised about how the University would fund a sanctuary student center and whether the proposals have been discussed with Schlissel and the University’s Board of Regents. Dining hall pilot program funded CSG also passed a resolution to fund the dining hall game day pilot program. The program aims to open dining halls early in an effort to curb the impacts of risky drinking behavior on game days. CSG voted to allocate $10,000 from the Legislative Discretionary fund and $5,000 from the Executive Discretionary fund for the program. CSG treasurer Kevin Ziegler, an LSA senior, drafted the proposal. Ziegler said CSG hopes to assist Michigan Dining with covering the cost of food consumed by students during the early hours and the cost of labor for opening the dining halls early. Ziegler said Dining director Steve Mangan said in a meeting that the dining halls are supportive of the program. “They want to help out in any way and serve the students,” Ziegler said. “That’s what they’re here for, to help the University in any capacity possible.” Costs for early dining vary between game days depending the kick off time. Noon game days cost more than 3:30 p.m. games because they require dining halls to open even earlier.
GREEK LIFE From Page 1A and exclusion are challenges that affect Greek life on campus and nationwide, working with the new members of Greek life can help curb these issues in the future. “The reason behind working with new members was they had just joined and we saw this as an opportunity in this challenging time for Greek life to work with the new face of Greek life, this next generation, and send them into their experience with this knowledge so that they would be able to gradually influence their chapters,” Espinosa said. SAPAC representatives gave the longest and most intensive presentation. LSA senior Alison Bowman, a SAPAC student volunteer, helped lead the presentation. SAPAC outlined definitions of sexual misconduct and assault, defined explicit consent and introduced them to the concept of bystander intervention. Bowman said SAPAC showed members the statistics of the University’s campus climate survey on sexual assault released in June which found sexual assault
OITNB From Page 1A about criminal system injustices. “Inequality is a huge driver of all of the things that contribute to people being in prison and the American criminal justice system is ironically sort of a crucible of American inequality,” Kerman said. “We have this expectation that everyone will be treated equally in the court of law, but we know that — particularly when we expand that into the criminal justice system as a whole not just the courts — you see quite the opposite.” Women have been the fastest growing demographic in the criminal justice system, Kerman said, and 200,000 are currently imprisoned, of which two-thirds are incarcerated for nonviolent crimes. Kerman credits the
DEBATE From Page 1A substance as opposed to the more personality contrast between the different candidates,” he said. Public Policy senior Max Lerner, chair of the University’s chapter of College Democrats, said the Democratic debate was more productive compared with the Republican debate because of the smaller number of people on stage. “I think not having a clown show of 10 or 11 different candidates actually allows us to dive deeper into the issues, and I think we’re going to have a stronger nominee because of it,” he said. Public Policy senior Cody Giddings, chair of the College Republicans, wrote in an e-mail interview that the smaller Democratic field allowed the moderator to address a more diverse array of topics compared to the previous two Republican debates, but felt foreign policy should have received more attention. “The debate was somewhat interesting to watch and covered a few important issues,” he said. “I look forward to seeing the rest of the debates throughout the campaign season and I hope that republicans and democrats can come together to address some the very hard issues we will all face moving forward.” College tuition Sanders and Clinton both stressed the importance of an affordable college degree, but they disagreed on how much of a student’s tuition should be funded through taxes. Sanders said a college degree today is equivalent to what a high school degree was 50 years ago, and therefore should be available for every student regardless of his or her family’s income. “What we said 50 years ago and 100 years ago is that every kid in this country should be able to get a high school education regardless of their income,” Sanders said. “I think we have to say that is true for everybody going to college.” Students applauded when Sanders added that taxes on “Wall Street speculation” — or risky financial transactions — would fund those degrees.
News
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 — 3A
was 2.5 times more likely to impact Greek life members than other community members. SAPAC also noted how verbal pressure and intoxication were the biggest factors leading to sexual assault, according to the survey. “We really wanted to make sure that the incoming IFC members were aware that sexual misconduct is a pervasive issue on our campus and to empower them to help prevent it,” she said. “We acknowledged that as incoming members to IFC, they are in a special position to take a stand against sexual misconduct that is occurring within their community, as well as our campus as a whole, and to continue to drive its prevalence down moving forward.” LSA senior Scott Gillespie co-facilitated the dialogue on sexual misconduct. He said while speaking to these new pledges on the importance of consent, he tried to break the stereotypes of masculinity and sexual drive. He said stepping into a harmful situation does not make a brother “less of a man,” and instead had the pledges list different values of being a man, which do not include sex drive or the ability to drink. “Myself and the other
co-facilitator gave no input, whatever they thought being a man was, we listed those on the board,” Gillespie said. “(It was about) taking those values that they described to us and what it means to be a man and implementing those into how would you deal with these situations as a man.” CSG Vice President Steven Halperin, an LSA junior, also helped facilitate the SAPAC discussion, and used anecdotes to convey the importance of pledges stepping in to prevent sexual assault. “It is your responsibility as a man to take care of the people around you, and that is what we were trying to explain to these guys,” Halperin said. The pledges were given a brief presentation on alcohol abuse in fraternities, which debunked stereotypes of “party culture” within Greek life. Joy Pehlke, health educator at Wolverine Wellness at UHS, said many new fraternity members come into Greek life with the idea that party culture is solely about binge drinking. In her presentation, she stressed that these students can be in a safe environment and still have fun. Lastly, pledges learned about
cultural appropriation and respecting different identities through a discussion led by LSA senior Kidada Malloy, a program assistant with the Expect Respect campaign. With Halloween coming up, she focused on treating different identities and racial groups with respect to make for an inclusive environment. Comparing this educational presentation to University President Mark Schlissel’s community meeting earlier in September, Halperin said Sunday’s program was much more successful. Though both were mandatory, Halperin said, he found students on Sunday much more responsive because they were able to give their own input and not be talked down to by administrators. “I feel like this is a step in the right direction; everyone is coming in to help, not to judge, not to talk down to,” Halperin said. “Greek life obviously has its issues and we are trying very hard to revamp it to make a culture of accountability and responsibility.” Gillespie said the small group discussions made it easy to single out students who were not paying attention or being disrespectful, unlike the large assembly in
September. Gillespie said he paid particular attention to making sure each student was attentive to the discussion because it is every single student’s responsibility to prevent harmful situations from occurring. “It’s the people who are sitting by in corner not doing anything that’s really important and why these meetings are being held,” Gillespie said. “It is the same way that sexual assault does happen: by being passive, by not doing anything about it.” Halperin admitted that SAPAC leaders who previously did not believe fraternity members could change their potentially destructive behavior told him they “had hope” after listening in to the meeting. Halperin said though there are certainly problems associated with Greek life, he believes change will happen soon on campus within the community. “We need to bring Greek life to the forefront of these issues, because that’s where most of these issues are from,” Halperin said. “If we do that successfully this year, I think we can have a special campus.”
Netflix series for fostering greater conversation about those women. “Anything that reminds us that all these people we’ve chosen to lock away are, in fact, people and not felons and convicts and all these other labeling terms,” she said. “We’re much less likely to allow folks to continue to be dehumanized in the system. I’m very glad that there’s much more attention on criminal justice reform. I think that’s a long time coming.” The United States has the highest prison population in the world. For every 100,000 people, 724 are incarcerated, BBC News reported. “I’ve never met a single American who is proud that we have the biggest prison population in human history, that we lock up more citizens than society has ever done,” Kerman said. “I think definitely that there’s an increasing
consensus that that’s not we want to be.” Kerman discussed three main points for reform: jail and court reform, reducing youths in juvenile prison and common sense sentencing. “One of the things we have a lot of work to do on still is the sense that harsh punishment is something that works well for us as a culture,” she said. “A huge percentage of those people are mentally ill and the idea that we can confront problems in our society like substance abuse and addiction and mental illness with harsh punishment … is really questionable.” Kerman said society’s reliance on prisons to root out violent crime is not an adequate solution to stifling those types of crimes from being committed. “The idea that we rely on prisons, which tend to be very
violent places, to fix that is just very dubious,” she said. “But, that’s a more substantive and cultural discussion above and beyond the tinkering with policy.” Kerman, who teaches writing class at two different prisons in Ohio, noted the privilege University students have because of their access to libraries, art and public health centers. “When we see communities that have those kinds of institutions … those communities tend to be vibrant and they are often prosperous,” she said. “And guess what? They also tend to be safe. When we see communities that lack those things and quite frankly have been deprived of those institutions, that’s where we see incredible over-reliance on prisons and on jails. So that’s something for you all to think about as you enjoy this amazing institution is to make sure that everybody gets access to
a place like this who needs it.” Rackham student Riya Seybrook said she was interested in Kerman’s emphasis on how race and class affects an individual’s likelihood of incarceration. “She is a middle-class white women, so I think it would have been really easy for her to come in and not talk about that at all so I was really pleasantly surprised,” Seybrook said. Eastern Michigan University student Elaine Barker said she was surprised by the number of women currently incarcerated and those who are on parole. “That’s such a large number of women that are in prison, like why is the number going up?” Barker said. “Why is the number rising? I think that’s something that stood out to me the most. And the fact that half the women in jail are mothers, that’s something else that’s super horrible.”
Clinton supports tuition-free public colleges. However, her plan would require students with aid to work at least 10 hours a week to help fund their education. Clinton’s plan would also allow all students with debt to refinance in order to lower interest rates. “My plan would enable anyone to go to a public college or university tuition-free,” she said. Kall said the discussion on college affordability failed to elaborate on funding mechanisms and the feasibility of the proposed education policy reforms and said he expected more discussion about the likelihood of such a bill passing through a Republican-controlled Congress. “I thought there would be some more discussion about the affordability of it,” Kall said. “Exactly how it’s going to be paid for, if there are going to be other programs that were cut to pay for it.” Last July, the University’s Board of Regents increased tuition by 2.7 percent for in-state students and 3.7 percent for out-of-state students. Overall, base tuition for LSA students has increased 60 percent for in-state students and 55 percent for out-of-state students from 2005 to 2014. Rackham student Shawn Danino, an organizer of the Students for Sanders watch party held on campus, said Sanders’ positions on higher education have been more aggressive compared to other candidates. He said Sanders’ desire to make college free for all students is a reason for his strong support from the college demographic. “The reason there’s so much momentum with Bernie across millennials is largely because of his stances on student loans and his stances on debt,” Danino said. Lerner said positions on higher education held by Democratic candidates were better than those held by Republican candidates. He said Republican budget positions on education do not reflect the values of students. He pointed to the House Budget Committee chairman, Rep. Paul Ryan (R– Wis.), whose 2016 fiscal budget would cut funding for education by $145 billion over 10 years. “Democrats are really the only party out there fighting for students on the issue of education,” Lerner said. “I think regardless of
who the nominee is, we’re going to have a party that represents the interests of students.” Giddings, the College Republicans chair, said he disagreed with the candidates’ plans to increase college affordability. “I think Bernie Sanders’ goal of providing a college level education to every American that wants one is noble, but in my mind his proposals to simply make college tuition free are rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of basic economic principles,” he said. “Contrary to what was said for the majority of the democratic presidential debate, implementing higher taxes is not the answer to every problem America faces and rising college tuition costs is no exception.”
allows people with concealed carry permits to carry guns in public areas, such as schools and churches, Wade and his lawyer say the University should allow him the right to carry his weapon. Debate moderator Anderson Cooper asked Sanders about his voting history on gun control, pointing out that he opposed the Brady Bill, which established background checks on firearms. Sanders said he voted the way he did because Vermont is a rural state where guns are used for recreation. LSA senior Stephen Culbertson, communications chair of College Democrats, said he believes gun control is an important issue and one that Democrats offer better legislation on than the majority of Republicans. “Republicans shied away from
gun control policies because most of the candidates, if not all of them, on that stage are very at odds with what the vast majority of voters in America believe about gun control,” Culbertson said. Giddings said he doesn’t think proposals raised by Democratic candidates would prove effective or legal. “Gun control is a very salient and complex issue,” he said. “Although we need to do more to ensure that background checks, gun registries, and mental health care prevent the types of gun-related violence that have become much too commonplace in America, the simple blanket bans proposed in tonight’s debate are not only unconstitutional but ineffective at addressing the roots of the problem.”
Undocumented students The candidates were also asked about their positions on allowing universities to grant in-state tuition for undocumented immigrant students, a measure which the University’s Board of Regents passed in 2013. Martin O’Malley took the strongest stance in favor of undocumented students gaining in-state tuition. “The more children learn, the more they earn,” O’Malley said. Though Clinton agreed with O’Malley, she said states should drive those policies. LSA sophomore Nicholas Kolenda, president of Students for Sanders, said he supports the Democratic candidates’ positions on granted the same tuition fees to undocumented students as citizens. “I do completely agree with Sanders and O’Malley on the position that if they are working to become naturalized citizens, then, yes, they should receive free education,” Kolenda said. Gun control The candidates also touched on gun control when asked about the recent shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, which left nine people dead. Ann Arbor open carry advocate Joshua Wade is currently suing the University for violating Michigan’s open carry law when it denied his right to carry his firearm on campus. Because Michigan
Opinion
4A — Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com JENNIFER CALFAS EDITOR IN CHIEF
AARICA MARSH and DEREK WOLFE EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
LEV FACHER MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
An all-night expansion CAPS must be transparent in changes to mental health services
T
his semester has brought welcome changes to Counseling and Psychological Services. A new embedded model has brought CAPS services beyond the Michigan Union and to locations that need them the most, especially on North Campus. Furthermore, last week’s launch of a hotline, which is meant to provide psychological services to students during hours when the CAPS office is closed, is especially commendable for its recognition that students need mental health support at all times — not just 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. While CAPS and the University administration should be applauded for their commitment to expand mental health services around campus, these new services are not perfect. The hotline is actually run through ProtoCall, a national and privately owned company that other universities use for similar purposes. CAPS should be sure to remind students that when they use this new hotline, they will not be speaking to a member of the University community. Instead, they will be speaking to an offsite contractor, who is a mental health professional but may not understand the nuances of the University’s campus in the same way CAPS’ staff does. While these professionals will have the knowledge to refer students to on-campus resources, the use of off-site support does raise the question of why CAPS cannot use the same model as the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center’s 24-hour crisis hotline, which is monitored by SAPAC staff. Furthermore, this service will only be available when CAPS’ physical offices are closed. Those students who take extra comfort in access to confidential mental health services without having to show their face in a clinic will have access to services they desire, but not at all times.
This isn’t to say CAPS’ recent improvements are not without merit. On Oct. 8, CAPS and the University hosted a National Depression Screening Day, which deserves commendation for its ease of accessibility and proactive approach to helping students suffering from depression. However, while CAPS is making several strides in improving its student services, the lack of consistent information regarding the wait time for consultations is concerning. Last night, CAPS’ “When Can I Be Seen?” page listed the wait time for an Initial Consultation at 11 business days. However, the “Counseling Options” page, detailing what exactly appointments entail, lists the wait time as one to three days. This inconsistency presents extra challenges for students directed to CAPS, especially for a student unsure of what their free online screening might mean. CAPS’ recent shift to a culture of improvement should be applauded after years of troublingly and sometimes unreliable services. But for mental health services to have the reach and impact this campus so desperately deserves today, CAPS needs to be more transparent by doing two things: explaining to students that the ProtoCall hotline will not be monitored by University staff and clarifying wait times on the CAPS website.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Ben Keller, Payton Luokkala, Aarica Marsh, Adam Morton, Victoria Noble, Anna Polumbo-Levy, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Stephanie Trierweiler, Mary Kate Winn, Derek Wolfe
“
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
In my view, Congress does not regulate Wall Street. Wall Street regulates Congress.” — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (D–VT) during last night’s Democratic Party debate in Las Vegas.
T
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
A house on fire
ears were not uncommon during John Boehner’s tenure as Speaker of the House. Whether he was attending statue unveiling ceremonies, sitting next to golf legend Arnold Palmer in the Capitol Rotunda or listening to Irish traditional music at the BRETT White House GRAHAM St. Patrick’s Day celebration, the embattled Ohio Republican was never far from a box of Kleenex. However, this past weekend, it was his members who took to the GOP cloakroom to shed a few tears due to the confusion and unrest that has now taken hold in the House. And the party is just getting started. So political junkies and the news media should take a break from Election Watch 2016 — there will be plenty of coverage over the next 13 months. Postpone talking about who’s ready for Hillary, speculating about whether or not Joe will jump in or being outraged at the latest hateful comment that’s fallen out of Trump’s mouth. John Boehner is giving up his gavel at the end of October and another speaker of the House will be chosen. This person will have enormous influence on the national political discussion, the issues that are addressed by presidential candidates and which party might potentially win the majority next November. What’s the most exciting part about this process? As of today, among the 247 Republican congressmen, we have no idea who’s the favorite. It’s like March Madness and everyone is a 16-seed. In the uncertainty that rules the GOP right now, only one thing is certain: The Freedom Caucus, a hyper-conservative group of about 40 members, is a major player. This insurgency helped depose the sometimes-compromising Boehner and soon after played a part in forcing Kevin McCarthy, the heir apparent,
to withdraw his candidacy. Largely identifying with the Tea Party, these diehard right-wingers have twice led the charge to a government shutdown — once in 2011 over the debt ceiling and once in 2013 over Obamacare — and hope that three times is the charm with their recent rhetoric against Planned Parenthood. This sequence of events has led to maybe the most interesting development in the four years the GOP has controlled the House: a counter-revolution. Moderate Republicans are standing up and, for the first time in recent memory, there seems to be a real interest in actually governing. Rep. Charlie Dent (R–Pa.) suggested building a bipartisan coalition to elect the next speaker, saying, “Whoever’s going to be the next speaker should not appease this group of rejectionists, who have no interest in governing.” Rep. Tom McClintock (R–Calif.), who resigned from the Freedom Caucus in September, said, “I believe the tactics the HFC has employed have repeatedly undermined the House’s ability to advance (conservative principles)” through “responsible and effective leadership,” as he had hoped at its inception in January. Seniority, partisanship and lines of succession tend to rule in Washington D.C. How often do the American people get to see total chaos in their government? How often does the political intrigue that seems to only exist in House of Cards come to life? This is grade-A theater, and yet the headlines on every major news outlet are about 2016 — from Clinton e-mails and the Benghazi committee to which songs The Donald chooses to play at his campaign functions. Americans should stop looking miles down the road and notice the decisive political moment that is happening right now. Look no further for the personnel of the House GOP thought to be in waiting for the speaker’s gavel. One is for-
mer vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, who has said very clearly that he does not want the job. Another is Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R–Utah), who was absolutely embarrassed on late-night television after his behavior at hearings on Planned Parenthood. He used a mathematically questionable graph that he got from an anti-abortion organization and then told the president of Planned Parenthood that the numbers were straight from her reports. When confronted, he simply moved on. The most likely candidate, with the backing of the Freedom Caucus, is Rep. Daniel Webster (R–Fla.). Webster briefly ran for Senate in 2004, but failed to collect enough signatures to be on the ballot without paying a fee. He ultimately paid the fee and dropped out soon after. It has been five years of party infighting as conservatives begged for a new leader. Now their time has come, and there’s no one there to take the baton. The Speaker of the House is third in line for the presidency and arguably the second-most powerful office in Washington. When his party is not in the White House, the Speaker is the face and voice of the opposition party. Republicans enter 2016 doing a considerable amount of soul-searching. Is the GOP really the party of the 1 percent? Why is Donald Trump leading in the polls? Which voice can help the party avoid three straight losses in presidential elections? Whoever succeeds Boehner might be elected by bipartisan efforts and moderates in the House GOP. They might be a strong conservative, handpicked by the Freedom Caucus. They might be a name we’ve never heard before. Ostensibly, this entire drama will play out before Boehner steps down on Oct. 30. I, for one, will be watching closely.
The Speaker of the House is arguably the second-most powerful office in Washington, D.C.
— Brett Graham can be reached at btgraham@umich.edu.
DID YOU LOVE THE DEBATE LAST NIGHT? HATE IT? TELL US WHY! Check out The Michigan Daily’s editorial board meetings. Every Monday and Wednesday at 6:15 p.m., the Daily’s opinion staff meets to discuss University, local and national affairs, and write editorials. E-mail opinioneditors@michigandaily.com to join in the conversation.
H
Short skirt, long jacket
ow many male engineers would have chosen to major in computer science if they knew they’d be workMEGAN ing in a pink cubicle accompanied MITCHELL by cosmopolitan magazines and gossip over last week’s “Pretty Little Liars”? Your guess is probably the same as mine: not many. Most girls have this perception that if your career choice is centered on technology, you’ll be working in a dusty 9-by-10 with Dwight from “The Office” as your coworker. And similarly, guys tend to view careers in writing as the path to a lifetime of Cosmopolitan gossip in the office, which probably explains why once we reach upper-level Spanish and English classes, we don’t see as many male classmates as we would in the required lower-level courses. In a recent New York Times article, Eileen Pollack, a creative writing professor at the University, shared the reasons she left the scientific field early in her physics career: A workplace atmosphere that included sexist comments and teasing remarks on her gender identity created a general aversion to a career she loved. Though it’s true that gender discrimination still exists in male-dominated careers, Pollack suggested there could be a more overarching cause to her overall unhappiness in her workplace — and it’s not the guys. In her article, Pollack outlines extensive research that has been ongoing for the past six years headed by Sapna Cheryan, a psychology professor at the University of Washington. The research has been exploring not only why women are unhappy once they’re in technology related fields, but what deters them from entering these careers in the
first place. Not surprisingly, these researchers have found that environments with primarily neutral décor such as coffee makers, art posters and plants were more likely to lead to females enrolling in computer science courses than environments with “Star Wars” posters and technology magazines could. Also, most women found engineering-related fields more attractive after talking with a “student” wearing a normal T-shirt who chatted about his or her social life over the student with a T-shirt bearing the quote “I code, therefore I am” who raved about technology the entire conversation. I can relate to this sensitivity to environment: Personally, I study better with natural light and light chatter, while my roommate studies better with fluorescent bulbs and silence. My environment significantly affects my ability to perform a specific task. In a similar sense, our attraction to a particular field and willingness to join that field relies heavily upon our perceptions of what the experience of going to work every day would be like. What would our coworkers be like to work with, and what kind of environment would we have to work in all day? Even perceptions of what a computer science or physics major “looks like” can lead to fewer females planning on a career in science. It seems like our perception of what a scientist is hasn’t changed much in the past 70 years, as the first thing that comes to mind is usually that of a male with a
microscope. On the other hand, English teachers are most often viewed as kind, older women. Not only can a workplace environment keep females from pursuing a STEM degree in college, but so could these stereotypes. Instead of going into the technology field, such preconceptions could cause college females to concentrate on the majors they think they’d best “fit into,” such as English and Spanish. You could theoretically argue that they should have the strength or determination to continue in their studies despite these restrictions, but the same theory applies to men, who build off of the same stereotypes as women. What 15-year-old girl wants to be stereotyped as a man with nerd glasses, and conversely, what 15-year-old male wants to tell his friends he’s going to be “just like Mrs. Anderson”? Unfortunately, tech companies with predominantly male workforces will find themselves unable to grant positions to females if they never enter the field in the first place, despite females testing highly in these subjects. An updated view on what a career in technology entails is long overdue for a makeover, both internally and externally. The future depends on the decisions we will make today — changes that should accommodate all genders, not based on majority rules.
The future depends on the decisions we will make today.
— Megan Mitchell can be reached at umeg@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 — 5A
DAILY BOOK REVIEW
Iconoclast Žižek’s ‘Paradise’ incites Slovenian philosopher discusses contemporary politics By KARL WILLIAMS Online Arts Editor
It is said that a philosopher’s work is his life, and personality and biography are irrelevant. But in the peculiar case Trouble in of Slovenian Paradise Communist philosopher Slavoj and cultural theorist Slavoj Melville House Žižek, personAug. 18, 2015 ality interjects. Described in The New York Times as the “Elvis of Cultural Theory,” Žižek occupies a fascinating place in public life: the celebrity philosopher, a role which he uses and abuses with relish. Among his many provocations, he has told students that they’ll get an A if they spare him the agony of reading their shitty papers; he has written a catalog for Abercrombie and Fitch, where half-naked youth graze in an idyll of flowers and Hegelian dialectics. He has also hung a picture of Stalin so it’s the first thing one sees in his apartment (at one point in this book he writes, “better the worst of Stalinism than the best of the liberal-capitalist welfare state”). Furthermore, he has starred in documentaries (“The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology” is on Netflix) where he applies generous layers of Marx, Hegel and Lacan to Hollywood classics. Inevitably, this Falstaff of philosophy lends himself to caricature, in which his critics indulge. However, Žižek’s books fascinate as much, if not more, than the man, and if they don’t quite turn readers over to Communism, they’ll compel them to question their basic political assumptions. There’s a reason he has been
called the most dangerous philosopher in the West. His latest work “Trouble in Paradise: From the End of History to the End of Capitalism,” released in the US after publication in the U.K. last year, is no exception. In “Trouble in Paradise,” Žižek tackles his usual suspects: Western neoliberal capitalism — or capitalism with a human face. He covers the possibility of ecological catastrophe, popular entertainment, global protests, political cynicism and indifference, globalization, the Arab spring, the 2008 financial crash and, of course, the possibility of a Communist emancipatory revolution. He supplements them with some new characters: the suicide rate in South Korea, Psy’s music video for “Gangnam Style,” WikiLeaks and “Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer,” among others. Žižek fills this book, like his others, with his favorite jokes. Many of these, which come from sources like the Marx Brothers or the Soviet Union, are repeated elsewhere. In fact, many of the book’s ideas have been discussed in his previous work, which is partly redundant, yet a fair summation of his thought. For new readers, “Trouble in Paradise” provides a cogent, concise introduction to Žižek’s work. For veteran readers though, it could be a tiresome echo. The “paradise” in the title is Francis Fukuyama’s infamous idea of the End of History, posited after the fall of the Soviet Union. The End of History stipulates that, after the collapse of the USSR, Western liberal democracy became the final form of human government. However, Fukuyama would later drop this idea. Žižek believes that, despite the many apples produced by neoliberal capitalism, few — about one percent — are satisfied, and we need a change: “Radical emancipatory engagement starts from the premise that it is the capitalist dynamics which are boring,
offering more of the same in the guise of constant change, and that the struggle for emancipation is still the most daring of all ventures. Our goal is to argue for this second option.” The “guise of constant change” is liberal progressivism. A fervent lover of the counterintuitive observation, he believes that liberal progressives — not Reaganite Republicans — keep capitalism functioning because they refuse to admit systemic problems. They just want to tinker with the system and solve the local problems. Thus, liberalism becomes a way of delaying a necessary political crisis, of staving off any emancipatory event. Žižek has a manic intelligence and an encyclopedic mind. It is characteristic Žižek’s writing to cover as many topics as possible, to gather as much of culture as he can into his critique. The result is a curious farrago of high and low culture, equal parts Batman and Marxist theory. His prose style is schizophrenic; readers can start a sentence in Lacanian theory, detour through “The Sound of Music” and end up in Brazilian favelas. He doesn’t so much write as ramble — but it’s a shockingly lucid rambling. He rarely gets lost in the labyrinths of his erudition. While “Trouble in Paradise” is neither as long nor as arcane as some of Žižek’s other works, such as “Less than Nothing” or “Absolute Recoil,” the book can get tiresomely technical. However, what sustains it is Žižek’s brilliant evaluations of the contemporary world’s political situation, like the turmoil in Greece, communist-cloaked capitalism in China and the Arab Spring and Mubarak’s fall in Egypt. “Trouble in Paradise,” and all of Žižek’s work, would benefit anyone who gives it a read. He’s one of the few heterodox political thinkers in a placid sea of orthodoxy. At times, he may come off as ridiculous, but at least he is troubling the water.
FILM REVIEW
‘Walk’ retreads old ground in new ways
INTERSCOPE
His music is as good as those pants.
‘Bang 3 Part 2’ sees free Keef spitting fire By SHAYAN SHAFII Daily Arts Writer
Last week, Chief Keef released an unexpected follow-up to his sophomore album, Bang 3, cleverly titled Bang 3 Part 2. The album confirmed my suspicions surrounding Chief Keef for the last year or so: he’s good. While he has built up a solid reputation for churning out countless mixtapes, many haven’t seemed to notice his slow but steady development from gun-wielding kindergartener to surprisingly/ composed songwriter. Keef’s video for “Don’t Like” was already circulating around Chicago in 2012, but he didn’t present himself on the national stage until Kanye West remixed the song (and subsequently included him as one of few features on Yeezus ). Keef was 17 at the time and still on house arrest for allegedly shooting at police at age 15. He also had his first child at 16. Point being, he came from the most violent neighborhood in the country and was thrust into a competitive hip-hop landscape as a teenager. We’ve since been fortunate enough to witness his evolution from someone who publicly joked about the death of fellow Chicagoan and teen rapper, Lil JoJo, to making “Finding Nemo” references on his latest project. Following the success of his debut album, Finally Rich, it seems Keef followed a completely unforeseen but positive trajectory for an artist of his background. He took his money
(and his daughter), moved to a wealthy Chicago suburb and has since been focusing on music. Imagine that. To the untrained ear (or conservative hip-hop heads), Keef’s newer and more playful tunes might provoke a similar reaction to work from his teenage years: “same shit.” Yet, listening to Bang 3 Part 2, I couldn’t help but walk around campus laughing at bars like “Something something something, I forgot now / I was thinking ‘bout the guac, then pulled my guap out.” The absurdity of Keef thinking about guacamole while counting money automatically makes “Bouncin” one of his most memorable records to date. The lyric couldn’t have even existed on his earlier mixtapes; before the money, the only thing Keef could’ve brought into the studio with him was violence. It’s almost as if he’s in on the joke these days — a remarkable turnaround, given that in 2012, he was arrested for foolishly conducting an interview at a gun range … while on parole. He’s been on the receiving end of so many distasteful jokes that it’s great to see him start rapping tongue-in-cheek. The opening 30 seconds of “Pee Pee’d” show him yelling, “I’m so damn ignorant / I pulled out my ding-a-ling and start pee peeing.” Yes, really. And then there’s the sheer quality of the mixtapes that he has been throwing around for free. “Ten Toes Down” is buried somewhere in the middle of Sorry
4 The Weight and begins with a monologue so unlikely that I had to run it back a few times: “I just need to be happy … I come from nothing / I come from ghetto / I come from projects / If I’m in my mansion, best believe I’m working … That’s all I need to be happy: work / I’mma never stop working, I’mma keep perfecting my craft.” All this comes before a beat that thumps so hard it rattles your skull at half-volume. He fades out of his last verse with “If you looking for me / I’m prolly’ on the news.” How’s that for awareness? Well played, Keef. Chief Keef deserves far more credit than he gets because he’s not still supposed to be in that mansion. Like Dr. Dre said earlier this year on Kendrick Lamar’s “Wesley’s Theory,” “Anybody can get it / the hard part is keeping it.” Despite being in and out of jail for five years, being dropped from his label, having his life threatened and being exploited by the music industry as a teen parent, Keef cleaned up his act and focused on music. Most importantly, he stuck to his roots. Throughout the various phases of his personal life, Keef has sustained an outstanding level of honesty and transparency through his music, creating a narrative that’s simultaneously horrifying, uplifting and hilarious. Chief Keef might live in the ‘burbs, but at least he still rides ATVs on his neighbors’ lawns. At least he still smokes blunts in public. At least he’s still in that mansion.
FILM REVIEW
By BENJAMIN ROSENSTOCK
‘Wildlike’ disturbs
Daily Arts Writer
There are hundreds of ways to tell a story. This seems obvious, but it becomes more apparent than B+ ever while watching “The The Walk Walk,” “Castaway” direc- TriStar tor Robert Productions Zemeckis’s Quality 16 and fantastical re-creation of Rave Cinemas Philippe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between the Twin Towers. The film’s tone is almost mythic, and it focuses on Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “Inception”) instead of the act itself. Because “The Walk” was preceded by a 2008 documentary (“Man on Wire”) covering the same events, Zemeckis makes the decision to stray on the side of fairytale, pulling the narrative structure away from a more realistic telling. The plot is simple, but it holds its excitement in the details of Philipe’s goals, which must be configured to make the final, incredible wire-walk possible. Since he was a boy, Petit dreamed of being a successful wire-walker — but with a catch. Instead of being perceived as a circus performer, he hopes his walks will be received as art — a performance to showcase the impossible as possible — to merge reality with dreams. As he reflects on the nature of art, he travels around France performing on the streets until he sees an advertisement for the newly-constructed Twin Towers one day. He becomes
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
By REBECCA LERNER Daily Arts Writer
TRISTAR PRODUCTIONS
Highwire and chill.
determined to organize a coup and walk between the towers, amassing a group of artists and other assistants to break into the buildings. Working for months to devise a plan and engineer the wire between the buildings, Petit carries the audience with him from the initial idea to his iconic walk before the entire world. Petit stands as a dynamic, larger-than-life character whose desire to showcase the art of wirewalking drives the entire film forward. He performs his daring and beautiful stunts far above the cities, first walking between the towers of Notre Dame and eventually between the Twin Towers — and it seems the film’s stunning visual effects would pull attention from the character and onto the spectacle of the feats themselves. However, the focus remains on Philipe’s emotions: his pride in these moments and the determination to continue walking. The film’s strength comes from its ability to characterize Petit in relation to the surrounding city
spaces. He is constantly shown holding a string between any two standing objects, figuring where he can next hang his wire and perform. By integrating Petit into the cities that surround him, Zemeckis reflects his imaginative character in the fantasy of the countryside, the creative inspiration of living in a vibrant city like Paris and the grit and determination from the streets of NYC. Instead of outlining these qualities through an overabundance of action and dialogue, the film keeps Petit’s character action-driven, answering the “why” behind many of his absurd stunts through the places he assimilates to. “The carrots are cooked,” as the French characters throughout the film say. The act has already been done, and it may seem that returning to an already-dramatized story is a futile act. However, through the imaginative narrative style, focus on character and dreamlike special effects, “The Walk” is able to successfully re-examine an already famous story.
When the two protagonists of “Wildlike” encounter a bear during their Alaskan expedition, Mackenzie (Ella Purnell, A “Maleficient”) suddenly Wildlike remembers her companion Greenmachine Rene’s (Bruce Film Greenwood, “Star Trek Into Available on Darkness”) Google Play most important rule of the trail: don’t run. This decree is in direct contrast to Mackenzie’s natural instincts to flee under pressure. After the death of her father, her mother’s addiction issues strips her of parental abilities, sending the 14-year-old to live with her uncle in Alaska. She arrives with a quiet and untrusting disposition and a full face of raccoon-eqsue makeup, a shield from her circumstances. Uncle (Brian Geraghty, “Chicago P.D.”), who is never given a proper name, begins to sexually abuse Mackenzie. So when the opportunity arises, Mackenzie takes her chances and runs. Even with her limited financial resources and lack of shelter, Mackenzie is determined to return to her mother in Seattle. She sleeps in cars and breaks into strangers’ hotel rooms. During one of these
GREENMACHINE FILM
“Look, I don’t want to be in this movie either.”
break-ins, she meets her reluctant ally, Rene. At first, he wants nothing to do with the surly teen who insists on following him. But eventually, the two slowly build a growing trust and familial compassion for each other. Mackenzie even drops her shield of dark eyeliner, allowing Rene to be the first person to see her natural face. The film delicately approaches the Mackenzie as a young girl prematurely forced into her sexuality, with finesse. Mackenzie’s body is suddenly transformed into a commodity, and her agitation is evident in every relationship with men she encounters after Uncle violates her. The scenes where Uncle takes advantage of her are not exploitative or sexualized; the
fact that her attacker is given such a vague name lends the film universality in this matter. It highlights the concept that abuse is not limited to those who match traditional schemas of abusers. “Wildlike” is a quiet film. There is sparse dialogue, the characters mostly using facial expressions and body language to communicate complex emotion. The conversations that do exist are very hushed, but this choice matches Mackenzie and Rene’s reticent personalities. While the pair clearly have a familial bond, their relationship is not overworked for dramatic effect. “Wildlike” allows its characters to develop themselves and their connections in a realistic manner — at their own pace.
Arts
6A — Wednesday, October 14, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ALBUM REVIEW
EVENT PREVIEW
‘Terrible Thrills’ John Luther Adams remixed in ‘Vol. 2’ talks life and oeuvre By DAYTON HARE For the Daily
Music’s hottest acts cover Bleachers’ debut album By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY Daily Arts Writer
Bleachers’ Terrible Thrills, Vol. 2 is a reimagining of the band’s debut album consisting of the same 11 songs, written by Afrontman Jack Antonoff, per- Terrible formed by an Thrills, array of established singers Vol. 2 and up-andBleachers comers. I had the pleasure of RCA Records seeing Bleachers live this past summer: I concluded that though their record is OK, but their live performances are extraordinary. However, Vol. 2 offers a fresh perspective on their original LP, Strange Desire. The album maintains the strength of its predecessor, with covers by Sara Bareilles, Charli XCX, Carly Rae Jepsen and Tinashe. Bareilles’s rendition of “Wild Heart” deviates from the original with its heavy production, but it contrasts with the stillsmooth delivery, and the lyrics hold the track steady in a fashion that wasn’t present in the original. Conversely, Charli XCX’s growling delivery on “Rollercoaster” matches the instrumental tones point for point — it’s actually hard to believe the track isn’t solely hers. “Shadow” maintains its uplifting aura, and with its slight push towards bubblegum pop and Carly Rae Jepsen on vocals, the cover highlights Antonoff’s lyricism. The lead single from Strange Desire, “I Wanna Get Better,” can’t exactly get better; nonetheless, it can get different — which is precisely why the genre shift from Bleachers’ pop-rock to Tinashe’s smooth R&B doesn’t have listeners switching back to
RCA RECORDS
Not to be confused with the seating.
the original. And while her slight note changes offer the same range as Antonoff’s screams, it’s just not as much fun to sing along to. The second act contains some of the most memorable moments on Strange Desire, and by way of the up-and-comers, the recreations only improve upon their predecessors. “Wake Me” is the record’s biggest surprise. On the original, it’s a typical ‘lighter in the air’ track, but in the hands of Lucius, a five-piece indie-pop band, the track achieves the conversational tone it was always meant for. The band’s harmonization pushes the track in a direction that Antonoff can’t quite get to on his own. Conversely, Elle King could sing the dictionary and it would be a melody so beautiful, nothing seems to matter more than the music. “Reckless Love” is a slow burn: you sing along to it, but you don’t move to it. The softness of her delivery feels innocent, juxtaposed with the fiery crescendo making this love feel all the more reckless. For the album’s plateau, Brooke Candy and Rachel Antonoff team up for an unrecognizable cover of “Take Me Away.” The only consistency with the original is the ephemeral hook: “I know you’re sorry, I know you’re sorry, I know you’re sorry.” In the end, it’s a somewhat forgettable cover of a somewhat forgettable song. And as for the third-act come-
back, the star-power is back. Sia takes on the melancholic “Like a River Runs.” Instead of resting on the chill-inducing a capella chorus, she creates a track that delivers the same degree of emotion, but sounds completely dissimilar. Sia’s take is a gospel while Antonoff’s is a rock show. MØ, best known for her feature with Major Lazer, breathes excitement back into the project with “You’re Still a Mystery.” Between a saxophone solo, MØ’s tinge of autotune and the song’s ’70s movie feel, the track stands out on Vol. 2. Finally, Natalie Maines (of the Dixie Chicks) offers an acoustic, slightly country “Who I Want You to Love” to close the album. While the acoustic guitar and Maines’ echoed delivery pull listeners in one direction, the lengthy instrumental break paired with Antonoff’s outro remind them that this is still a Bleachers record. From the outset, releasing an album of covers can be a tricky game. The covers can’t completely overwhelm the original work, but they also can’t underperform, or else there’s no point in producing them. This is exactly why Strange Desire works so well for this artistic experiment. Vol. 2 highlights the strengths in Antonoff’s lyricism by displaying them through a different lens — one that isn’t generally better or worse than the original — just different.
Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
The history of American contemporary classical music over that last half century has been as multifaceted as the face Composer of Amer- John Luther ica itself. Adams Penny Studded with Stamps Speech styles and Thursday Oct. populated 15, 5:10 p.m. by various “isms,” Michigan Theater American Free contemporary music is impossible to pin down and classify. This variety in style is matched by the variety of composers, many of which have wildly different backgrounds. ComposUSO ers of today live Performance of lives as Become Ocean rock musicians, jazz Thursday Oct. 15, 8 p.m. pianists, electronic Hill Auditorium performers and Free professionals that have nothing to do with music. Some composers are the children of concert masters; others never heard a Beethoven symphony until college. Each artist has taken their own unique road to becoming the composer they are. One of the most interesting paths taken is perhaps the one tread by composer John Luther Adams — a path which has now led him to the University, where he’ll be giving a talk on Thursday at the Michigan Theater as part of the Penny Stamps Speaker Series. Adams — who is not to be confused with the equally famous but stylistically dissimilar California based composer John Adams — was born in Mississippi. As a child, his family moved from place to place a great deal. “It was almost like being a mili-
Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
HELP WANTED
FOR RENT
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Volkswagen Type 1, familiarly 4 Yemeni neighbor 9 Old-timey oath 13 1956 Gregory Peck role 15 Add a lane to, say 16 University of New Mexico athlete 17 Irish city in a recession? 19 Watched warily 20 One with a stable job? 21 Like dotted musical notes 23 Cellphone accessories 26 Body work, briefly 27 Result of a Czech checkup? 33 Catches some rays 37 Home ec alternative 38 Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center, e.g. 39 Dessert pancake 41 Part of USDA: Abbr. 42 Spirited diversions 43 Febreze targets 44 It’s on the house 46 Not as pricey 47 North African dieter’s light fare? 50 Originally called 51 Jackhammer sound 56 Malady 61 Thrill to pieces 62 Bibliog. catchall 63 South Korean sailors? 66 Cartoon maker of explosive tennis balls 67 Pile up 68 Jib or mizzen 69 Where to store hoes and hoses 70 Tense with excitement 71 Genetic material DOWN 1 Western movie star?
2 Crewmate of Chekov and Sulu 3 Eva or Zsa Zsa 4 Part of BYOB 5 Prefix with day or night 6 Fusses 7 Small salamander 8 Present from birth 9 Like a political “college” 10 Fiesta Baked Beans maker 11 Collude with 12 Extinct bird 14 Gooey clump 18 “It’s not too late to call” 22 Waterway with locks 24 JAMA subscribers 25 Much of Libya 28 “Diary of a Madman” author 29 Hubbub 30 Bone-dry 31 26-Across materials 32 Fresh talk 33 Craig Ferguson, by birth 34 Pakistani language
35 Eye-catching sign 36 Rained gently 40 City on the Ruhr 45 Cosmeticstesting org. 48 Playground piece 49 Originate (from) 52 Wistful word 53 Golden Horde member
54 Ordered pizza, perhaps 55 Car named for a physicist 56 Wet septet 57 Scratching target 58 Attended the party 59 Big Mack 60 Fly like an eagle 64 “It’s no __!” 65 “Dropped” ’60s drug
TEAM CLEANERS NEEDED Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Area PT Evenings, $9-$11/hr based on exp *Direct Hire*, immediate start, weekly pay Call 248-598-5255 or apply at
SERVICES THESIS EDITING, LANGUAGE, organization, format. All Disciplines. 734/996-0566 or writeon@iserv.net
By Dan Margolis (c)2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
10/14/15
10/14/15
ARBOR PROPERTIES Award-Winning Rentals in Kerrytown, Central Campus, Old West Side, Burns Park. Now Renting for 2016. 734-994-3157. www.arborprops.com WWW.CARLSONPROPERTIES.COM 734-332-6000
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
xwordeditor@aol.com
! NORTH CAMPUS 1-2 Bdrm. ! ! Riverfront/Heat/Water/Parking. ! ! www.HRPAA.com !
tary brat, you know, we moved every few years, from the Deep South to the suburbs of New York City,” Adams said in an interview with the Michigan Daily. His first musical experiences weren’t classical, but rather part of the world of rock ‘n’ roll, where he was the drummer for several bands during his adolescence — as part of the group, Pocket Fuzz, he once opened for the Beach Boys. But Adams’s artistic direction was changed dramatically by an encounter with the music of Edgard Varèse (whose name the young Adams mispronounced Var-EE-zee) instigated by the linear notes of Frank Zappa’s album Freak Out!. Inspired by the avantgarde Varèse, Adams listened to more and more contemporary classical music, and his and his band-mates work became more and more experimental. A few years after being part of the first graduating class of the California Institute of the Arts, Adams made one of the most important decisions of his life — he moved to Alaska. “As a result [of moving so frequently as a child], there was never a place in which I felt I belonged, never really a place I thought I was at home,” Adams said. In Alaska he worked as an environmental activist and lived for several decades, experiences which strongly shaped his future work. “I went north as an idealistic, romantic young man, running away from my family, running away from the suburbs and the cities, running away from academia, running away from competitive careerism — you know I thought I was leaving everything behind, that I was running away from the world,” Adams said. “But it turns out that I was running to my home, my real family — the family I discovered and chose in Alaska — and my life’s work. And I can’t imagine what would have become of me as a man or as an artist had I not found Alaska. It is home in the deepest sense, and it always will be.” From his experiences in Alaska, Adams drew inspiration for much of his compositions and ideas, some of which he will be discussing in the Penny Stamps talk. “My theme is music in the
MILLER’S ‘SONS’ From Page 1A only be described as a “flop.” This was only two years after Miller’s graduation from the University. Miller began his time at Michigan as a journalism major and writer for The Michigan Daily, before switching his major to study English. Within the department, he began his artistry under the guidance of Kenneth Rowe. It was this relationship that continued to connect Miller to the University throughout his life. Through his studies of Greek classics and the works of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, Miller was drawn to themes of middle-class life and human weakness, which would inspire his work and the other most important plays of the 20th century. “He knew that if it wasn’t successful, he wouldn’t remain a dramatist. As he himself has put it, ‘there were far more important things to do in the world’ than write plays,” director Goldberg said. Goldberg, who also graduated from the University in 1995 as a Theater and Comparative Literature major, understands the deep relevance of the play today. She has high hopes for its audience. “This play will always have resonance because war is a big business and we, as a nation, seem to always be in that business. In addition, the central themes of honor and duty in a family will be issues families throughout history will grapple with,” Goldberg said. “My hope artistically is to expose the depth of this story and remind audiences of the timeless nature of this work.” Much of this timeless nature can be attributed to Miller’s ability to resonate with a broad audience.
Anthropocene,” Adams said of the Penny Stamps address. “It’s a reflection on the meaning of creative work, the meaning of art and music in these troubled times, when we live in a world on the verge of melting.” Drawing from his 2003 essay “Global Warming and Art” and more recent writings, Adams said his talk is a “reflect[ion] on why I continue to do what I do in the face of potentially catastrophic environmental change.” Following the Penny Stamps address, the University Symphony Orchestra and conductor Kenneth Kiesler will be performing Adams’s work “Become Ocean” in Hill Auditorium, for which Adams was the recipient of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music. “‘Become Ocean’ is my largest orchestral work to date, and I think it’s the culmination of years of work. I think the music has been leading me to this piece for decades,” said Adams. Adams wrote the piece very quickly, while in Mexico. Explaining its origins, he said “The house that we live in in Mexico is right on the water. If you have a good throwing arm you can stand on the deck and throw a ball into the ocean.” “When we’re down there we sleep with the windows open, and I like to think that what happened was that the music of the sea was finding its way deep into my consciousness, into my dreams, and I would just get up in the morning and do my best to write down what I heard in my sleep,” said Adams. Referencing the act of composing, Adams said “I don’t understand how any of this works, and that’s fine with me.” Adams elaborated, “As a creative artist, I often feel that if I think I know what I’m doing, then I’m probably not doing my job. I think it’s all about discovery and asking new questions, and not knowing exactly where you are or what you’re doing.” “The reason that music is worthy of a lifetime of devotion is that the music always knows more than the composer. The music is always leading me into new territory, and my job is simply to pay attention and to do my best to follow it wherever it wants me to go.”
Goldberg uses the example of gender to discuss this, rejecting the idea that Miller writes “guy plays.” Her personal and most poignant connection to the play is with the wife and mother, Kaye Keller. “There is language about all that Kate has kept of her lost son Larry’s; she has preserved his room and his things, and our production exposes what is up in that bedroom we never see on stage. For me, it is to shed light on all the pain mothers in particular have to endure with this sort of loss,” Goldberg said. “Kate Keller is given the last lines of this play — like a great Shakespeare play, the final speaker is assumed to be the one who will be the successor, and indeed in this domestic world, it remains true.” The excitement and commitment of those behind the production merits attention as well. Goldberg and the cast of 10 students (some acting parts many years their senior) will bring to life these nuanced perspectives, freshening the play and maximizing its emotional power. “My other large job in this production is to modulate the emotional intensity and help the actors choreograph their internal and external life,” Goldberg said. Each character is critical in their own way, and the team has spent a great deal of time developing each individual story. “To direct Miller in the only theater in the world named after Miller, at a place that has shared this meaning for both of us, is a gift I will always cherish,” Goldberg said. As a treasure of American artistry and an accessible exploration of social responsibility, war and loss, “All My Sons” fulfills its important artistic function, transcends generational gaps and earns its handle as “timeless.”
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 — 7A
‘M’ dominates Duquesne By TYLER SCOTT Daily Sports Writer
The attacking end of the Michigan men’s soccer team has been far more productive than in 2014, and that showed in Tuesday’s 0 DUQUESNE match 3 MICHIGAN against Duquesne. The Wolverines defeated the Dukes, 3-0, after scoring all of their goals within the first 46 minutes of the game and bearing down defensively to limit Duquesne’s own second-half chances. Michigan’s recent offensive success hasn’t been lost on senior forward Colin McAtee, who contributed two scores. “We’re feeling pretty good about our offense this year,” McAtee said. “Especially compared to last year, where I don’t know if we even scored much more than we have now.” Michigan is averaging 1.83 goals per game this season, compared to 1.11 for all of last year. Despite being tied for first in the Big Ten, the win over Duquesne was the first for the Wolverines (5-3-3) in the month of October. Michigan opened up the month with tie games against Wisconsin and No. 7 Notre Dame, and most recently suffered an overtime loss to Rutgers. “It’s not like we’ve been playing poorly or we have to change anything drastically,” said Michigan coach Chaka Daley. “A lot of teams come to Michigan and give us their best game. So we have to ultimately be prepared for that, and have to ride the highs with the lows. I think our guys did a good job responding tonight.” The Wolverines have been without senior captain James Murphy due to injury for a month, and freshmen
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Michigan coach Chaka Daley’s team rebounded with a non-conference win in its week off from Big Ten play.
defenseman Marcello Borges is currently playing in an under-20 league in Germany. Even with a somewhat-depleted roster, Michigan stopped Duquesne from ever getting into the contest. The Dukes took just seven shots compared to the Wolverines’ 15, and sophomore goalkeeper Evan Louro only had to make one save to be perfect on the night. Daley has stamped into his team the belief that good defense at all positions will give Michigan chances to win. Indeed, the first goal of the night came in the 27th minutes as McAtee contested Duquesne goalkeeper Sam Frymier as a high-deflected ball came down inside the 12-yard box. As the ball fell toward the pitch, both players slipped. Frymier fell forward, leaving McAtee with the ball and a wide open net. He was able to scramble to his feet and launch a
scoring shot before the defenders closed in to give Michigan a lead to build on. “It was great to look up to see the ball in front of me and the goal wide open,” McAtee said. “It’s not the prettiest goal, but I’ll take that any day. That’s probably the easiest goal I’ve had.” Just 10 minutes later, the Wolverines doubled their score in a more standard fashion. Freshman forward Francis Atuahene was able to speed past his defender to receive a through ball from sophomore midfielder Tyler Anderson on the backside of the play and net a wide open shot just below the crossbar center goal. In the first half, the Dukes repeatedly tried to draw Michigan on the attack and send the ball deep in order to create offensive chances. They managed to get off five shots in the first half, some of which soared barely outside the crossbars, but much of the game
was spent with the Wolverines controlling the ball on offense. Ten seconds into the second half, chances of a Duquesne comeback were further dashed by McAtee. On the echo of the whistle, the Wolverine front line of McAtee, redshirt sophomore midfielder Michael Kapitula and freshman midfielder Robbie Mertz started sprinting toward the goal line. Three successful passes later, McAtee was lined up for an open shot inside the 18-yard box on the left for his second goal of the night. Staring in the face of a 3-0 deficit, Duquesne rarely threatened again. It did get its only shot on goal, which Louro saved, one of only two shots by the Dukes in the second half. “We were definitely very motivated (after the loss to Rutgers),” McAtee said. “And to score early, I think that really helped boost our confidence and control the rest of the game.”
De Jong part of crowded ‘D’ core; Larkin makes impressive debut Berenson mum on starter at goalie ahead of Friday’s season opener By JASON RUBINSTEIN Daily Sports Editor
Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson has a new problem: he has too many qualified defensemen. Compared to last season, when Berenson had to lean heavily on his top pairings, NOTEBOOK this season there aren’t enough spots for each defenseman to dress every night. “We’re still going to have a tough decision every game putting our lineup together on defense,” Berenson said. “We’ve got eight defensemen who can play, and we’re not going to dress eight — we’re either going to dress six or seven.” Part of the crowded defense stems from the addition of two highly touted freshmen: Joesph Cecconi and Nicholas Boka. Both played well in the Wolverines’ exhibition game against the University of Toronto, and look capable of logging considerable minutes. And with juniors Michael Downing and Cutler Martin — as well as sophomore Zach Werenski — already locks to play every night, there are just one or two spots left on defense. Look for junior Kevin Lohan, junior Nolan De Jong and sophomore Sam Piazza to vie for that spot or spots. De Jong has been particularly noticeable thus far. He notched the first goal of his career against Toronto, played the point on the power play and made good zone reads. “He’s a junior now and a leader on the D-core,” Werenski said. “We don’t have any junior
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Junior defender Nolan De Jong has edged his way into the conversation on Michigan’s deep blue line.
defensemen, so the juniors will have to step up. And he’s got to step up. Even though it was an exhibition, he scored and got that monkey off his back. I know he hasn’t scored here yet.” Berenson, however, said De Jong still hasn’t reached his full potential. But Berenson is starting to notice glimpses of De Jong’s ability that he saw when he recruited him. De Jong credits that to his strenous lifting and conditioning routine this summer for his improvement, which has also made him “more comfortable on the ice.” If De Jong becomes the player Berenson believes he can be, he could be a top puck-moving defenseman who can run the point on the offensive attack. And while he might not be there yet, he’s well on his way, giving Berenson a tougher
decision every night. GOALTENDING CONUNDRUM: The goaltending situation still remains an enigma. In the exhibition game against Toronto, Berenson opted to start junior Zach Nagelvoort in the first period, senior Steve Racine in the second and freshman Chad Catt in the third. “We’re just starting,” Berenson said. “This has been really good, and the coaches have only been on the ice for a week. We’re just getting a feel now with (goaltending coach Steve) Shields on the ice everyday. So we’ll see who plays Friday.” LARKIN’S NHL SPLASH: Last year’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year is already forming an impressive résumé for NHL Rookie of the Year. Dylan Larkin, who left Michigan after one season, made
“We’re still going to have a tough decision every game.”
the Detroit Red Wings’ openingnight roster and has wasted no time making a splash. The former Wolverine notched a goal and an assist in his first game. He became the first Red Wings player to score in his NHL debut against the Toronto Maple leads since Gordie Howe — 69 years ago. “I was surprised, but I wasn’t,” Werenski said. “It’s pretty cool for him to score his first goal at (Joe Louis Arena). I was on the glass actually, and he looked over at me a few times.” Added Berenson: “It was a perfect storm for Dylan, playing in Detroit, playing on the first line, scoring a goal, and then they won.” Larkin has a goal and three assists through two games. BRIEFLY: Junior defenseman Michael Downing is now allsystems-go after injuring his hand just under two weeks ago.
For a full season preview Check the Face-Off insert in Thursday’s paper
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Francis Atuahene already has a team-leading nine goals in his freshman year.
Atuahene leads Michigan in win By KATIE CONKLIN Daily Sports Writer
Francis Atuahene’s shot powered off his laces and slid just beneath the crossbar. It was the Michigan men’s soccer team’s second goal Tuesday night, boosting the Wolverines to a 3-0 victory over Duquesne, and Atuahene’s ninth goal of his rookie season. The freshman forward has been a force on Michigan’s roster ever since he stepped foot on Wolverine turf. In his debut match against then-No. 6 Creighton, Atauhene took two shots, one on net. He has upheld this tenacity and become one of Michigan’s top scoring threats. “He’s been one of the most dominant players on the team and one of the most dangerous in the country,” said redshirt senior midfielder Colin McAtee. McAtee, who finished with two bookend goals, worked closely with Atuahene all game, leading to the victory against the Dukes. As the second freshman in Michigan men’s soccer history to score a hat trick, Atuahene has scored just over 40 percent of the team’s goals, contributing immensely to the Wolverines’ successful season thus far. In the 2014 season, Michigan scored a grand total of 20 goals. Just halfway through the 2015 season, the Wolverines (6-33) have already exceeded that with 22. Much of this can be attributed not only to the team’s attack, but to the freshman class itself. The freshmen have tallied half of Michigan’s goals this season. While many may be
extremely impressed by such a statistic, Michigan coach Chaka Daley expected such influence early in their careers. “We went through a transitional period here with Michigan soccer, and we didn’t bring them in to be freshmen,” Daley said. “We brought them in to play, and they’ve shown that they can come in and play.” Daley also praised freshman midfielder Ivo Cerda, who’s had a lot of game time for a young player, and expects to see a lot from him for years to come. Rounding out the group on defense are freshmen Marcello Borges and Peter Brown, who are becoming more comfortable within the Wolverines’ defensive unit. Daley foresees expert play coming from them in the future, as well. Such game-changing play, though, continues to come from Atuahene. Scoring in six of the last seven matches, Daley speaks highly of Atuahene but still looks for improvement in his consistency. Consistency, Daley believes, should come naturally as the season progresses through experience, comfort and hard work, the latter of which is something Atuahene is used to. “He always has a smile on his face,” Daley said. “He works his butt off in class, he works his butt off in training, and the results are being shown on the field.” And if Atuahene continues to prepare, these results should only improve over the next three years. He’s only a freshman, after all.
Sports
8A — Wednesday, October 14, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Field position, return game ‘M’ impressive in taking leaps under Baxter California outing MEN’S GOLF
Mueller’s 198 breaks Michigan tournament record, earns fourth place
By ZACH SHAW Daily Sports Editor
It was an absolute clinic on how to run a kickoff return. Northwestern kicker Matt Micucci avoided highly touted return man and redshirt freshman safety Jabrill Peppers. Instead, he kicked to the east side of the field as his gunners to seal off the secondary return man and redshirt junior wide receiver Jehu Chesson. Instead, Chesson — whom Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh would later say is the 12th-ranked Wolverines’ fastest player — broke past the seal and went all 96 yards untouched to give Michigan its first openingkickoff touchdown return since 1992. It shocked the Wildcats, the fans in the stadium and just about everyone watching on TV at home, but one man on the sideline saw it coming the entire time. Michigan special teams coordinator John Baxter is known as something of a guru in the world of special teams, and just six games into his tenure at Michigan, the Wolverines are already reaping the benefits of his presence. “He thinks on another level,” Chesson said of Baxter. “One of his things is that every team presents a puzzle to solve, and he’s going to work harder than the next guy and work harder than any other coach, and I think he does that. “I’m very confident to say that we have one of the best special teams coordinators there is.” So far, Baxter has been able to solve that puzzle every week. According to FootballOutsiders. com, the Wolverines were 82nd in the nation in field position advantage in 2014, a statistic
By CONNOR MULSHINE For the Daily
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Redshirt junior Jehu Chesson returned a kick for touchdown Saturday, a reward for Michigan’s improving special teams unit.
that measures the net gain or loss from field position. This year, Michigan is ninth. According to ESPN, the Wolverines are fourth nationally in special teams efficiency after finishing 2014 96th in the category. Due to Michigan’s stifling defense an an opponents’ tendency to settle for a touchback, it has only had five kickoff returns — two fewer than any other team in the country — but leads the nation with a 39.0 return average. “When you’re back there and you’re trained so well like we are, things go in slow motion,” Chesson said. “You just kind of see gaps and holes open up. On
that play, the blocks made their blocks, and the ball carrier made a good decision with the ball.” Yes, Chesson referred to himself as a ball carrier. Under Baxter, plays are taught to see the plays as puzzles to solve, and their roles as simple cogs in the machine, not personal efforts. “That’s the key (to special teams),” Chesson said. “You have to be selfless. You have to do things other guys may not want to do, and the players who do that are the ones who are going to play.” Among those players is Peppers. Rated as one of the most explosive players in the country before he even took a snap for Michigan, Peppers was more than happy to let Chesson get
“You have to do things other guys may not want to do.”
the touchdown, sprinting ahead to block the only Northwestern player that came within 10 yards of Chesson. “Big mistake (kicking to Chesson),” Peppers said with a grin. “I saw the way they lined the tee up and told Jehu, ‘The ball’s coming to you. I got your block.’ “The whole special teams unit wants to see those touchdowns and knows they have to do their jobs to make it happen.” Baxter solved Northwestern’s puzzle, and has moved on to Michigan State. The Spartans have shown discipline on special teams in their latest rise to national prominence, but under Baxter, so will the Wolverines. “I don’t really know what other teams do in terms of special teams, but I think there are things that (Baxter) does that are unique on a play-by-play basis,” Chesson said. “He really takes his time and coaches each individual position.”
On his way to a record performance, sophomore Kyle Mueller led the Michigan men’s golf team to a fifth-place finish at the MacKenzie Invitational in Fairfax, California. After limping to a 13th-place finish at the event in 2014, the Wolverines saw significant improvement this year in an event that broke several program records. Mueller broke the Michigan tournament record by four strokes with a 198 on his way to finishing fourth overall. Joining him in the top 10 was senior Chris O’Neill, who played a bogeyfree final round to finish with a personal-best 204. As a team, the Wolverines shot a program-record 824, shattering the previous mark by 15 shots. “I’d say it was a good event,” said Michigan coach Chris Whitten. “I’m never going to say that I’m real happy about finishing fifth, but we definitely saw some good things from our guys, and we can take some confidence from the way we scored.” After starting the final day 11 strokes behind California, the tournament winner, Michigan
struggled to gain its footing on the front nine before finishing the day strong with a 275. The Wolverines did most of their damage on the par-5s, scoring 28 under par while only posting one bogey throughout the tournament. “The ball striking this week was very good,” Whitten said. “Probably the best I’ve seen from most of our guys this fall, which is really encouraging.” Mueller tied a program record with a 64 in the second round to cap his third straight top-five tournament finish, largely due to his ability to avoid bogeys. After three bogeys crippled an otherwise-stellar first round, Michigan’s top finisher did not bogey a hole for the remainder of the tournament. Mueller ended with a 69-6465, falling two strokes short of winner Cody Blick from San Jose State. Despite a solid finish in the team standings, Whitten believes there is room for improvement from this week’s record-setting performance. Michigan finished just five strokes shy of second place and is looking to cut down on mistakes moving forward to the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate in Dallas on Oct. 26. “We were giving shots back with some bogeys and you really can’t afford to do that,” Whitten said. “We have to continue to work on our strategy a little bit and continuing to analyze the situation we’re in and choosing the correct shot to execute it as good as we can.”
“We can take some confidence from the way we scored.”
Tuesdays with Jourdan: Junior CB brings energy By MAX BULTMAN Daily Sports Editor
Between his leadership and his defense, Jourdan Lewis brings a lot to the Michigan football team. The junior cornerback leads the team in pass breakups and is one of the most senior members of the secondary, and he returned an interception for a touchdown against Northwestern on Saturday. But one underrated boost Lewis brings to the Wolverines doesn’t come on Saturdays. Every Tuesday, all season long, the normally laid-back Lewis has shown up to practice with his most energy of the week. “That’s his day,” said junior safety Delano Hill. “He says, ‘Tuesday is my day, I’m gonna help y’all out with the energy, and the rest of the week y’all gotta help me.’ Today was his day, so the rest of the week, we’re gonna help him out.” Normally, Tuesdays can be lower-energy. It doesn’t have the excitement of being the first day of the week, but it’s still far from game day. It can be grueling. But when you bring up his Tuesday energy routine, Lewis shows no signs of dread or intimidation. He shows excitement. “Tuesday’s the start of the week — the work week,” Lewis said. “When we start working, we’ve got full pads on, that’s when we really get down and grind.” With Lewis, that’s exactly the point. If he can get the team fired up on Tuesday, when the hard work starts, they can ride the energy through the harder practices of the week. As for his tactics, teammates never quite know which method Lewis will take to bring the hype. “He just acts wild,” Hill said. “Screaming, whatever you can name, he’s doing it.” Normally, Lewis has a relaxed demeanor. He is relatively small in stature, and he speaks softly, albeit with an edge. That, too,
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Jourdan Lewis becomes the emotional leader of the defense every Tuesday.
plays a role in Lewis’ Tuesday tradition. Since his teammates know him as laid-back, seeing him full of energy re-ignites the defense. Regardless of how reserved Lewis can be off the field, his performances in games have spoken volumes. Pro Football Focus rated him as the nation’s best cornerback before the Northwestern game, and after he returned an interception for a touchdown, redshirt freshman safety Jabrill Peppers echoed that sentiment. Through six games, he has broken up eight passes and has two interceptions, and those numbers come despite the fact that teams have avoided throwing his way all year long. “He’s earned everything that’s been said about him and even more,” said redshirt junior
receiver Jehu Chesson. “I think he’s one of the best cornerbacks I’ve ever gone against. To be going against him every day, it’s a great opportunity for me to get better, because if I fail at a route or something, I can go to him and sort of see what he saw.” Like most receivers Lewis faces, Chesson is significantly taller than the 5-foot-10 Lewis. To combat it, the junior relies mostly on his speed, game planning and yes, his energy, to exploit opponents’ weaknesses. “There’s really nothing to this game but preparation,” Chesson said. “If you really want to win, you’ll prepare, and he really wants to win every play, so he’ll prepare and do so every play.” Some days, preparation means being calculated and reserved. But on Tuesdays, it could mean just about anything.
statement THE MICHIGAN DAILY
OCTOB E R 14 , 2015
2B
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 // The Statement
Another Thing: I need you to laugh
DE MOCR ATIC DEBAT E O N T H E R E C O R D (OU T OF CON T E X T ) “I’m a progressive, but I’m a progressive who likes to get stuff done.” — HILLARY CLINTON *** “You’re looking at a block of granite … The (Republican) party left me.” — GOVERNOR LINCOLN CHAFEE *** “I am the most qualified person up here today to be your Commander-in-Chief.” — JIM WEBB *** “I am not a pacifist.” — SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS *** “But we elected a president, not a magician, and there is urgent work that needs to be done right now.” — MARTIN O’MALLEY *** “We’re not Denmark. I love Denmark.” — HILLARY CLINTON
COVER DESIGN BY JAKE WELLINS
ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHERYLL VICTUELLES
“
Jeremiah was a bullfrog! Was a good friend of mine!” – a genius. Can I call this a humor column yet? Whenever someone asks me about it (this has happened twice), I want to say, “I write humor, nyah!” but I’m afraid they’ll stab me in the eye with a copy of the New Yorker. Or vomit. Ah well. Living is the worst part about life. Also, genocide, rape and death. Also, socks with holes in ‘em. So I like comedy. I laugh at my own jokes: What did the entomologist’s mother say when her son’s Drosophila melanogaster was depressed? “Your fly is down.” Hilarious. Important. Italics. I did stand-up comedy for the first time last Saturday. Here’s the story. It’s a tearjerker so get your Kleenex™ (“Kleenex: Ah. Now that’s good wipin’.”). Sunday (one week before the show) I lay face down on my floor and thought about failing and depression and loneliness. Then I wondered who played the Inspector in Young Frankenstein ... Kenneth Mars! I thought about failing again. In a fit of sweaty determination, I resolved to write something every day, revolutionize comedy, subvert the medium, invent a medium, look up the definition of “medium,” call my Mommy. And stuff! Monday I did nothing. Tuesday Finally, I wrote: “Hey! If phenomena is the plural of phenomenon, is cinema the plural of cinnamon?” I got heckled by my Waluigi doll. I sighed, tried to cry and put my pants back on. I’ve always wanted to do comedy — if you don’t count the 19 years I wanted to be a baseball player, photographer, journalist, politician, therapist,
BY ALEX BERNARD psychiatrist, actor, judge, prosecutor, priest or happy. I stopped writing at 2:00 a.m., stared into the mirror for two hours, went to bed at 4:00. Wednesday I woke at 8:00, sleepdeprived, nauseous, like floating in a block of lead. (Honestly, does anyone even edit this shit?) I stood on my (cool, red) couch, held my microphone (the TV remote) to my lips and practiced my opening: “Wow. Hey guys. Wow.” I didn’t sleep that night. Thursday I did things, did things, did things. I ate a bagel, wondered what a push-up would feel like and ate another bagel. I walked home at 2:00 a.m., hands stuffed in pockets, breath materializing in front of me, floating off into dead nothingness just like Grandpa! Sorry. Life is a snowball effect. Socks with holes in ‘em. “What’s funny?” I asked God. “What’s the formula for funny? Also: The hell, Man?” On the way home, a big, drunk fella pointed at me and yelled something. I removed my headphones. Me: “What?” He: “I masturbate to you at night!” I think about him a lot. Friday You’re bombing tomorrow, monkey! You’re bombing tomorrow! (And you have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. Don’t forget.) I felt like vomiting. Or running. But then, not running because running sucks. At 2:30 a.m., I smoked weed for the first time. (Sorry, Mom, Dad, and dead grandparents. Editor says I can’t devote whole, big paragraph to explanation of life choices, so I’ll just say this: How’s the dog?) That night, in bed, I didn’t think about my set. (Or you ...
Sharon.) Saturday (Show Night) The night was cold and wet, like refrigerated ham or a dead body in an aboveground pool or my hands, always. I paced up and down the street, muttering my set and little affirmations: “You’re taller than most. You’re taller than most. You have neat hair. Your sense of humor totally distracts from your psychological problems, handsome.” At 9:20 p.m., in a Kerrytown backyard, I took the stage. Tree branches hung over the stands, tickling the microphones, wishing me, “OK luck.” Trees can be such dicks sometimes. My heart beat hard, fast, to a rhythm. It felt like, “Jeremiah was a bullfrog!” One hundred and fifty people stared at me. They were all cold, all standing, all better than me in their own oh-so-special ways. “Was a good friend of mine!” “Hey guys,” I said, peeing a little. I felt their eyes, their blinks, the spots in their brains that light up when something’s funny. A little voice in my head shouted something racist, but I couldn’t hear it over the deafening nothing. I had to turn my head to see everyone. They didn’t have to turn their heads to see me. I held in a fart. You are a bullfrog, Alex ... No. You are The bullfrog. I said the most honest thing I could think of: “I’m a 21 year-old, white, tall, straight, Catholic college guy. And I tell it like it is ... That’s right. I’m everyone’s favorite kind of person.” A moment. A blank, inescapable moment. Then. Then. Then. Those 150 somebodies laughed. And I – I went on. Into that irreversible, unachievable It. And It was good.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 // The Statement 3B
My Cultural Currency: Weddings
THE
B Y TA N YA M A D H A N I
I
want a wedding. Let me be clear, I don’t want a loving union built out of mutual respect and support, to paraphrase writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I’m still a teenager who can’t even match her socks, doesn’t start her homework until it’s already too late and can only quote an author because of memorizing a Beyoncé song; I hardly think I’d be prepared, much less do I want, to be in a marriage. What I really want is the fanfare of a big, fat Indian wedding. The groom can be a stand-in male model, a cardboard cutout of Elvis Presley or we can just get rid of him completely. Honestly, I don’t particularly care about that part. What I care about is the clothes, the food and the idea of being the center of attention. I want a wedding so badly, I once searched on Google, “Can I marry myself?” before quickly deleting my search history, restarting my computer and going to bed. In my (weak) defense, it was 4 a.m. and I was running on what I think was my fifth cup of coffee, which had started making me feel some type of way. Like in all weddings from all cultures, when it comes to Indian weddings no one gives a shit about the groom. That suits me perfectly fine, because I am truly very content to be the center of attention for a straight month. Here’s where, if you’re not Indian, you’re probably scratching your head. A wedding doesn’t last for a straight month, right? They’re a few hours or, if the couple is ridiculously extravagant, an entire day. I don’t think I’m making a strong enough case for why I would want a wedding so badly and I blame TLC. They’re notorious for making entire television shows centered on the hullabaloo surrounding Christian weddings.
Hindu Indian weddings are a multi-day event composed of several parts: first, you’ve got the engagement, then approximately 15 poojas, a mehndi/haldi ceremony, a sangeet, the actual wedding and finally, the reception. One of the greatest tragedies of my life is that I can’t dance for crap. But that’s OK, really. Everyone can just dance around me, like the jesters and clowns that existed in mid-century courts. Every one of these events is not only essential, but must also be completely “decked out.” And by decked out, I mean that in every possible interpretation of the
phrase. Wedding on a fairy light and carnation-covered yacht in the middle of Lake Michigan. All eyes will be on the bride, who will wear a custom-designed Manish Malhotra bridal sari in firetruck red. Celebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor catered the food, which the bride took several helpings of. The groom was nowhere in sight. If you’ve made it through the entire column, then you’ve probably concluded that I sound like a vapid, materialistic and awful person. And, well, to that I say: “Fair enough.”
statement
Magazine Editor: Ian Dillingham Deputy Editor: Natalie Gadbois Design Editor: Jake Wellins
THE LIST
Photo Editor:
Managing Editor:
Luna Anna Archey Creative Director:
Lev Facher Copy Editors:
Cheryll Victuelles Editor in Chief: Jennifer Calfas
Hannah Bates Laura Schinagle Emma Sutherland
BUZ ZFEED, BU T BE T T ER
LISTEN TO ‘HAMILTON’ NOW If you have any sort of social life, you probably don’t keep up with musical theater news. If that’s that case, you may not have heard of “Hamilton,” Broadway’s latest smash. Hamilton, as in Alexander. As in Founding Father. Here are five reasons why you need to listen to the soundtrack, now on Spotify.
1
L I N - M A N U E L M I R A N DA
Writer, composer and star Lin-Manuel is revolutionary as Hamilton, both relatablie and undeniably dynamic.
2 THE LADIESSSS
Despite being a show about our Founding Fathers, the women in Hamilton’s life steal the show with their talent and strength.
3 H I S TO R Y I S F U N !
Learn more about a little-known Founding Father on the walk to class than you ever would in class.
4 J O N T H A N G R O F F F R O M “ F R OZ E N ” Remember the cute blonde from “Frozen”? Well he’s also a Broadway star who happens to play King George with aplomb in this telling.
5 N E W YO R K , N E W YO R K
The entire story is set in NYC — 1780s New York. We hear as Wall Street is literally built and imagine Harlem as a small, rural village.
4B
Wednesday, October 14, 2015// The Statement
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 // The Statement
5B
H O U S I N G H E A DAC H E : Renting off-campus at the ‘U’ by Emma Kerr, Senior News Editor
F
inding housing: the exciting, sometimes heartbreaking, endeavor all University students partake in some form or another during their time in Ann Arbor. With only guaranteed housing for freshman at the University, many upperclassmen often engage in a adventurous search for other housing options at the beginning of their sophomore year. This presents a challenge that many students may not be able to handle — especially in the first few weeks of a fall semester. To find housing that is both close to campus and affordable may seem impossible for some. And the increasingly competitive nature of Ann Arbor housing means students are often forced to sign leases earlier in the season each year. The process is a major source of concern according to a survey of about 100 students who live off-campus conducted by The Michigan Daily. Business junior Sarah Mironov said her experience searching for off-campus housing, after living in her sorority house sophomore year, was high pressure and stressful. It also began immediately after returning to campus in the fall, while she was still adjusting to campus life. “I feel like Michigan is a unique school in that, a) students don’t live in dorms beyond their freshman year and b) the housing process starts incredibly early,” Mironov said. “Whereas my friends at other schools start thinking about the housing process toward the winter, even into the spring, for us we had to start looking for housing during our first few weeks on campus.” Yet the process doesn’t seem out of the ordinary to Mironov, who signed a lease on Sept. 19. “(The process) seemed pretty average for my whole group
of friends,” Mironov said. “I have some friends who didn’t sign until October but I also know people who signed leases during Welcome Week.” Many students form groups and commit to properties under similar circumstances. According to the survey, 41 percent of off-campus students sign a lease 10 to 12 months in advance of move-in. When unable to sign a lease, some will resort to signing a reservation, which ensures them first rights to sign the property if the occupants at the time do not renew a lease. The reservation and renewal system means many properties never appear on the University’s listing site or even the sites of property management companies. The City of Ann Arbor requires property management companies and landlords to wait 70 days after the start of the current tenant’s rental period before showing the property or signing a lease with a new party. If the average rental period is around Sept. 1, that means it’s not until November that student should be even able to start looking at properties. However, by not having formal tours of a given property, but rather unscheduled tours at the will of current tenants, and having signed intent to lease forms — or rather by ignoring the city ordinance entirely — landlords and students, alike, avoid waiting until mid November to firm up housing plans for the following year. Jon Keller manages hundreds of houses for rent in Ann Arbor. He’s also a University alum, and with that perspective, Keller said, his company has developed a particular understanding of what it means to be a landlord for tenants who are primarily students — though he’s seen many landlords do it the wrong way.
“We’ve worked with every landlord there is in town and we know who keeps their word and who doesn’t,” Keller said in an interview with the Daily. “I just feel bad for the kids who get bad landlords.” Companies who disregard the ordinance that requires waiting until 70 days after the current tenancy start date to sign a lease with new prospective tenants are fined by the City of Ann Arbor. Because of the competitive nature of students’ search for off-campus housing, however, many companies pay the fine and continue to lease to students in the early fall months. “A lot of landlords are just flat out disregarding this rule because the fine is a thousand bucks and there’s never been anyone fined that I know of. The fine is so proportionally small compared to a $60,000 lease listing, that it’s really a cost of doing business for some of these bigger companies.” Keller added that though he does accept reservations, he does not show or sign leases until after the 70 day period. “Yes, people are signing left and right — just not with us,” Keller said. **** Last week, an unofficial off-campus housing fair was set up on the second floor of the Michigan Union, and in attendance were housing management companies, like Cappo Management and Campus Realty, as well as the larger student-targeted apartment buildings, like Landmark Apartments. About twenty students circulated the room, others filtering in and out. The University’s Beyond the Diag program, an effort to promote the University’s engagement with off-campus students organized by the Dean of Students’ office, sponsors yet another fair on Nov. 4.
In an e-mail, Molly Labrousse, Beyond the Diag program manager, described the University’s various resources, which included a listing site, descriptions of each Ann Arbor neighborhood, and the availability of staff members in the Dean of Students office to help with any questions students may have. In addition to both North and Central campus housing fairs, the University offers an Off-Campus Housing website that includes rental listings, but at the time this article went to print, a search for a two or three bedroom apartment in the East Packard area yielded a meager five results. And some of the results that appear are for leases that begin in May rather than the standard September start date. However, Engineering sophomore Brent Patterson said there is still a lack of information regarding off-campus housing options and companies as well as a variety of unhelpful University resources. “I didn’t really like that — it was showing properties that weren’t really relevant, out by Pinckney,” Patterson said. He said he relies more on sites like Cribspot and Yelp to know what houses were available and to get a sense for the reputation of the company, building, or landlord. **** The Daily’s survey suggests that many students are generally happy with their housing once they find a property. On average, students rated their experience with their current landlord a 6.7 on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 signifying complete satisfaction. Forty-one percent of respondents cited unsatisfactory quality of the house or apartment as the primary issue they had encountered during their time living off campus. Other prominent issues students indicated in the survey
included unresponsiveness from their landlords, and unclear or confusing lease agreements between tenants and landlords. However, 33 percent of students said overall they had no complaints overall about their landlord or property management company. For those that still don’t want to tackle the process, other options are still available, such as Greek life organizations and properties offered through Inter-Cooperative Council housing — also known as co-ops. There are seventeen co-ops in Ann Arbor, sixteen of which are on Central Campus and one of which is on North Campus. There are 65 different registered sororities and fraternities on campus as of Oct. 6. In the Greek system, housing policies and lease durations can vary from house to house. Many of these organizations rely on involvement and seniority rankings to determine room assignments, and students pay rent via the organization. Co-ops offer students flexibility in regard to the timing of their housing decisions, as well as the length of lease, while also providing for more affordable, hassle-free off-campus housing, according to Linder president Courtney Smeenge, an LSA senior. “Every house has a different field, but the guiding principle among the coops is that it’s affordable housing for students and no landlords involved,” Smeenge said. “It’s cool that way because it’s an autonomous organization where house members have control.” Co-ops function on a first come-first serve basis, but they offer single semester contracts as opposed to 12-month contracts. Smeenge added there are often openings during the semester and a wide selection of houses that may have open-
ings. They also have a waitlist system if students are hoping for a particular house. Rent typically includes utilities, food, and, of course, a room. There are no unexplained fees and the house is managed by the Inter Cooperative Council rather than a traditional landlord. “You just have all of these different costs coming together and then you’re buying food on top of that, so it’s nice here because our rent is everything — it’s all in one package,” she said. Co-ops and Greek life housing present alternatives to the self-driven, independent search for off-campus housing that many, if not most students, will undergo at some point during their time at the University. There is a huge variety and selection when it comes to property management companies in Ann Arbor — landlords range from large companies owning or managing 50 houses to an individual landlord who owns one, maybe two properties. In the end, Keller, who rents many properties in the city, said it’s important that students understand the commitment they’re making when signing a lease and find a house that fits their needs and budget. “They don’t really know and they are willing to sign things because they like a house, they think it’s pretty, or they don’t read the lease — or worse, they sign with (a company) whose lease is garbage,” he said. “There is certainly a naivety.”
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
Houses along Adams Avenue near Michigan Stadium
6B
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 // The Statement
Personal Statement: My mother’s strength by Jen Calfas, Editor in Chief
T
he room, dark and quiet — except for the slow, concentrated steps we made. Her eyes, closed; her mouth, frowning. The doctors told us to wake her up, but they were nowhere to be found. My aunt and dad grabbed each of her hands with a soft touch, and whispered. Her eyes came up slowly, and she furrowed her brow. I stood at the end of the long bed, but she didn’t see me. “The lymph nodes...” my mom inquired, groggy, confused, in pain. “You’re clear,” my dad whispered, his eyes wide. “There is no cancer in your lymph nodes.” My mom didn’t believe him. Her memory lasted just a few moments until she asked again: “The lymph nodes?” After several reminders, her eyes opened widely. “Where’s Jen? Is she here?” I took my dad’s place and held her hand. “I’m so happy you’re here. Thank you, Jen.” I didn’t recognize the tears forming in my eyes until three small drops hit her white sheets. I quickly wiped the wet marks streaming down my face when she looked at my aunt. At this moment, she moved her hands to feel where her breasts once were, and winced. *** My mom told me she had breast cancer at the end of my junior year of college. The news hit us hard. Never did I ever imagine something touching the indestructable. How could something like this happen to a woman who caught a snake and asked if I wanted to hold it, too, when I was just nine years old? The woman who encouraged me to play on the arborous hillside by our suburban house, to get scrapes and scars on my knees, to save the lizard my cat brought into the house for show? She first told me after I returned home to California this May. I was registered for a half marathon in Santa Barbara in a few days, so I went for a long run my first morning back. Before returning home, I texted my mom: “Can we ride the horses today?” “Possibly!”
Possibly! didn’t feel right. I locked my phone and drove home. I came through our back door to find my parents sitting in the kitchen, waiting. I followed them to our living room, confused by their serious faces. My chest filled with difficulty with each breath. “I found a lump in my breast,” my mom said, her voice wobbling. Before she said anything else, I started crying. “It’s breast cancer,” she finished after my hands already covered my face. My breathing grew more difficult; my tears more full; my stomach more twisted. But it cleared over time. I realized that after 21 years of her unwavering support, care and comfort, it was my responsibility to provide the same for her. *** Several days later, my mom and I were down working in our barn and missed more than ten calls from my dad. We came back to find a message from him saying the doctors at the University of Southern California’s Keck Medical Center would be able to squeeze my mom’s double mastectomy in on Thursday. It was Monday. At first I smiled giddily at my mom. I knew she wanted the cancer out immediately, and this surgery would do just that. But, after a few moments of excitement, she broke down. Thursday was so soon — she wasn’t mentally ready. As she sat in her chair at her desk, I wrapped my arms around her for I’m not sure how long. Eventually I lowered to the floor, leaned against her legs, and watched mindless TV with her for the rest of the night. The next few days were a blur. My parents had appointment after appointment in Downtown; my aunt flew from Gilroy; I asked my then-boyfriend to cancel his visit to California the upcoming weekend (which, of course, my selfless mom felt horrible about). And then it was finally Thursday. My dad and aunt went to the hospital with my mom while I stayed at home. “The surgery will be a while,” my dad told me. “You should come
around 6:00 or 7:00 to be there when she wakes up.” So I waited. *** Something hit me when I saw my mother, without her breasts, in her hospital gown that Thursday evening. It went beyond the cancer — or, at this point, lack thereof — that poisoned my mother and threatened her life. I feel immature to have been taken aback by my mother’s immediate physical change, but I can’t hide from it. Her most maternal physical attributes were gone, and I couldn’t quite comprehend it. And I still can’t. Though her final reconstructive surgery will be just days after this article is published, I will always remember that feeling. The feeling of growing up, of caring for another person far more than yourself, of weakness and strength all at once. My mother, a survivor, is indestructible. I always knew this about her: she was the youngest of six in a single-mother home; she began working at 14 to save money for college; she sacrificed her teaching career to take care of me and my two sisters; she loves us unequivocally. And she’s been through much more strife that I can’t put into words here. It was my turn to be strong for her. During her stay at the hospital, I only exited the room once to cry; seeing her in pain was so difficult. But through all the pain, she was never worried about herself — she was worried about how me and my sisters were doing. And I had to show her how her strength inspired us to be a support system for her now. Months later, my mom always reminds me of how fortunate it was that her diagnosis and surgery happened during my longest period of time at home in nearly two years (and likely from now on). But since the summer, the conversation has returned to my antics: my recent breakup, my job at The Michigan Daily, my nerves about life post-grad. My mom has returned to a position of stability and support for me, and I have not stayed the same support system for her as I was for those few weeks several months ago. Perhaps some day I’ll be like her. Until then, I’ll try to follow her lead.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 // The Statement
Personal Statement: This day was different by Marlee Breakstone, Daily Staff Reporter
A
s a fairly liberal person growing up in the predominantly conservative town of Southbury, Connecticut, I’m used to being in the company of those whose beliefs are not in accordance with my own. Because of my upbringing, I am accustomed to acknowledging such differences without allowing them to alter my ability to function as if they didn’t exist. This day was different. As I walked into school that morning, an ominous quiet surrounded me. I thought this odd, for the amount of people trafficking the hall was typical of any other day. Provoked by a sense of curiosity and bewilderment, I approached one of my classmates and asked her why nobody was speaking. She simply pointed to a ribbon that was tied around her wrist and walked away without uttering a word. I soon learned that my silent classmates were taking part in a school-wide protest against the legality of abortions. All students and faculty who wished to participate tied red ribbons around their wrists and took an oath of silence, sacrificing their own voices in honor of those who never had the chance to use theirs. My voice that day angered those around me. Some passersby in the hallway scowled at me when they heard me talk, but other than that I made it through most of the day without any major conflicts. It was not until later in the day that I was forced to verbally defend my own choice not to remain silent. As I approached my Spanish class, I was surprised to see my teacher waiting by the door, handing a ribbon to each student. When she offered me one, I politely declined. I then sat at my desk and anxiously waited for the day’s lesson to begin. My teacher closed the door and turned to face the class. Instead of approaching the whiteboard, as she typically did, she walked slowly towards my desk and bent down so that her face was a mere two or three inches from mine. She then stretched out her arm and opened her hand, revealing a red ribbon.
“Take it, Marlee,” she said as she plucked the ribbon out of her own palm and dangled it in front of my face. “I’ll even help you to tie it onto your wrist.” When she grabbed my arm and attempted to forcefully fasten the piece of red silky cloth around my wrist, I quickly recoiled. This angered her. She told me that I was wrong, that I was uncooperative and that I did not care whether or not innocent babies were killed. Internally appalled but externally calm, I rose from my desk and walked to the center of the room. I explained to my class that school was not a place for political protest and that I was disappointed in Mrs. Griffin for allowing her own opinions to infringe upon her ability to teach. I explained that, though she was entitled to her beliefs, she was in no position to impose them on her students. Based on Mrs. Griffin’s silence, I felt that I had gotten my point across. Silence is a powerful force, for it holds the potential to make one either discernibly commanding or utterly meek. Though using my voice generated a great deal of controversy, I would not hesitate to repeat my actions. Certainly, it would have been easier for me to fulfill Mrs. Griffin’s wish and wear the ribbon. After that day, she treated me differently than she did my peers. She spoke to me with a condescending tone and constantly criticized every aspect of my being. I discovered that it is better to speak your mind and face the consequences than to silently conform and become exactly what society pressures you to be. I exhibited my own strength and willingness to act in discordance to those around me in order to defend my own beliefs. This experience was essential in molding me into the person I am today. After reflecting, I am able to identify myself as someone who is driven, outspoken, compassionate and bold. I am not afraid of controversy; I am not afraid to take a stand. Though this experience was horrific, I don’t regret having it. It was the water that was necessary to nourish the seeds of my personality and help me sprout into my true self.
7B
8B
Wednesday, October 14th, 2015 // The Statement
Bad and Pat are active members of the community of Chautauqua. Bud is a member of the Chautauqua choir and attends rehearsals throughout the week.
Pat tearfully says goodbye to Alex Paul on the porch of the Baptist House. Pat and Bud allowed Paul to stay for free throughout out the summer so she could be a member of the choir and covered the cost of her room out of their own pocket.
V I S UA L S TAT E M E N T:
A LOT OF COOKIES & A LOT OF LOVE
Chautauqua Institution is a a non-profit adult education center and living community located in Western New York. Originally it was founded as a Methodist learning community in 1878. Since then its religious community has grown to include 16 different denominations. As the cost of staying in the Institution has increased, the denominational houses have been regarded as the most affordable option for visitors. For the past nine years, Bud and Pat Brown have volunteered to be the hosts of the Baptist House. They have stayed in the Baptist House since they started coming to Chautauqua in 1977.
As hosts, they describe their job as to be “gracious to everyone who comes inside the front door”. Most of their responsibilities as hosts include physical tasks such as cleaning and day to day maintenance. They also host Sunday worship services, Thursday vesper services, Tuesday social hours, pot luck dinners for their guests, and volunteer their time for various Institution programming. Bud and Pat met working as librarians in the Robbins Library in Arlington, Massachusetts. As the story goes, one day Pat’s sister returned home and told her that there was a man in the library. After hearing this, Pat jumped on her bike and rushed over to meet Bud. Since then, they’ve been married for 49 years and have spent most of that time living in Buffalo and working as librarians.
Photo Essay by Ruby Wallau
Pat and Bud share a quiet moment on the Baptist front porch during a Tuesday social hour. Bud says that when he first dropped Pat off in Chautauqua she cried because she didn’t know anyone, but when Bud came to pick her up she cried because she didn’t want to leave. Now Bud and Pat play important roles in the Chautauquan community.
Every Tuesday Bud and Pat host a social hour where they invite singers and musicians from the Chautauqua Community to perform in their house.