ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Trial set for two charged in ski resort vandalism ALLISON FARRAND AND RUBY WALLAU/Daily
LEFT: Frank Turchan, University executive chef, and Kurt Kwlatkowski, executive chef at Michigan State, compete in the Culinary Throwndown at the Michigan Union on Saturday. TOP RIGHT: Matt Cloutier, Michigan Marching Band drum major, preforms a backbend. BOTTOM RIGHT: A fan’s sign at ESPN’s College Game Day on the Diag.
Last-second play dooms Michigan against MSU Error on punt gives Michigan State the victory By ZACH SHAW Daily Sports Editor
One-hundred and eleven thousand stunned sets of eyes
stared at the field below. A sea of green and white flooded into the northwest corner of the field. For five whole minutes, no one else in Michigan Stadium moved. None of those eyes had ever seen a game end like that before, and likely never will again. Michigan State 27, Michigan 23. In a game that featured eight
official reviews — including four on scoring plays — plenty of calls and non-calls that drew boos from the crowd and referees even admitting they messed up with their microphones on, the Michigan football team’s game against No. 7 Michigan State added an odd and awkward twist to the historic rivalry. So it was only fitting that the
ANN ARBOR
By LYDIA MURRAY Daily Staff Reporter
The Ann Arbor City Council met Monday to discuss the city’s deer population, the future of the Arthur Miller house and a proposed zoning change to make way for a new housing development. Council to convene public meeting on deer cull Multiple individuals concerned about the city’s plan to control deer population in the city through a cull attended Monday’s meeting, prompting the council to set an open hearing on the subject for Nov. 5. Members of the council mentioned the volume of e-mails they received regarding the issue, and noted the lack of understanding of the issue apparent in many of them.
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 66 LO: 34
“It’s really difficult when e-mails keep coming with total misinformation,” said Councilmember Sumi Kailasapathy (D– Ward 1). “It’s like they believe that someone is going to run around the park just shooting. It’s ridiculous.” Several members agreed on the importance of having an informed public on the matter at hand. Councilmember Jane Lumm (I–Ward 2) said the problem might be that the public is learning about the issue from outside sources that spread false information. “It’s unfortunate because a lot of what’s contained in those initial messages to people is not correct,” she said. Relocation of the Arthur Miller house The council passed a resolution to investigate the possibility of moving the Arthur Miller House from its current location on South Division Street to Liberty Plaza. The University, which currently owns the house, aims See COUNCIL, Page 3A
By ALLANA AKHTAR Daily Staff Repoter
The case against two former fraternity members involved in the January destruction of a Northern Michigan ski resort will appear before a jury next month, according to Otsego County Prosecutor Michael Rola. Business juniors Joshua Kaplan and Zachary Levin, the former Sigma Alpha Mu president and treasurer, are scheduled to appear in front of a jury in the 87A district court of Gaylord, Mich. on Nov. 18. They each are charged with two counts of furnishing a place for the consumption of alcohol and/ or controlled substances on the premises by minors. It was previously undeterminedwhether they would reach a plea agreement or stand trial.
If found guilty, Rola said the two could face penalties of up to 30 days in jail and $1,000 per offense. The court can also order them to help pay restitution to Treetops ski resort. Kaplan and Levin join two other former SAM members, University alums Jesse Krumholz and Matthew Vlasic, who all were charged following the ski trip destruction. Krumholz received two years of probation for a misdemeanor charge in October, and Vlasic received two years probation for malicious destruction of property totaling more than $200 but less than $1,000. The vandalism took place during a ski trip with Sigma Delta Tau sorority. Treetops alleges University students caused $200,000 worth of damages to the property, on top of lost revenue. Following the incident, the University decided it would no longer recognize the fraternity, and the national SAM organization later opted to disband the chapter.
CAMPUS LIFE
M U S I N G S O F A YO U N G P O E T
City schedules public hearing about deer cull Council also floats plan to relocate historic Arthur Miller house
game ended in never-beforeseen fashion when fifth-year senior punter Blake O’Neill — a hero earlier in the game for an 80-yard punt — couldn’t turn a low snap into what should have been a game-sealing punt, instead giving Michigan State the ball for a 38-yard touchdown return as time expired. See MICHIGAN, Page 8A
Former SAM president, treasurer could face jail time
Hackathon challenges students to work with class data Teams identify factors that could predict course performance
EMILIE FARRUGIA/Daily
Ann Arbor resident Jay Kincaid-Beal, 11, reads his poem titled “The In Bed Thoughts of an 11-Year-Old Atheist” at the Skazat! Poetry Series, a monthly open mic and poetry reading event, at Sweetwaters Cafe on Tuesday.
By LYDIA MURRAY Daily Staff Reporter
DETROIT
‘U’ supporters raise money to test backlogged rape kits Team Michigan, Team MSU collect more than $30,000 during competition By IRENE PARK Daily Staff Reporter
Though the Michigan football team lost to Michigan State
University on the field Saturday, Team Michigan defeated Team MSU in a face-off raising money to test untested rape kits in Detroit. Five years ago, more than 11,000 untested rape kits were found in a police warehouse in Detroit. Though most of these kits have now been sent out for testing, a campaign called the African American 490 Challenge has begun to raise money
for the roughly 1,000 remaining untested kits. For Oct. 12 to Oct. 17, teams of professionals who support the University and MSU competed to fundraise for the AA490 Challenge. By Sunday, Team Michigan raised $14,931, topping Team MSU’s $11,181. Added to $4,465.50 that came in from neutral donors, the face-off raised a total of $30,577.50 from See RAPE KITS, Page 3A
MHacks is not the only hackathon in town. Twelve students spent hours at the University’s Digital Innovation Greenhouse’s inaugural hackathon on Tuesday, working with massive amounts of synthetic student data to create grade prediction software. Students split into two teams — referred to as Team Collab and Team Bunker — and each team was given the same data sets to work with. The data was not real student data, since Physics Prof. Timothy McKay said using real data would infringe on student priSee HACKATHON, Page 3A
sportswednesday
the statement
Saturday didn’t end how it was supposed to end
A look at the business landscape in Ann Arbor
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MSU RAs protest discipline Ten Michigan State University residence assistants were either “terminated” or forced to resign in early October after a small party one month earlier, which involved the presence of alcohol, came to the attention of senior staff, the State News reported Tuesday. The State News detailed the accounts of two RAs in particular who said the grounds for their termination were not fair under RA governance laws. Both sources chose to go by pseudonyms. One, referred to as
“Sandra,” said measures to remove the RAs were carried out, despite the fact that no residents were involved in the party. “The (investigative) process took about a week and I was cornered into talking about the situation, where I eventually incriminated myself and said that I consumed alcohol,” she said. Mice begin dreaming at UC Berkeley
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sensitivity to light, a team of University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University neuroscience researchers can control the mice’s “dream state” just by pointing a laser, the Daily Californian reported Monday. Min Xu, a postdoctoral researcher and one of the study’s authors, said the work will help researchers better grasp the complex processes behind the stages of the sleep cycle.
After inserting genetically modified viruses into the brains of mice to increase their
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Celebrity chef Guy Fieri takes a selfie with members of the Michigan Marching Band in the Michigan Stadium tunnel before the football game on Saturday.
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Architecture exhibition
The role of prediction
Discussing the Detroit’s Grand drug war Bargain
WHAT: Architecture Student Research Grant participants will present their work. WHO: College of Architecture and Urban Planning WHEN: Today from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. WHERE: Art and Architecture Building, Auditorium and Gallery
WHAT: Sendhil Mullainathan of Harvard University will discuss problems associated with making inferences about data. WHO: Department of Economics WHEN: Today from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: North Quad 3100
WHAT: Dawn Paley will discuss her recently released book, “Drug War Capitalism.” WHO: Department of Romance Literatures and Languages WHEN: Today from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. WHERE: Michigan League- Koessler Room
WHAT: Experts will discuss the Detroit Grand Bargain, which helped end the city’s bankruptcy and minimize retiree pension cuts in Detroit. WHO: Ford School of Public Policy WHEN: Today from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium
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THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
1
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R–Wis.) is running for House speakership if conditions are met, The New York Times reported. He will make his decision by the end of this week. He wants to receive endorsements from the three largest GOP groups.
2
Info Session: Carnegie Endowment for Peace
The changing landscape of Ann Arbor business may be good for those looking to set up shop, but could it have unintended consequences in higher housing prices and other economic impacts? >> FOR MORE, SEE THE STATEMENT
WHAT: The Career Center is hosting info sessions for students interested in applying to be Carnegie Jr. Fellows. The endowment is a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing relations between nations and the United States. Every year, it awards about 12 yearlong fellowships to graduating seniors. WHO: The Career Center WHEN: Today from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: The Career Center
Canadian Prime Minister-elect Justin Trudeau informed President Obama that he will withdraw Canadian fighter jets from Syria and Iraq, The Washington Post reported. Trudeau’s party won big in recent elections.
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University goes up against MSU in game day culinary competition Dining directors, students By RIYAH BASHA For the Daily
About five hours before Michigan and Michigan State University faced off at the Big House on Saturday, another kind of competition was brewing on the lawn of the Michigan Union. Michigan Dining and the Center for Campus Involvement hosted a three-round cooking contest between the two rivals Saturday
morning, styled after the television show Iron Chef, featuring both students and the executive chefs from each school. The event, which ultimately saw the University fall to MSU 311-303 points, drew about 30 people. “We’ve got this pairing between Michigan and Michigan State for a while,” said University Executive Chef Frank Turchan, who coordinated the event. “Both teams have been looking for a venue like this for a while … They battle on the field, we battle in the kitchen.” Slurping Turtle owner Takashi Yagihashi; Becky Schilling, editor in chief of Food Management magazine; and two student representatives from the University’s Residence Halls Association judged the event. LSA seniors Ashley Muehleise and Taylor Wood, who took on a breakfast sandwich challenge in the first round, represented the University as student chefs.
“We managed to get all the food on the plate with 90 seconds to spare,” Muehleise said after the round. Wood said their strategy was to focus on planning ahead for each step of the cooking process, and emphasize good presentation. The second round was a battle between each school’s executive chefs to see who could create the best ramen. As the round progressed, lighthearted trash talk ping-ponged back and forth between the chefs, with Turchan asking MSU Corporate Chef Kurt Kwaiatkowski if he needed any help as the “little brother.” Kwiatkowski responded by getting MSU fans in attendance to chant “Go green, go white!” at his competitor. Turchan said after the round that maintaining the rivalry was fun, but also noted the welcoming atmosphere during the event.
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“It’s such a great rivalry, but I got to say that everyone here has received us with open arms, and it’s such a great experience,.” he said. “I’m glad that we could throw it all together.” The third and final round asked the executive chefs and a selected team of their staff to create a signature dish from the competing schools while use an ingredient from the event’s sponsor, the National Pork Board — a pork pectoral muscle. Though the University lost, Turchan said the event overall was a success. Both chefs walked away with plans to continue the competition. “We are planning to make this a tradition,” Turchan said. “The food has brought a lot of us together. I learned a lot more about the University — I mean, the sign shop helped us build the trophy, a lot of people from different departments wanted to support us. There’s a lot (of) synergies going on here.” LSA sophomore Sydney Ohl, who attended the cookoff, said she enjoyed the event. “Both teams look like they’re having tons of fun, and making great food in the process,” she said.
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NEWS BRIEFS
Faculty elected to National Academy of Medicine Four members of the University faculty were named to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors that recognizes experts for their work in the advancement of medical sciences, health care and public health. The faculty members elected were Dr. Kathleen Cho, Dr. Laurie McCauley, Dr. Robert Neumar and Marita Titler. These experts were recognized for their advancing work in the fields of cancer biology, emergency heart care, bone biology and chronic disease care. The University now has 54 faculty members who are either current or previous members of the National Academy of Medicine.
Harbaugh visits White House for education event Coach Jim Harbaugh visited the White House Monday and briefly met with President Obama. Harbaugh was in Washington to promote Better Make Room, a campaign drawing attention to the First Lady’s Reach Higher Initiative, which aims to provide students with resources to extend their educations and obtain better careers. Harbuagh’s visit follows his May 1st meeting with the First Lady at Wayne State University in Detroit, where Michelle Obama spoke to 2,000 high school students to promote higher education. In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Harbaugh said the president offered his sympathy regarding Saturday’s shocking football game. “(He) told the fellas to keep their chin up. ... (He) likes the way our team plays and he told the guys to keep it going,” Harbaugh said.
Schlissel initiates search for next research VP University President Mark Schlissel has initiated the search for a new, permanent vice president for research, after a year and a half with an interim vice president for research in office. S. Jack Hu, who previously served as a professor of industrial and operations engineering, mechanical engineering and manufacturing technology at the University, has been the interim vice president since January 2014. The vice president for research sits on the University’s Board of Regents as one of 13 executive officers, overseeing a $1 billion research portfolio. He or she is also tasked with leading the University’s national and international activities regarding research policy in addition to guiding the University in its research goals and recognizing new research opportunities.
Home invasion reported off campus A resident reported a home invasion at an apartment on Oakland Avenue near Hill Street early Sunday morning, according to a crime alert distributed by the Division of Public Safety and Security. A resident told the Ann Arbor Police Department she discovered an unknown male turning on the bedroom light around 3:40 a.m. The resident screamed and the man fled. Two laptops were missing in other parts of the house. According to a description provided by the witness, the suspect is thought to be a Black male in his early 20s, medium build, wearing a denim backwards baseball cap with a flat-brim, a red plaid shirt, a vest and blue jeans. — Lara Moehlman
RAPE KITS From Page 1A more than 380 donors, surpassing the campaign’s goal of $20,000. Rape kits consist of materials — including small plastic bags and microscopes — that can be used to collect forensic evidence of rape, such as clothing fibers, hair or body fluids. Legally, the kits can be used to identify those responsible for rape or exonerate the wrongfully accused. However, the rape kits have to be tested — or sent to a lab for forensic analysis — to be useful in court. It is estimated that more than 70,000 rape kits remain untested in the United States. According to USA TODAY, one reason rape kits may remain untested is because of the expensive cost for police to send the kits out for analysis. In 2009, 11,341 untested rape kits were found in a police storage facility in Wayne County. The kits were collected when the crimes were reported, but never analyzed. In response, Enough Sexual Assault in Detroit — a collaboration among Michigan Women’s Foundation, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and the Detroit Crime Commission — formed to raise money to test the kits and investigate the crimes associated with them. In early September, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who founded Enough SAID, announced 10,000 of these kits had been tested, with 1,341 remaining untested. The effort resulted in 21 convictions, 106 active cases and 1,350 cases to be investigated. Enough SAID launched the AA490 Challenge in early October as an 18-month-long project to raise money for the 1,341 untested rape kits. The initiative was named for the $490 the campaign says it
costs to test each kit. The campaign’s goal is to raise at least $657,090 — the minimum amount of money needed to test every kit. More money will be necessary to investigate the crimes and prosecute the suspects associated with the results. Worthy, a University alum, represented Team Michigan. MSU alum and co-host of the ESPN show “His & Hers” Jemele Hill represented Team MSU. Other people on Team Michigan included University Regents Shauna Ryder Diggs (D–Grosse Pointe) and Denise Ilitch (D–Bingham Farms), Megan Davis, University of Michigan Black Alumni president and Darci McConnell, president and CEO of McConnell Communications, Inc. McConnell said the donation face-off was a success. “The short version is that (it) has been very successful,” McConnell said. “We’ve raised $15,000 from just the rivalry alone.” In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Worthy said the real winners of this face-off are the women whose rape kits will be tested. “While it always feels good to trump MSU, it really is great that both schools could come together because the real winners will be those who get justice as a result of this effort,” Worthy said. Peg Tallet, chief community engagement officer for the Michigan Women’s Foundation, said the campaign could also shine light on sexual assault and rape on college campuses specifically. “Enormous amount of rape occurs on or around college campuses,” Tallet said. “We hope that there will be a light shined on this issue and there will be an opportunity to educate and change attitudes on college campuses.”
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HACKATHON From Page 1A vacy. Even so, the synthetic data was based on real patterns from 150 of the most popular courses at the University. The data included information regarding high school performance, current course performance and gender. Each team took a different approach to the data. Team Collab estimated where correlations might occur within the data sets. Information senior Meera Desai said one factor they focused on was GPA. “We are trying to understand how GPA, courses and faculty members correlate, and if you can understand and predict GPA based on certain variables and factors,” Desai said. Team Bunker took a different approach. They sought correlations by performing a series of statistical tests for the class data
KRISTINA PERKINS /Daily
Liquor license committee talks plans for pub trollies Ann Arbor considers options for regulating alcohol on pedalpowered vehicles For the Daily
to repurpose the land for other projects. This has prompted concern from historical preservation groups that the house might be destroyed in the process. Though the council agreed to investigate, several members were unsure whether Liberty Plaza would be a feasible location. Councilmember Stephen Kunselman (D–Ward 3) noted that it may be difficult to justify removing the only park located downtown for a historical building. “The idea of moving a house to our park — the only park that we have in downtown Ann Arbor — as a way of addressing issues that we have there seems farfetched,” he said. “You’re going to be talking to a lot of people who are not going to be that happy about giving up their park just to put up a house.” Conditional zoning agreement Council also discussed a conditional zoning agreement that would allow developmental company Toll Brothers to build new 470 new residences on the city’s north side. Both members of the public and council members raised several issues with the plan, citing, in particular, lack of detail on how it would impact the city in regard to traffic and preservation of wetlands and other nature elements in the area. Ann Arbor resident Kami Meader said the plan was rushed. “There are too many unanswered questions and problems with this con-
ditional zoning,” she said. “They’re just voting for it because they’re afraid they are going to lose the land to the University of Michigan and then they won’t get the tax payer dollars.” Because the University is public, all of the land it owns is tax exempt. As the University buys up land, the purchases cut into the city’s tax revenues, which has prompted concerns from the city. Kailasapathy raised concerns regarding the plan’s lack of detail, specifically citing the acreage allocated for parklands, how the city will be paid, and a traffic mitigation agreement. “How could we vote on this when it is not linked to some other document?” she said. “We need to know the ramifications of this.” In response to the concerns, Kevin McDonald, senior assistant city attorney, said many of the issues cited with the conditional zoning agreement could be addressed in the site plan. Despite the concerns, the council approved the conditional zoning agreement 6 to 4. Councilmember Sabra Briere (D–Ward 2) noted the benefits of securing this agreement now, as it prevents the development company from making any significant changes moving forward without the council’s approval. “This locks the developer into producing exactly the site plan we approve,” she said. “If he fails to do that, the zoning falls through, and no other developer can build on that land unless they’re doing exactly the same thing within a certain amount of time.”
as what’s going to happen.” Kris Steinhoff, lead developer at DIG, said he was interested by the students’ unique take on projects already in the works. “From the comments that I’ve overheard, they’ve been proposing a number of ideas that we’ve been discussing separately,” Steinhoff said. “It’s really interesting to see that they’re coming up with some of the same ideas that we’ve had, but it’s also interesting to see their unique take on those problems.” McKay said he constantly finds that students rise to the occasion when presented with a challenge. “Every time I give students the chance to just contribute, they do that in a way that amazes me,” he said. “I used to think that I had to shape the student experience more, but the more I provide students with the open spaces to contribute, the more successful they seem.”
Mary Fales, senior assistant city attorney, evaluates liquor license requests at the Liquor License Review Committee meeting in the City Council chambers on Friday
By RIYAH BASHA
COUNCIL From Page 1A
from Physics 140 and Physics 240. LSA senior Alexander Verros said certain variables became insignificant when analyzed together. “When you start adding interactions, the first thing that becomes insignificant is high school GPA,” Verros said. “But the most insignificant thing was actually the interaction between college GPA, major and sex.” At the end of the event, both teams presented their findings and outlined how they would proceed with their work if they had more time. McKay, the founder of the hackathon, discussed the uses of the students’ ideas for academics at the University. “A lot of people talk about this as grade prediction, which is scary and negative in a lot of ways, so I try to speak about this as learning from experience,” McKay said. “If we know you are headed for trouble we should treat it as something to act on, not
The city’s Liquor License Review Committee met Friday at City Hall to discuss, among other items of business, the legality of Trolley Pub Ann Arbor, the pedal-powered vehicle that began running city tours in September. Trolley Pub’s business model encourages customers to bring their own drinks, but also makes intermittent stops at bars and popular destinations downtown. Trolley Pub’s current operations are completely legal, following a law signed by Gov. Rick Snyder (R) in July that permits consumption of beer and wine by individuals on pedal pubs. The city could, however, pass an ordinance to make the practice illegal. The meeting marked the first formal introduction of Trolley Pub’s managing partner, Amanda Swan, to the committee. Swan, a 26-yearold Detroit resident, has already been in regular contact with the Ann Arbor Police Department to establish a positive working relationship. “I’d like to take responsibility to initiate contact and be on good terms with the city,” she said during the meeting. As a driver present on all tours, Swan helps steer and direct the
14-person bike, and monitors drinking passengers. Patrons must sign waivers in advance, are carded upon boarding and are not allowed to bring any hard liquor or glass bottles on board. The committee, composed of three voting members, weighed two main options: regulating drinks or an outright ban on serving alcohol. City Councilmember Sumi Kailasapathy (D– Ward 1) expressed concern about allowing Trolley Pub to continue operation unchecked. “This is a real serious issue for me, people drinking and on the streets,” Kailasapathy said. “Our police force is already so stretched. I don’t give lip service to the people who protect us.” AAPD Lieutenant Renee Bush acknowledged the potential difficulty in dealing with unruly passengers on the streets, as Trolley Pub has the authority to remove riders at the driver’s discretion. Because the company is the first of its kind in Ann Arbor, Bush and Swan have had to work closely together to analyze pedestrian patterns and traffic. “(Swan) has been very amenable to my suggestions, and I appreciate (her) willingness to reach out,” Bush said. “These are uncharted waters we are on.” Trolley Pub operates in five other cities across the country, including campus towns such as Madison, Wis., and Raleigh, N.C. In drafting an ordinance, the committee will not only look to other cities’ policies, but also consider the opinions of major stakeholders, such as busi-
ness associations, city public services and safety administration, and the University. Mary Fales, senior assistant city attorney, shared preliminary comments from some of the entities. “The Main Street Association is generally favorable to regulation … and the University wasn’t particularly interested in having operation of commercial quadricycles on ‘University streets,’ ” Fales said. Swan agreed it would be wise to avoid University traffic, especially on game days, and does not take the trolley into the vicinity of congested pedestrian areas such as near State Street or the Michigan Stadium. Even if the review committee votes to ban alcohol from the pedal pubs all together, Trolley Pub would still run tours. “It’s not as profitable, but the model works without alcohol,” Swan said. Committee Chair Jane Lumm (I–Ward 2) stressed that it would take time to finalize an ordinance, as the next meeting is scheduled for sometime in November. In the meantime, Trolley Pub and the city will work together to map approved routes and institute safety practices. “There’s so many unknowns and public safety for everyone is critical,” Lumm said. “We’re trying to do this thoughtfully and purposefully.” Despite concerns, Swan said she is dedicated to promoting the service in the city. “My personal goal is to integrate Trolley Pub into Ann Arbor,” Swan said. “I’m willing to work with whoever and whenever.”
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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.
The overlooked voices
T
ucked away in some of my favorite in-between-class hideaways, I recently devoted spare moments of my time to reading “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Each time I began to thumb through its pages, the sight of me reading this particular novel seemed to spark multiple renditions of the same conversation. Roommates, friends, classmates and coworkers — usually MELISSA sporting a perplexed SCHOLKE look — approached me asking some variation of the question: “Haven’t you read this before?” Most tended to be satisfied (and some relieved) when I informed them that I was, in fact, re-reading it for a class. Considering the book’s prominent, solidified position among the litany of texts students often read as a part of their high school or middle school curriculum, I can understand why some might find it odd if I was reading it for the first time. However, as my professor suggested, as continually evolving individuals, we experience aspects of a novel differently as time progresses and views shift. There’s merit in re-examining a world you originally believed you saw in its entirety. Yes, the same characters may be acting within the same plot, but just as it is with the world, one glance doesn’t tell the whole story. To fully understand a book, a situation, an issue or even a person, you can’t rely solely upon your initial vantage point. A second, third or fourth look is necessary to uncover what you may have overlooked before, underscoring the notion that learning is a continuous process and, no matter how much one may think they understand or see, there’s probably something missing from the conversation. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is known for its discussions of racism, injustice, prejudice and empathy, and for capturing the atmosphere of an entire period of U.S. history. This isn’t what my class focused on. Instead, we talked about visibility. Our conversation centered on the interplay between who’s seen, who isn’t, who deserves to be visible and why they are or aren’t. Sight and its accompanying array of dimensions and dynamics foster a prioritization of ideas and people. Visibility is arguably often a determinant of worth — what’s worth devoting attention to and what ideas stimulate action, receive support or are even publicly rejected. Who or what is seen in our media landscape, or in government, is a reflection of the balance of power and control in society as a whole. Recently, Elle UK released a video online that plays with these dynamics of visibility. The simple exercise in Photoshop
illustrates that what you don’t see is often more important than what you do. The video showcases photographic stills of governing bodies, producers, creators and other groups, and then it alters the image by removing all of the men within the picture to reveal a sparse scattering of women surrounded by multitudes of empty space. The short video certainly succeeds in highlighting discrepancies with regard to gender representation. On one hand, one look at the unaltered images tells a viewer that female representation is present in a number of environments. However, when one looks again from a different perspective, vast empty spaces that a male majority usually occupies overpower this now-seemingly miniscule population of women. While women are visible, the disproportionate representation of men leads to a problematic scenario in which a few outnumbered individuals are responsible for standing for their entire group. This scenario can be seen across numerous groups and communities. In the media landscape, the inclusion of diverse representation often results in another problematic scenario in which the select number of visible individuals in a group often falls within stereotypes that aren’t reflective of the group at all. Visibility is a complicated issue with a variety of consequences. While making one’s presence known allows for the acknowledgement of their accomplishments, ideas and opinions, it likewise creates a space where one is like an ant thrust beneath the gaze of a magnifying glass. Being noticed in the public eye creates an atmosphere of exposure that can invite scrutiny and make individuals susceptible to criticism. Yet without this recognition, unequal representation, in a multitude of areas, will continue to silence voices that have been neglected for far too long. Our perceptions of who “normally” is seen and heard within the public sphere inhibits debates and discussions. The underrepresented never even have the chance to exist. Even when representation exists and there’s a space for these discussions, a lack of diversity may lead to an absence of underlying conversations and issues. Simply altering or slightly modifying the pictures of society that we see isn’t a sufficient method that we should accept when re-shaping society. Often in a book, the characters who truly force readers to consider viewpoints and ideas that deviate from the norm are those who are barely visible in the text. In fact, these characters are usually the ones readers don’t notice the first time through. If we truly want to address problematic issues and change society, we need to re-examine the larger narratives at play and increase the visibility of overlooked voices.
The underrepresented never even have the chance to exist.
IN CHAN LEE
— Melissa Scholke can be reached at melikaye@umich.edu.
E-mail In Chan at tokg@umich.edu
“I
think I have seen your article in the Daily. You write for Michigan in Color right?” I have heard this comment too many times for it to be a coincidence. As I calmly explain that I was not hired to write for Michigan in Color — which is RABAB a section of the JAFRI Daily devoted to people of color — and that instead I’m an opinion columnist, I wonder what would lead so many people to the same conclusion. It may be because I write about my religious and cultural backgrounds, but to think that the subject matter of my articles would take people to that conclusion so often is still off-putting to me. Maybe it’s the mere fact that I’m a person of color and a writer, and they saw my writing in the Opinion section. Please do not misunderstand me. I respect MiC and highly encourage people to submit articles to the section. It’s a great space for people to write about their backgrounds and genuine experiences within their ethnicities and cultural backgrounds — I have even considered contributing to it before. However, what I do not like is the idea that MiC is the only place that people of color are expected to talk about their backgrounds, or that people of color at The Michigan Daily seem confined to writing only for MiC. Discussion of culture shouldn’t be limited to one section of the paper, nor is it in actuality. People write about their backgrounds in other sections of the paper, and when I do the same, it’s because it’s my preference. When one expresses their religion in a way that’s as visible as a hijab, it “colors” everything that person does. Any time I speak, I unwillingly become the
spokesperson for all 1.57 billion Muslims. Any time my column shows up in the Daily, or someone adds me on social media, before they hit that follow button, the first thing they see is my hijab. In most ways, I love my hijab, what it represents to me and the satisfaction of getting through to someone who had negative misconceptions about it previously. At the same time, it can get tiring being the “token Muslim girl” in class discussions, or even in the Daily’s Opinion section. The weight of it can be overwhelming, but it proves more flaws on society’s part than my own. Imagine what this might feel like for a moment. Chances are that you can relate to that feeling in some way — being discredited just because of your appearance. Yes, I’m a Muslim. Yes, I often write about my culture and my background, breaking misconceptions surrounding them because it’s important to me. No, I do not see that as an excuse for you to confine me to the ideas that you have about Muslims or people of color in general. When you are the token Muslim girl you also become the token “Arab girl” even if, as in my case, you’re not Arab. My roots in India go back about three generations, but even before that generation, I’m still Persian before reaching my Arab roots. Ethnicity and culture are not just skin deep. To begin understanding the complexity of ethnicity and culture is important when approaching people of different backgrounds than one’s own. Truthfully, unless you can trace your ancestors to the very home you live in right now, the chances are that your roots begin somewhere else. This is important to think about before painting somebody
else with a large brush just for what they look like on the surface. Sometimes when I do not fit the label people already precomputed for me, they stare at me in awe: “No, you cannot be Indian!” If I say I’m not Middle Eastern, people often argue, “Pakistan is considered part of the Middle East to some people” (which is false, unless you want to consider the Indian subcontinent a part of the Middle East). Though it isn’t plausible for you to know the roots of every person that you meet before inquiring about their culture, it’s critically important to be respectfully unassuming. Listen to people with an open mind, and if they tell you what their background is, believe them — don’t question them with skepticism. I have been told to write less about my background. I have been asked why I feel the need to self-victimize. Time and time again, people have written off my accomplishments after one look at me, but I’m empowered just the same, and continue to hope that my writing inspires people in a multitude of ways. Explaining that just because I write about my religion and ethnicity does not mean that I write for MiC is just another hurdle to get through as I try to reach people through writing quality columns spanning a variety of subjects. True, this might be another column about my background and it may have fit well in MiC’s section, but it fits just as well here: the 1,000-word space I was hired to write for every two weeks in the Opinion section at a 125-year-old, editorially independent newspaper.
True, this column may have fit well in MiC’s section, but it fits just as well here.
— Rabab Jafri can be reached at rfjafri@umich.edu.
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 MARY KATE WINN | VIEWPOINT
Piper the privileged prisoner My interest in criminal justice policies has taken me to a few talks on the subject over the years. I’ve listened to people tell their stories of life behind bars and how those years have inspired them to seek change. All of these lectures have been informative and fascinating. Last Tuesday, however, was the first time I’ve seen hordes of people wait hours outside an auditorium for the chance to hear an advocate for criminal justice reform speak. In fact, it was probably the only educational talk I have seen that filled a large auditorium so quickly and with such an enthusiastic crowd. But such is the power of Piper Kerman, the writer of the memoir that inspired the hit TV show “Orange is the New Black.” Kerman is a vocal prison reform activist who uses her experience behind bars, through the TV show and her memoir that depict it, to shine a light on the fundamental flaws of our nation’s criminal justice system. She’s also undoubtedly a celebrity; the show (loosely) based on Kerman’s life experience is a massive hit, and she has 112,000 followers on Twitter. It’s hard for me to reconcile these two identities, especially given that Kerman was not the typical U.S. prisoner, and her experience as a prisoner doesn’t reflect the pain and suffering felt by many of those incarcerated. Mass incarceration, after all, is a problem that disproportionately affects communities of color and poor communities. Kerman, on the other hand, is white, wealthy and college-educated. People like Kerman (and me) are less likely to end up in jail or prison because our privilege makes us unlikely to be caught committing a crime and, if we are caught, less likely to be punished for it. When rich white people commit crimes, it’s often viewed as a fool-
ish mistake or some kind of fluke. The same cannot be said for people of other backgrounds. And, if the wealthy do end up being charged, they can afford effective representation. Kerman’s sentence was short because she could afford an attorney who could fight to get her the minimum sentence. Few people who end up in prison are that lucky, and her view of the prison system is undeniably a privileged one. But the story of a white woman from a good family who ends up in prison is a story that people will listen to. In her interview with The Michigan Daily, Kerman acknowledged that the reason people are interested in her story is because it’s a “fish-out-of-water story.” Everybody knows that people like Kerman don’t go to jail. So, when they do, we’re interested. Her whiteness and wealth may make her ill-suited to be the face for prison reform, but these are the reasons that people are listening in the first place. Kerman is well aware of her privilege, and uses it as a tool. She says she wrote “Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison” so that somebody who usually wouldn’t pick up a book about prison would be curious and find themselves empathizing with prisoners and caring about criminal justice reform. It did just that. The popularity of “Orange is the New Black,” the book and show, brought complex, sympathetic prisoners of different races and backgrounds into the hearts of millions of Americans. The show is groundbreaking because it portrays prisoners as humans who made mistakes, not evil, dangerous people. The show continues to reveal the depth of humanity that these prisoners are capable of, and Kerman continues to advocate for prison justice reform. And people will keep watching and listening.
Even if it’s hard to stomach that a wealthy, white woman is probably the most famous prison reform advocate in the United States, it’s hard to deny that her activism has helped prison reform make huge strides. Kerman’s somewhat conflicting roles of celebrity and activist have helped the issue reach new ears. Her show is part of the reason that the topic is widely understood as a pressing national issue. So maybe it’s best not to look a gift horse in the mouth. As someone who cares a lot about changing the criminal justice system, I will continue to be grateful for the work that Kerman does. But perhaps it’s time to bring additional voices to the forefront. Kerman does her part by highlighting the stories of other former prisoners who are more representative of our nation’s prison population. Now it’s our turn to make sure the conversation doesn’t end here. Listen to the voices of other people who have experienced the criminal justice system, not just because their stories are interesting, but also because they are important. Listen to a TEDxUofM Talk by Mary Heinen and support the Prison Arts Coalition, the project she co-founded that supports and provides resources for those creating art in and around the prison system. Be a part of the Prison Creative Arts Project, a similar program that is housed in the University’s Residential College. Do your own research to find out how you can best help prisoners or reform prisons. Don’t be content to take “Orange is the New Black” at face value: The plotlines on the show may be fictional, but the pain felt by the characters as a result of their incarceration is far from make-believe. Mary Kate Winn is a Public Policy junior and an assistant editorial page editor.
Arts & Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FILM REVIEW
‘Mommy’ scares with disturbance Messed-up Austrian horror film will bend your mind By BEN ROSENSTOCK Daily Arts Writer
Like most modern horror films, the new Austrian film “Goodnight Mommy” aims more to be dis- B+ turbing than genuinely scary. Goodnight After some early Mommy atmospheric thrills, the film RADiUS turns to blood, gore and body State Theatre horror. Still, “Goodnight Mommy” offers conclusive proof that horror built on mind-bending twists and sheer fucked-upedness can be just as effective as horror built on sustained terror. After an unspecified accident that left her badly hurt, a nameless mother (Susanne Wuest, “Antares”) undergoes a serious operation, leaving her face wrapped in bandages. After finding mysterious photographs and observing their mother’s strangely cold behavior, identical twins Elias and Lukas (newcomers Elias and Lukas Schwarz) begin to suspect that the woman in their house is an entirely different person from their mother. Over the course of the film, the twins make it their mission to figure out this new woman’s identity and locate their real mom. The first half of “Goodnight Mommy” follows a familiar pattern in horror. It’s a normal day until strange things start popping up. Gradually the events become odder and more sinister until they climax in bloodshed and insanity. Elias and Lukas’s mother imposes strict bedtime rules, completely lacking the warmth they remember, and in one scene featuring a game like 20 Questions, she fails to guess that the person they’re describing is herself. By the time half of the film has passed, Elias
RADIUS
He’s from the rough side of ‘Where the Wild Things Are.’
and Lukas are determined to find their real mother. If the first half seems predictable, its slow pace is easily made tolerable by a few key details. Writer-directors Veronika Franz (“Dog Days”) and Severin Fiala (“Kern”) are fantastic at creating atmosphere; the film’s secluded setting in a house far from town is almost always framed in broad daylight, which somehow seems even more threatening than in darkness. The trees shake softly in the wind, the pond’s surface gently rippling, and Olga Neuwirth’s score is kept to a minimum to disquieting effect. Another big strength of the slow build-up is the dynamic between Elias and Lukas. As the protagonists, the Schwarz twins convey a deep bond with few words. What’s most refreshing about their fear of their mother’s impostor is how naturally and understatedly it develops. There’s no artificial revelatory moment when the characters find one final piece of proof that the woman isn’t their mother. They begin to accept it slowly and without melodrama. When one twin lies crying on the bed, the other tenderly lays a hand on his side. Before long, the twins are calmly preparing for battle, sharpening sticks as makeshift weapons and sleeping in shifts. Elias and Lukas are fascinating in their silent drawing of conclusions, unusual in
a genre filled with brash, ignorant protagonists unequipped to discover the obvious truth. After the halfway point, though, “Goodnight Mommy” dives into insanity, bombarding viewers with unsettling images and incredulous revelations. The shock of some twists will depend entirely on viewers’ prior experience searching for twist endings. In retrospect, some are foreshadowed to the point of obviousness, but thanks to the film’s dedication to misdirection, it’s easy to ignore the signs pointing there. Though third-act realizations answer some questions, and though the film leaves its characters’ fates clear, there are threads throughout the story that remain unexplained and ambiguous. Many of these can be explained psychologically without any strict logistical sense, but some red herrings don’t quite fit with the truth in any apparent way. References to the past are kept vague, like the nature of the mother’s accident. The film’s understated quality may be both its greatest strength and its greatest flaw; though highly retentive viewers looking for closure may crave handy flashbacks explaining the entire backstory, “Goodnight Mommy” is ultimately a better movie because it refuses to spell everything out.
TV REVIEW
‘Jane the Virgin’ still a crowd-pleasing hit By BEN ROSENSTOCK Daily Arts Writer
“Jane the Virgin,” one of the most exciting new shows of last year, has finally returned as hilarious, fun and poignant as ever. After a 22-epi- Asode first season that ate up Jane the plot at a frantic Virgin pace, it was hard not to wonder if Season 2 the show would Premiere come back and Mondays struggle to find at 9 p.m. a new story to tell. Judging by The CW this premiere, though, “Jane” is as fast-paced as ever, still maintaining its big laughs and big emotional beats. Where we last left off, Jane Villaneuva (Gina Rodriguez, “Filly Brown”) had just given birth to a son, who was promptly kidnapped by an employee of criminal mastermind Sin Rostro. “Chapter 23,” the second season premiere, follows Jane and her two love interests, ex-fiancé Michael (Brett Dier, “Ravenswood”) and babydaddy Rafael (Justin Baldoni, “Everwood”), as they search for baby Mateo. It would be difficult to maintain the show’s sense of fun if Jane’s son remained missing for long, so it’s a bit of a relief to have Mateo back in his mother’s arms after roughly 10 minutes of the premiere. Luckily, that particular story, like every other story on “Jane the Virgin,” is told efficiently and quickly, and its conclusion only means the show has more time to explore other
plots. After Jane’s father, telenovela star Rogelio (Jaime Camil, “The Poor, Rich Family”), tweets about Mateo’s kidnapping, paparazzi begin bombarding Jane outside her home. Meanwhile, Michael reluctantly gives Rafael advice that may bring him closer to Jane, and Rafael’s ex-wife, Petra (Yael Grobglas, “Reign”), plans to inseminate herself with Rafael’s one remaining sperm sample. All of these subplots are as entertaining and funny as ever, and the Latin Love Narrator (still fantastically voiced by Anthony Mendez, Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Narrator) helps keep them straight with his helpful and self-aware voiceover. Still, amid all the soap opera drama with drunken Vegas weddings and secret inseminations, the most poignant scenes are the ones focused on the understated drama of Jane’s role as a new mother. Throughout the episode, Jane struggles with the seemingly halted production of her breastmilk, and worries that Mateo weighs too little. The heart of “Jane the Virgin,” more than theatrical murder plots and passionate romance, has always been the relationships among the three Villaneuva women, and it’s heartwarming to once again see Jane’s mother and grandmother, Xo (Andrea Navedo, “One Life to Live”) and Alba (Ivonne Coll, “Glee”), comfort her throughout her first week as a mother. Rodriguez invests Jane’s private domestic conflicts with such heart and feeling that when her milk does finally come out, it’s just as powerful and significant as a romantic embrace. One of the best side effects of the show’s swift pace is that
characters’ secrets don’t remain hidden for very long. In a lesser show, Xo and Rogelio would keep their Vegas wedding secret from Jane until the season finale, but in one of the few moments of downtime late in the episode, Xo admits the truth to Jane and Alba, who laugh it off and tease her. On a smaller scale, Rafael readily admits to Jane that Michael was the one who gave him fatherly advice, so Jane isn’t tempted to see Rafael with rosecolored glasses. Speaking of which, “Jane the Virgin” may have the best love triangle on TV. In a different version of this same show, Michael might be the whiny, unfunny second choice, bland compared to Rafael’s charismatic playboy persona. Viewers are given reasons to love both Rafael and Michael, though. Michael may not have the sexual magnetism of Rafael (exemplified by Baldoni’s shirtless torso as he cradles Mateo near the end), but his chemistry with Jane is just as passionate, emphasized with playful jokes that show their genuine connection. Sure, Michael is the clear “nice guy” type, but he’s not the boring sap that phrase sometimes implies. Besides, some of the funniest scenes depict the adorable bromance between Michael and Rogelio, one of the best character pairings in the show. “Chapter 23” kicks off the second season of “Jane the Virgin” by giving viewers what they want: countless laughs, ridiculously fast-moving plotlines and a sense of joy that characterizes few other shows on television. It’s going to be a great season.
M
Wednesday, October 21, 2015 — 5A
Speaking clearly
y older sister Theresa got married two weeks ago, and my sister Michelle was the maid of honor. Theresa, the bride, was calm. Michelle was not. For Michelle, the wedding was the culmination of 12 months of planning. She had survived the Vegas bachelorette party. The flowers arrived in Milwaukee and were arranged just so. Two days before the wedding, she FaceTimed me. “The speech,” she cried. “I TOM forgot about the speech.” WEST I led her through some breathing exercises I remembered from a video about giving birth. “In through the nose,” I said, ad-libbing. “Out … through the nose.” Public speaking isn’t one of Michelle’s talents. She has enough of them. She’s a nurse at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago and much brighter than me or Theresa. But Michelle also had a childhood speech impediment. It left her with an acute phobia of public speaking. She perfected her speech through years of speech therapy. That, and intensive bullying by me and my sister Theresa. “Mithelle thells thea thells down by the thea thore,” we’d mock when she did her speech exercises. I regret that now, but, you know, kids can be cruel, especially shitty kids like me and Theresa. You can bully children out of anything. Theresa and Michelle bullied me out of my Britney Spears phase. Michelle and I bullied Theresa out of calling mom “Mommy” when she was 14. It’s a natural part of the sibling ecosystem. The difference was my mom never stepped in when Theresa and I got picked on. But if we mocked Michelle’s S sounds, my mom would explode. It was a guaranteed grounding at the least. “She never stands up for us,” we’d grumble on the way to our rooms. “It’s not our fault the girl can’t thpeak.” We didn’t understand the trauma that comes with speech problems and why my mom was so protective. Theresa and I were 12 and eight, respectively. To us, it was blatant favoritism. Soon Michelle’s speech problems became the nuclear bomb of West family fights. You could whip it out once every few years, and only if the situation was approaching critical mass. I used it when Michelle and Theresa threw me into a bedpost. Only after I exhausted all other ammo: “Do you think you’re thtrong? How’s your thpeech class going, Mithelle?” This was years after Michelle perfected her speech, but she still beat the crap out of me. I thought my mom would chain me up in the basement until I was 30. “Do your wortht, woman!” I yelled, laughing manically as she dragged me to my room. I didn’t use the nuclear insult again until I was 19, when I was a sophomore in college. It was December and I was visiting my sisters in Milwaukee. At the time, they both went to college at Marquette University, where my dad had gone. It’s sort of the family school. I grew up a Marquette basketball fan. It was a bit of a shock when I chose to go to Michigan, five hours away from home. My parents were in town for a basketball game, so they took us to get dinner at a restaurant downtown. My sisters and my dad talked about the season so far — I’d stopped watching. I didn’t actually talk much through the meal. Then we headed to the Old German Beer Hall, a Milwaukee stein-and-polka joint. It’s been a Marquette student favorite since my dad was in school in the ’70s. My sister’s friends showed up — my parents knew them pretty well. Again, the conversation strayed into things I knew nothing about. My family talked about Milwaukee bars, sports teams, etc. They referenced nights I’d missed, and they’d have to recount them for me, the Ann Arborite. Since I had nothing to say, I had plenty of time to drink. I worked through a few boots of Hefeweizen. I watched the band play polka
versions of classic rock songs. I hinted to Michelle that I wanted to leave, since I was staying on her couch. She didn’t want to go, but we stumbled to the edge of campus through the snow, toward her apartment. We passed a chili joint called Real Chili and she dragged me inside. Fifty students waited in line for a bowl. “It’s the best chili in Milwaukee,” she said. “Probably in the country. Dad used to come here when he was a student and play Risk in this booth for hours. Theresa and I get it every Friday.” “I get this pizza called South U at Michigan. It’s probably the best pizza in the world,” I lied. “It got like, a bunch of awards. It’s real New York style — not anything you’d get in Milwaukee.” She wasn’t paying attention. She pointed at my bowl of chili. “Here: you’ve gotta mix it up. No — you’re doing it wrong. All the beans are at the bottom. Dad says that’s the best part.” “You don’t have to be thuch a bitch about it Mithelle,” I said. “It’s just thitty thtupid chili.” I slept on a bench outside her apartment that night. We had a screaming match over chili, of all things. You’re not better than this chili! was the central theme, and You can’t turn your back on the family chili, Tommy! Michelle almost went to Michigan, too. She got in, a fact she never lets me forget. When she visited, she said no one looked happy. It was too competitive. Even the partying seemed competitive. So she chose Milwaukee, and the family chili. Milwaukee is a poor city, barring a few lakeshore neighborhoods. Marquette University sits between downtown and the less-privileged neighborhoods. I shared a bench with two other homeless people. But in an hour Michelle came down and picked me up off the bench. I was frozen, drunk and angry and grateful and trying not to be tearful around my sister. She supported me upstairs. I told her that, in a lot of ways, she was right about Michigan. I wasn’t happy sophomore year. I missed feeling smart in high school. I missed feeling athletic. I missed having my best friends. I missed having fun that wasn’t just fucked up times. I missed my family. I didn’t like coming home and feeling like a stranger. Two years after that night, I listened to Michelle nail the maid of honor speech. She told the story of Theresa and Dave’s engagement. It went like this: Dave was about to propose on the shore of Lake Michigan. Then another family came down and started spreading the ashes of a loved one. Dave panicked. He knelt down and proposed anyways, and my whole family (me included) cheered. We felt bad about the family spreading ashes, but it was one of the happiest moments our family has ever had. How could we not cheer? Once the guests stopped laughing, Michelle tied the speech up with a comment about the circle of life. It was flawless. The room loved her comedic timing, her tear-jerking sincerity. They ate it out of her hands. I hated it. As kids, we decided I would be the funny one, Theresa would be the cool one and Michelle could have the brains. But Michelle’s grown out of that role. She can be smart and funny now. Maybe not cool, but give it a few years. Around 3 a.m., after everyone was good and drunk, Theresa ordered three vats of real chili to the hotel. Me, my Dad, Michelle, Theresa and now Dave sat in the lobby and ate. We stayed up talking until Michelle’s head literally hit the table. She was exhausted from 12 months of planning and the greatest wedding speech of all time. Dave has this absurd laugh — it sounds like a hyena getting shock therapy. When I first heard it, I pulled Theresa aside to ask if she knew her boyfriend was a serial killer. Michelle and I probably could have bullied it out of him, though. But we don’t really do that anymore. Because he’s our brother, and we love him.
She perfected her speech through years of speech therapy. That, and intensive bullying.
— Tom West can be reached at tkwest@umich.edu.
Arts
6A — Wednesday, October 21, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
TV REVIEW
FILM COLUMN
‘Fargo’ continues The fear of online streaming evil and violence Characters lash out in Season Two of FX series By MATT BARNAUSKAS Daily Arts Writer
Violence is always bubbling under the surface in “Fargo.” Against the mundane existence of the Minnesota expanse, A viciousness and criminalFargo ity explode in gunfire and Season 2 red blood that Premiere seeps into the Mondays snowy white- at 10 p.m. ness. Driven by FX dissatisfaction and repression, characters lash out violently against their present reality in an attempt to carve out their own chunk of the world, not caring about who’s hurt in the process. These forceful attempts at controlling one’s existence after endless humiliations are perversions of the tale of Job told by the Judge (Ann Cusack, “Nightcrawler”) to Rye Gerhardt (Kieran Culkin, “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”) before the season premiere’s first explosion. Not everyone can take ceaseless indignities — in fact, most can’t. In the first season, Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman, “Sherlock”) struck out against his meek life after being exposed to the influence of Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton, “Sling Blade”). This theme, initially manifested within Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy, “Shameless”) in the Coen Brothers’ 1996 film and continued with Lester in series form by writer Noah Hawley (“Bones”), touches on the trappings of everyday life and the primal drive to gain what people think is theirs. When Rye, the beaten down youngest son of the notoriously criminal Gerhardt clan, snaps and kills the Judge after she strongly rejects his busi-
ness proposition it is the continuation, or predecessor, in a sustained cycle of malevolence. Set in 1979, the second season of “Fargo” is a prequel to the anthology’s first season that took place in 2006. While the events of “Fargo” are terrifying, they aren’t isolated incidents. They’re parts of an endless sequence that’s been going on since before the tale of Job. Hawley controls these recurrent themes through continuously strong characters and a setting that presents a blank canvas for the moral conflict that violently plays out. This excellence in synthesizing themes into the narrative and character arcs makes “Fargo” one of the strongest series on television. To combat the cycle of evil is a constant good that forms the emotional and narrative heart of “Fargo.” Defined by Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson, “The Conjuring”), the father of season one hero Molly (Allison Tolman, “The Gift”) now played by Raven Stewart (“Cracked”), this morality expresses itself in small moments. Moments like Lou reading Molly a bedtime story, father-in-law Hank Larsson’s (Ted Danson, “CSI”) personal knowledge of small-town citizens and the quiet moments of intimacy between Lou and his wife Betsy (Cristin Miloti, “How I Met Your Mother”) during their conversations are small but infinitely sincere and meaningful. It’s this sense of community that keeps the side of good together, even in the face of powerful evils like the Gerhardts and the encroaching Kansas City mob. Stuck in between these sides are the Blomquists, Peggy (Kirsten Dunst, “Melancholia”) and Ed (Jesse Plemons, “Breaking Bad”). The young couple displays both of the sensibilities that could draw them to either side of “Fargo” ’s eternal struggle. Ed’s a simple man, humorously introduced in a sequence that makes ample use of the phrase, “OK then.” He loves his wife and wants to support her through his job as a butcher. Peggy is more complicated, as a sense of
dissatisfaction with her monotonous life seems to pervade every moment of her existence. As evidenced by her plans to take part in self-improvement seminars and a stack of self-help books and magazines, she wants more. While Ed wants to preserve this grounded existence, Peggy has ambitions beyond Ed’s dreams of having kids and owning the butcher shop, and it quietly tears her apart. Hawley’s devotion to detailing his characters with the smallest of particulars crafts a cast of characters that organically fit within the isolated Minnesota environment. In this world, forces push and pull characters towards different sides of a moral compass. While these influences can appear in everyday conversation, a passing compliment or derogatory insult, they can take the form of elements beyond explanation. As a set of mysterious lights resembling a UFO leads Rye out into the road after his diner massacre, the driving force of the unknown comes into play. Peggy’s car slams into the young criminal; in this moment she is tested, choosing to drive off with Rye’s unconscious body still on the windshield. It’s a choice that will lead her and everyone in her immediate circle down a twisting path of tricky ethics. Underneath the conceived simplicity of everyday life, the labyrinthine underworld of “Fargo” plays out. “This thing’s only getting’ bigger,” Lou’s conspiracy-minded friend, Karl Weathers (Nick Offerman, “Parks and Recreation”) says in regards to the murders at the diner. With rival criminal organizations preparing for war and perhaps larger forces of good and evil at work, “Fargo” will only grow more complex as the simple morality of people like Lou will struggle against the complicated lawless element that rears its head. Yet, in the capable hands of Hawley and his team, “Fargo” continuously delivers storytelling excellence that remains unmatched by most of its competitors.
Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, October 21, 2015
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ACROSS 1 Punch kin 4 Refuse 9 Debussy’s sea 12 __ Scotia 14 Makes arrangements for 15 Chopper 16 Three-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee 18 Sleep phase initials 19 1990s Polish president 20 Ocean State sch. 21 California’s __ Valley 22 Master thespian’s skill 25 Pretentious sort 27 Used Grecian Formula on 28 Uses for a fee 29 Civil War nickname 30 Artist’s shade 31 “La Bamba” actor Morales 33 Burroughs’ feral child 35 Welcomes to one’s home 39 Actress Sommer 41 Sets for binge watchers 42 Rapid-fire weapon 43 Fireplace piece 46 Maker of Air Zoom sneakers 48 Eyewear, in ads 49 Brew produced without pesticides 52 Regatta implements 53 Shout of support 54 Burglars’ concerns 57 Former AT&T rival 58 “One Thousand and One Nights” transport 60 See 62-Across 61 Endless, poetically 62 With 60-Across, big name in desserts 63 Harris and Asner 64 Gave the wrong idea 65 Duplicates, briefly ... and a hint to 16-, 22-, 49- and 58-Across
DOWN 1 Once again 2 Latina toon explorer 3 Superhero’s nemesis 4 Long Island Iced __: cocktail 5 Public stature 6 Not sidesaddle 7 Hard to arouse 8 Sweetie pie 9 Ohio county or its seat 10 Not obliged to pay 11 Neglectful 13 Harsh 14 Focus of an annual 26-Down contest 17 Jefferson Davis was its only pres. 21 Mideast chieftain 23 Reply to Bligh 24 Ill-mannered 25 Convened 26 Hoops gp. 30 Drummer Alex Van __ 32 Avoid embarrassment 34 Epsilon followers 36 Large political spending org. 37 Ending with civil or social
38 Put the kibosh on 40 Behind bars 41 Ring result, briefly 43 Help in many a search 44 Like many violent films 45 Goes with the flow 47 Asian MLB outfielder with a record 10 consecutive 200hit seasons
48 Craftsman retailer 50 Really boiling 51 Jeb Bush’s st. 55 Cougar maker, for short 56 Dots on a subway map: Abbr. 58 Voice legend Blanc 59 Channel founded by Turner
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I
remember back in December when “The Interview” was released — all of the talk surrounding the controversial depiction of North Korea and Kim JongUn. But that didn’t bother me; I was more concerned about online streaming. JAMIE Because of BIRCOLL the threat of North Korean “retaliation,” many theaters refused to show the film, but YouTube, in an act of bravery, offered to stream the movie online so it could get a proper release. Though I was thankful YouTube — this binary Reagan — could lay waste to the Communist regimes as in the days of old, I was worried. Was this the future of cinema? Would people resort to online streaming for their movie going needs? Would there even be a reason to leave the house anymore? Would we all end up looking like those flabby, gelatonous humans that “Wall-E” so prophesized? My fears were unfounded: “The Interview” took a major hit at the box office, raking in less than a third of its budget (though Sony contends it recouped its losses through the online rentals), and cinema would go on to have one of its most lucrative summers ever in 2015. I overreact sometimes. But as of this last Friday, cinema faces a similar development: Netflix released its first feature length film, “Beasts of No Nation.” This film, unlike “The Interview” isn’t slapstick satire about daddy issues and poop jokes and general racism. This is a film with award season aspirations, and, based on early reviews, might actually get them. What’s interesting here is Netflix
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is streaming the film online and releasing it in theaters at a later date. And I am deeply curious what exactly happens here: will “Beasts” prove a box office dud? Will it garner the awards attention Netflix thinks it deserves? And how do you measure the success of a film that’s being distributed through an online service that most people already own?
Netflix’s new “Beast of No Nation” is a game changer. These thoughts I had about the future of cinema started to come back. “Beasts of No Nation” isn’t B-movie popcorn trash/a Saturday night timekiller like “The Interview.” The people who watch it aren’t looking for entertainment, they’re curious about what the movie has to say, they want to see what Cary Fukunaga can do as a director with a full length feature, they want to find the substance at the heart of the feature and they want to see Idris Elba continue to be one of the best working actors in the game. “Beasts of No Nation” is a game changer — this is real cinema, coming to you in the comfort of your own home. I can’t say I approve. Moviegoing is an experience, and is something that takes commitment. You have to want it because, when you think about it, moviegoing is kind of ridiculous — it is the act of deliberately going out of your way to pay to stare at a giant screen in a dark room, with the assumption that you will shut yourself off from all contact for a minimum of 90 but upwards of 325 minutes (for at least some films, like Lars Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac”). Further, for nourishment, you will pay exorbitant prices for foodstuffs that lack any nutritional value. Should you need to relieve yourself, the screening that you have paid for will not stop for you; rather, every second spent outside of the theater is a second you are literally flushing down the toilet. And upon your return, when you inquire of your movie going brethren what transpired events you may have missed, you will be promptly
hushed (by me, for example) for daring to speak over the sounds of film. In short, moviegoing requires unspoken rules that absolutely run counter to the freedoms one experiences when watching film at home. But that’s the beauty of the thing. The movie is the be-all and end-all of the excursion: the darkness prevents you from seeing the few extraneous details of the theater; the chairs (especially if they’re the reclining ones many theaters are implementing) force you to look directly at a screen the size of a wall; there is no pause button; you will be publicly shamed when you decide Tinder is a better use of your time. There is, simply, nothing but the movie. It’s immersive — a full-on experience. When you watch a movie at home, at least when it’s your first viewing of that movie, you’ve really missed an important element of its full force — something is lost on your television. And I get that sometimes you can’t make it to the theater, or you just didn’t care enough to go. But urgency or convenience shouldn’t outweigh the complete experience of movie going.
Real cinema is coming to your home — I can’t say I approve. What I’m trying to say is this: don’t watch “Beasts of No Nation” on Netflix, wait for the theatrical release. Don’t give studios the idea that convenience is more important than the movie itself. Believe it or not, the consumer does have power in this business. I understand that streaming new releases won’t singlehandedly kill the business, but it is symptomatic of a shift in what we as a movie-going culture care about. I get that accessibility and speed and “move or die” is what matters today. But they got something very right in 1905 when the Nickelodeon opened in Pittsburgh, and it’s something worth preserving and continuing. Bircoll is surfing the binary Reagan. If you’re a true American, email your open carry permit to jbircoll@umich.edu.
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Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 21, 2015 — 7A
TV REVIEW
‘Kingdom’ a gritty knock-out drama
ALBUM REVIEW
One-two punch of moving story and impressive acting By BENJAMIN ROSENSTOCK Daily Arts Writer
First impression quiz: there’s a show called “Kingdom” starring Disney-turned-“Jealous” popstar Nick Jonas. There’s fightAing involved, some famKingdom ily drama and a lot of sweat Season 2 and muscles Premiere popping out Wednesdays of v-necks. If at 9 p.m. you’re imagining an amped- Audience Network up version of “Camp Rock” with a “Fight Club” theme, I’m right there with you. Thankfully, Audience Network’s “Kingdom” is a far cry from guitar riffs and teenage angst, despite Jonas’s presence. There’s a different kind of angst at Navy St., a mixed martial arts gym in Venice Beach — a fighter’s angst, driven by a terrifying will to both kill and support others. Ringleader Alvey Kulina (Frank Grillo, “Warrior”) owns and runs the gym, now expanded since season one, with the help of his pregnant sometimes-girlfriend and talented manager, Lise (Kiele Sanchez, “The Purge: Anarchy”), who happens to be the ex-fiance of one of their best fighters, an ex-convict named Ryan (Matt Luria, “Friday Night Lights”). Joining Ryan in the ring are Alvey’s two sons, Jay (Jonathan Tucker, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) and Nate (Nick Jonas), who are fighting to win their father’s approval and support their troubled mother, Christina (Joanna Going, “The Tree of Life”), the estranged wife of Alvey who is haunted by a drug addiction and a past of prostitution. While Christina works double shifts in a lifeless burger joint, her sons are paid to fight. Though the fighters’ job is destructive by definition, it steers them away — Jay especially — from even more dangerous hobbies, like drugs
INTERSCOPE
Microphone Mouth devastates dozens of lives every year.
AUDIENCE NETWORK
“You’re not just a Jonas! You’re a star on the Audience Network!”
and crime. Their power in the ring and in society comes from their prestige, a solid record of wins over losses in strategically arranged matches. But their value falls when an opponent backs out of a fight, as Jay’s does in the season two premiere.
A lot of sweat and muscles popping out of v-necks. When the fight is cancelled, and with his pride hurt, Jay furiously turns to drinking and cocaine, waiving his responsibility to support his mother’s sobriety by the fact that she is working a double shift that day. During his drugfueled rampage, Jay reveals the reality of fighting and what it means to him, in Freudian terms. Essentially, fighting is an outlet for repressed emotions: feelings of worthlessness in society, anger at his parents and himself, anxiety that he isn’t the role model for Nate that he wants to be. Jay’s emotions are bottled up without this outlet, forcing him to abuse drugs and alcohol to distract himself. But if his fights continue to cancel, Jay’s binges will worsen — a risk not to only his physical and mental
health, but to his job status and family relationships. Jay’s dynamic character, as both a brutal fighter and agonized son, parallels the show itself: where “Kingdom” could have strictly been a testosteronepumped show about fighting, it rounds itself out with deep emotions and vulnerability, giving the characters something to fight for and the audience a reason to root for them. Though the show is dominated by men, set in the overly masculine world of physical fighting, the women of the show are equally as ferocious. Though she doesn’t fight herself, Lise has an eye for talent in the ring and will stop at nothing to get who and what she wants. Christina, in some ways Lise’s counterpart, revels in her independence, though it often leads to dangerous choices. Joining them this season is Alicia Mendez (Natalie Martinez, “End of Watch”), a talented fighter who is recruited by Lise, giving a breath of badass girl power to the fight ring. “Kingdom” came into the TV ring as an underdog. In the midst of family sitcoms and high-drama crime powerhouses, a small-network show about underground fighting that stars a teenage heartthrob is questionable at best. But with a onetwo punch of moving drama and impressive acting, “Kingdom” might just be a knockout.
‘Dopamine’ a strong debut from BØRNS By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY Daily Arts Writer
BØRNS’s debut studio album, Dopamine, is a sleeper album — at first listen it’s a typical indie-pop-rock record, but A with increased exposure, it Dopamine comes into its own. Extreme- BØRNS ly cohesive, Interscope nearly to the point of vast similarity, Dopamine plays much like an indie romance film. It doesn’t have an extravagant budget or A-list cameos, but at its core, it’s a story worth hearing — over and over again. Opener “10,000 Emerald Pools,” as the name may suggest, feels submersive; between the prominent bass line, relaxed lyrics and underlying excitement brought through by the electric guitar and soaring vocals, it pulls you in without telling you what’s to come. It also sets the tone for the album with its sweet, romanticized lyrics “You’re all I need to breathe … all I need is you.” “Electric Love” is the ridiculously-in-love montage within Dopamine’s love story, its shining moment coming in the prechorus when the instruments all but fade out behind the quiet lines “and every night my mind is running around her / Thun-
‘Lucky Stars’ a bad follow-up By REGAN DETWILER Daily Arts Writer
Just two months after their August release of Depression Cherry, the indie-dream-pop duo Beach House announced Oct. B 7 the release of Thank Your Thank Lucky Stars, Your Lucky which came out only a Stars week after the Beach House announcement, the band say- Sub Pop ing they didn’t want to release it with a traditional campaign. Beach House wanted Thank Your Lucky Stars to “simply enter the world and exist.” As the a fairly sadder conclusion to the simplicity Depression Cherry was searching for, the newest release does seem to, well, simply exist. Depression Cherry was a mellowed out Beach House reverting to its synth and slide-guitar roots. Teen Dream and Bloom have driven them into the spotlight in front of larger audiences in bigger venues, which the band said was taking an emotional toll. If they weren’t already emotional-verging-onspiritual, Depression Cherry took them beyond the verge. Their statements about the album were extensive and heartfelt, from quotes that the band felt “relate to the feeling and themes of this record,” to a track listing with selected lyrics. The music was more mellow than most of Teen Dream or Bloom, described by the band as “a color, a place, a feeling, an energy … that describes the place you arrive as you move through the endlessly varied trips of existence.”
Thank Your Lucky Stars seems inextricably linked to the spirituality of its predecessor. The tracks on Depression Cherry leave listeners unsure of whether they’re serene or melancholy, serenely melancholy or melancholically serene, and Thank Your Lucky Stars exacerbates this tension between happiness in sadness or sadness in happiness. It actually sways listeners closer to simple sadness in sadness with titles like “Elegy to the Void.” Written directly after but recorded at the same time as Depression Cherry, it’s just not quite as good. With more of a gristly electric guitar — “gristly” being a relative term since this is Beach House we’re talking about — its songs don’t have quite the same perfectly, unassumingly, smoothly and ethereally rhythmic quality that tracks like “Sparks” have on Depression Cherry. Instead they reveal a harder, choppier, more definitively melancholy — but not quite definitively melancholy — side to the hopeful emptiness hinted upon in its August predecessor. Just like the larger crowds and larger venues yielded by earlier albums, Thank Your Lucky Stars may remind the group adn their listeners that too much of a good thing can leave you feeling a bit empty — perhaps beautifully, ethereally, dreamily and softly scintillatingly — but empty nonetheless. Beach House may want to wait a while before giving any more of their pleasing but emotionally dense material to listeners: let the white-capped wave of their latest two releases crash and ebb, then a refreshing new rhythm may begin again.
ALBUM REVIEW
SUB POP
der’s getting louder and louder.” “American Money” builds its own value within its depth. The darkness in the first verse yearns for the assurance in its denouement “you are my lover for life.” And it’s that short journey that builds to the ecstasy of the track’s chorus. Over the next two choruses, the money only feels greener and the paradise sweeter. Dopamine takes a few moments to experience a catharsis in slow-burning, nondescript “The Emotion.” What emotion? All of them. It’s not sadness or loneliness or emptiness or even hopefulness. It’s all of these and none of these — it’s feeling whatever there is to feel and feeling it wholly. The slight change in energy between the choruses showcases the ephemeralness of most emotions in the greater picture. But, not long after, the euphoric love returns on “Past Lives.” Celebrating the perfection of fate, a quick bassline assisted by a handful of synths the track leaves butterflies in the stomach and one line in listeners’ heads: “Our love is deeper than the oceans of water.” Title-track “Dopamine” is clearly the orgasmic, climactic, most-intense track on the album as told by its heavy production. It’s the culmination of this musical high that is BØRNS and the story he crafts throughout the LP. It says explicitly what the
other tracks failed to make as painfully obvious as it is. “I wanna feel that stream of dopamine … baby can you take away my pain.” Because isn’t that one the best of a romance? You feel ridiculously (maybe even stupidly) happy and that person somehow manages to take away the pain, whatever it may be. Even though ‘Dopamine’ was the musical climax, the physical sex of the album was saved for “Overnight Sensation.” Dominated by keys and percussion, the track wants you to know it’s about sex, but the physicality is rooted so deeply in Garrett Borns’ emotions (and the listeners’ for that matter) that it maintains its sweetness. “The Fool” closes the album in the same way credits end a movie. It’s the “all the hard stuff looks like it’s over, let’s dance” finale. The slight ’70s grooves, light delivery and intermittent clapping doesn’t allow listeners to decide its emotion — it decides for itself. Dopamine is one of those albums that loses much of its artistic depth if it’s never listened to in its chronological entirety. BØRNS’ sound is original and, over the album’s 40 minutes, it deviates within itself but never beyond. However, the story woven within the tracks and just the right amount of surprises throughout to keep it playing all the way through — and possibly all weekend.
Sports
8A — Wednesday, October 21, 2015
MICHIGAN From Page 1A “They played their guts out,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. “We played winning football, overcame so much … we messed up that play at the end. “(I) told them to have resolve, put steel in their spines, and we’ll move forward.” For much of the game, little went right for the 12th-ranked Wolverines (2-1 Big Ten, 5-2 overall). Few of the eight reviews were overturned in their favor, and they lost one of their captains, senior linebacker Joe Bolden, to ejection following a controversial targeting call. But still, behind strong performances on special teams and defense, Michigan never trailed and was about to hold off the Spartans for a 23-21 win. That is, until the last play. In a play that will be remembered in the state of Michigan for generations, O’Neill’s frantic fumble was
recovered by safety Jalen WattsJackson with 10 seconds left. A swarm of Spartans protected the redshirt freshman as he scrambled 38 yards into the end zone and Michigan State lore. Though the game grew more hectic by the quarter, it began as a prototypical Big Ten slugfest. Michigan mustered just three plays in the first quarter and 92 yards in the first half, but held a 10-7 lead at the break. The first review of the game came on senior fullback Sione Houma’s two-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 early in the second quarter. The play stood, but the Wolverines weren’t as lucky on the second review just minutes later, when Bolden was ejected from the game for a controversial targeting call that Harbaugh later called “hard to fathom.” Michigan State scored its first touchdown just two plays later. The third quarter saw a more open playbook for the Wolverines — the highlight of which came when redshirt freshman safety Jabrill
Peppers took his first offensive carry 28 yards to Michigan State’s 3-yard line. Junior running back De’Veon Smith appeared to find the end zone on the next two plays, but both were called back upon review. Houma found the end zone again on the next play, though that play, too, was reviewed. That time, the call was not overturned. The Spartans outgained the Wolverines, 386-230, and looked stronger than any team had in the passing game against Michigan. Instead, strong special teams kept Michigan on top. Former walkon and senior kicker Kenny Allen tallied a career-high three field goals, Peppers compiled 116 return yards and O’Neill averaged nearly 45 yards on seven punts. “The guys brought big play to a big game,” Harbaugh said. “There were calls that were made, calls that weren’t made, but the guys kept fighting.” But it was O’Neill’s eighth punt — the one that never was — that will go
down in infamy. Eventually, after the Spartans had finished the celebration and the officials ruled the game over, the fans that were frozen in the moment got up. As they filed out of Michigan Stadium, the stunned silence lingered in the cool October air. Any Spartan fans daring enough to break the silence were treated to screams to be quiet. They weren’t the typical shouts heard at stadiums. They were broken hearts screaming out of desperation, still in denial of the game’s final play. What began as a typically loud, rambunctious intra-state rivalry between two top-15 teams had become a war zone. What was supposed to be Michigan State’s demise had become a miraculous moment. What was meant to be a Michigan win had become a loss. To the stunned fans, it wasn’t fair. But it didn’t matter. “We played winning football and didn’t get the result,” Harbaugh said. “Welcome to football.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
SportsWednesday B
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | October 21, 2015
MICHIGAN 23 MICHIGAN STATE 27
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
SportsWednesday
2B — October 21, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTSWEDNESDAY COLUMN
Y
It wasn’t supposed to end that way
ou weren’t supposed to be standing in Michigan
Stadium, your mouth open and your eyes wide. You weren’t supposed to be paralyzed at your seat, MAX unable to COHEN move a muscle for 15 minutes. Michigan State wasn’t supposed to be down there, in the end zone, dog-piling and running around with the Paul Bunyan Trophy. It was supposed to be yours. It was supposed to be Michigan’s. It was inexplicable, unfathomable. It all was. Michigan gave every last ounce of effort, only for a fluke play, one that you’ll never witness again in any other game, to ruin it all. It wasn’t supposed to end that way. ***
N
ot for Joe Bolden, Michigan’s senior linebacker and team captain. His time in the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry wasn’t supposed to end the way it did Saturday. He was supposed to make a game-winning tackle in the backfield, or maybe break up a pass to end the game. That was supposed to be his final imprint on the rivalry. But the lasting image of Bolden against Michigan State took place in the north end zone, and it wasn’t with the Paul Bunyan Trophy in his arms. He had been thrown on top of Michigan State’s Connor Cook as the quarterback slid. His helmet collided with Cook’s and he was ejected for targeting in a play Harbaugh said was “hard to
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
The final play Saturday left all of those in attendance shocked and provided a bitter ending for fifth-year senior punter Blake O’Neill and senior linebacker Joe Bolden.
fathom.” Bolden had to leave the field for the rest of the game. So he did what a captain does. His eyes red and his heart full, he ran around the end zone, all the way to the tunnel. He pumped his arms the whole way, jumping and hollering for the crowd to get riled up and behind his team. It worked. The crowd screamed, and the captain received an appropriate sendoff. Still, it wasn’t what he deserved. Even before he was a captain, Bolden served as a de facto team spokesman during last year’s struggles. Greg Mattison, then Michigan’s defensive coordinator, once said he wished he had 11 Joe Boldens in his meeting room. He’s known as a leader in the locker room, setting an example the rest of the players look up to.
The passion Michigan’s coaching staff loves put Bolden in the middle of controversy last year before the rivalry game. He drove a stake into the turf of Spartan Stadium before the 35-11 loss, in a move meant to motivate his team. Instead, it motivated the Spartans, and embarrassed Michigan. Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio used it as yet another example of disrespect. Brady Hoke issued an apology. Saturday was supposed to change things. It was a chance to put a stake in Michigan State’s Big Ten championship hopes. It was a chance to move on from the years of being bullied and beaten. Bolden recorded two tackles before his ejection, and many more were left on the table. He couldn’t do anything else other than give his very last ounce
of energy to firing up the crowd. It wasn’t supposed to end this way. ***
N
ot for Blake O’Neill. He took the low snap and bobbled it with 10 seconds remaining. You already know what happened next. What you might not remember is his story. O’Neill is in the middle of his second year in the United States and his second playing college football. He came to Ann Arbor during the summer, for the chance to play big-time college football. His family lives on the other side of the world in Australia, where they watch his games in the middle of the night. O’Neill earned his undergraduate degree
in his home country and wanted to see the world and further his education, so he began attending ProKick Australia, a kicking academy, to learn how to play American football. He starred in his one year at Weber State, ranking sixth in the Football Championship Subdivision in yards per punt. Then he came to Michigan, where he was at first in awe of the crowds and the passion for football. Never more did he feel that passion than in the hours before his final mistake. O’Neill pumped his fist and gestured after an 80-yard punt just a few minutes into the game. The crowd was overjoyed, as it seldom is because of a punter. O’Neill’s teammates mobbed him on the sideline. Harbaugh gave him a pat on the
head. O’Neill was shaping up to be a hero Saturday, a guy who flipped the field position battle almost every time he touched the ball. Three of his seven punts were downed inside Michigan State’s 20-yard line. The Wolverines might never have held the lead if it weren’t for O’Neill. But the eighth punt never happened. That punt, the gamesealing one, was supposed to roll down the Spartans’ end of the field, where no return man waited. It was supposed to roll until the clock hit zero and “The Victors” played. What was supposed to happen did not. The snap was low and bobbled. O’Neill tried and tried, but he could not gain control and the ball flew into the air. It ended up in Michigan’s end zone, in the hands of Jalen Watts-Jackson, where nobody ever thought it could. And all you could do was sit there and wonder: How did that happen? If December 30, the day Michigan announced the hiring of Jim Harbaugh, was supposed to be the day marking the Wolverines’ return to college football’s elite, Saturday was going to be the coronation. It was going to be the day when Michigan defeated its top-10 instate rival for just the second time in eight years, when you could finally turn to your cousin or your dad or your little brother who went to Michigan State and tell them that your school was finally back, for real this time. But then came the play you don’t want to relive, the one you’ll never forget. So you sat there, your head in your hands, wondering how it all came to be. Cohen can be reached at maxac@umich.edu and on Twitter @MaxACohen.
Defense lifts Wolverines again in another shutout Michigan’s back line holds off Valparaiso despite gusty winds By AZALEA HINOJOSA Daily Sports Writer
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Freshman forward Francis Atuahene scored his 10th goal of the season to put Michigan ahead of Valparaiso for good.
‘M’ stifles Valparaiso By ORION SANG For the Daily
Despite gusting winds that affected play, the Michigan men’s soccer team beat Valparaiso, 1-0, Monday night. Freshman midfielder Francis Atuahene VALPARAISO 0 continued 1 MICHIGAN his torrid scoring pace with his 10th goal of the season, providing the Wolverines the only tally they needed. Atuahene struck in the 50th minute off a crisp pass from senior forward William MellorsBlair. Michigan (2-1-2 Big Ten, 7-3-3 overall) controlled possession for most of the first half and outshot the Crusaders, 19-12, but the Wolverines were initially unable to finish their chances against Valparaiso (6-4-4). The wind presented problems to both the Wolverines’ offense and defense. “It was a grind,” Mellors-Blair said. “We played a lot of long balls, and the wind was killing that. With his leg and the wind, their keeper put a lot of pressure on our center-backs to make clearances.” Redshirt sophomore midfielder Tyler Anderson provided Michigan with its first major opportunity eight minutes into
the game when he unleashed a blast from 25 yards out that was saved by Valparaiso goalkeeper Nico Campbell. Atuahene also generated two more early chances of his own, but both shots were deflected out of bounds. Though Michigan headed into the locker room still needing to break the scoreless tie, the team was optimistic. “The first half we had possession, and we knew we only needed one chance to score,” Mellors-Blair said. Added Michigan coach Chaka Daley: “We created OK chances in the first half. There was a lot of stuff from distance. We encouraged the guys to be a little more patient and to pass it east and west.” The Wolverines came out in the second half and continued their strong play, immediately controlling tempo and possession like they had in the first half. But in the 50th minute, Atuahene broke the stalemate. Mellors-Blair made a run down the right side before playing the
ball into the box past a defender, where Atuahene buried the ball into the back of the net. The freshman sensation now has goals in seven of the last eight games and is the nation’s leading scorer. When asked about Atuahene’s play, Daley was sure to pass the credit around. “It’s not a one-man show,” Daley said. “He’s the beneficiary of a lot of good work. Francis was hungry enough to be in the right spot tonight.” Valparaiso was unable to find an equalizer to Atuahene’s goal, and Michigan emerged with a win. “I thought the guys played well,” Daley said. “We dominated the ball from start to finish.” The Wolverines only have four games left before the Big Ten Tournament, but their coach certainly isn’t looking ahead after a game in which their play was not reflected on the scoreboard. Next time, before they even think about the postseason, the Wolverines will have to convert their chances.
“We dominated the ball from start to finish.”
The Michigan men’s soccer team’s defense was the deciding factor during Monday night’s game against Valparaiso, giving the Wolverines much-needed momentum throughout in the face of 20-m.p.h. winds. For the offense, it meant taking direct shots from a close distance. For the defense, it meant clearing the ball frequently, and with extra force. But it was nothing the team couldn’t handle. “I thought the wind would be a huge factor as soon as I woke up and walked outside of the house,” said Michigan coach Chaka Daley. The Wolverines (2-1-2 Big Ten, 7-3-3 overall) outshot Valparaiso (2-1-2 Horizon League, 6-4-4) 19-12, but it was only one shot off the foot of freshman midfielder Francis Atuahene that found its way inside the net. Michigan handed the opposition a 1-0 loss, marking the Wolverines’ fifth shutout this season less than a week after defeating Duquesne, 3-0. Senior forward William MellorsBlair assisted Atuahene in the lone goal and took four shots of his own, but he credited junior defenders Lars Eckenrode and Rylee Woods and sophomore defender Billy Stevens for the win. The three defenders worked tirelessly to protect their goal, often forcing turnovers from the Crusaders. Michigan maintained control of the ball
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Sophomore goalie Evan Louro earned another shutout for Michigan on Monday.
for the majority of the first half, holding Valparaiso to just four shots. “(Valparaiso’s) goalkeeper is 6-foot-4,” Mellors-Blair said. “He’d kick the ball from their 18 to our 18. That put a lot of pressure on our back line to make clearances, and they did a great job.” Of the 12 shots taken by the Crusaders, only one in the second half proved to be a good scoring chance. But even then, sophomore goalkeeper Evan Louro dove for the critical save. He blocked three shots throughout the game, with the wind favoring Michigan as it helped redirect the other nine Valparaiso attempts.
“They did what they had to do.”
On the other end, the weather obstructed the Wolverines’ chances to score on nine corner kicks. However, with the ball almost always in motion on the Crusaders’ side of the field, though, the Michigan defense was not always being pressured. “When the defense was called upon, they did what they had to do,” Louro said. Added Daley: “We continued to play, and more than anything, defend very strongly. That kept us going, kept the momentum going in the right direction.” While it is an offense that puts numbers on the scoreboard, it is the defense that can withhold the opponent from doing the same. And with the turbulent wind suppressing Michigan’s attackers, the defense was all the Wolverines could rely on. Luckily for them, that element of the game stayed consistent.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsWednesday
October 21, 2015 — 3B
Freshman Connor stars in win Goalies capable ICE HOCKEY
By KEVIN SANTO
in ‘M’ victories
Daily Sports Writer
It was late in the second period, and the Michigan hockey team was facing a threat. Mercyhurst had just tied the game at two. But 16 minutes into the frame, freshman forward Kyle Connor came to the rescue. The MERCYHURST 2 Michigan 3 MICHIGAN rookie found space on the right wing and sniped the side netting to light the lamp and give the Wolverines a 3-2 lead. Michigan didn’t look back from there, and in a gritty, back-andforth game, that score held for the 11th-ranked Wolverines (2-0). “I liked the way that we battled at the end,” said junior center JT Compher. “We were winning races, getting pucks out and playing the way that we’ve been talking about for the last month — good defensive hockey. I liked that better than scoring six or seven goals.” The Wolverines commanded play in the first period, but it took them 17 minutes to find the back of the net. After junior defenseman Michael Downing fired a shot just inside the blue line, junior forward Alex Kile found himself in the right place at the right time. The puck rebounded down near the crease, and Kile found twine to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. The even score line prior to the goal was far from indicative of Michigan’s performance in the opening 20 minutes. The Wolverines applied pressure and prevented Mercyhurst (2-0 Atlantic Hockey Conference, 3-3 overall) from maintaining any legitimate possession in its offensive zone while outshooting the Lakers 19 to five. Michigan’s most dangerous offensive opportunities in the first frame came off the stick of Compher.
Racine and Nagelvoort both started this weekend By MINH DOAN Daily Sports Editor
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Freshman forward Kyle Connor scored the game-winning goal in Michigan’s victory against Mercyhurst.
In the 10th minute, the Wolverine captain picked up the puck at center ice and beat a Mercyhurst defenseman one-onone before firing a shot just high of the net. Despite missing the target, Compher’s shot almost found the net — rebounding off the glass and deflecting off of Mercyhurst goaltender Brandon Wildung’s shoulder just wide of the net. Just minutes later, Compher generated a similar threat, once again using his stick skills to break through the defense before whipping a shot that was corralled by Wildung. But Michigan’s dominance to open the game didn’t last long. Two minutes into the second period, the Lakers took advantage of a power play to even the game at one. Though junior goaltender Zach Nagelvoort deflected the first effort by forward Kyle Cook, the puck fell in front of the net and forward Jack Riley finished an easy tap-in. The Wolverines responded quickly. Four minutes later, junior center Max Shuart picked up a puck on the left side of the ice and
attacked a two-on-one situation. He threaded the needle to junior forward Evan Allen, who coolly finished to recapture the lead. It seemed as if Michigan couldn’t hold onto any lead it gained, however. Just six minutes after Allen’s goal, the Wolverines were caught in a dangerous two-on-one situation of its own. Mercyhurst forward Taylor Best caught the Wolverines on a counter and carried the puck into the offensive zone, drawing the coverage of sophomore defenseman Cutler Martin, before firing on goal. Nagelvoort made the initial save, but his sprawling effort on the rebound wasn’t enough, as forward Jonathan Charbonneau put it away to tie the game for a second time. Though Michigan tallied 45 shots, Connor’s was the final goal of the night, as neither team could find twine in the third period. The Wolverines’ lead was in jeopardy at one point in the final period, however. With five minutes left in the game, Martin was sent to the penalty box for interference. But Michigan’s
penalty killing unit went to work, allowing the Lakers only one shot and earning the approval of Michigan coach Red Berenson. “Everybody was dialed in. We fronted the shots or blocked shots, and we didn’t give up any good shots,” Berenson said. “There’s a part of the game (when) you can sense desperation, and I like our team when we play with desperation. That was part of (the penalty kill).” After allowing four goals on Friday, the Wolverine defense was stifling, allowing just 21 shots to Mercyhurst — a result of Berenson’s decision to replace forward Niko Porikos with junior defenseman Kevin Lohan. Nagelvoort, who replaced Friday’s starter Steve Racine in net, anchored the defensive unit with 19 saves — including a barrage of shots just in front of net during the final minutes of play. While the Wolverines weren’t perfect, they finished their seasonopening homestand with the number two in the win column. And in comparison to last season’s shaky start, Michigan will take the victories, perfect or not.
With less than 7:30 left in the game and the No. 11 Michigan hockey team up 3-2, Zach Werenski held the puck inside the left circle, just a few feet away from the Wolverine net. The usually steady sophomore defenseman took two steps and pushed the puck forward before being stripped by Mercyhurst forward Jack Riley, who had already scored once for the Lakers. Riley took two steps before firing at the Michigan net. But junior goaltender Zach Nagelvoort was up to the task, sliding across the crease and making a blocker-board save to deny Riley the game-tying goal. Later in the game, with the time winding down and an empty net behind it, Mercyhurst (2-0 Atlantic Hockey Conference, 3-2 overall) pushed forward, looking for its elusive third goal of the night to tie the game. Again, Nagelvoort was up to the task, stopping a flurry of shots in the final minute en route to a 3-2 Wolverines victory. “I thought (Nagelvoort) played fine,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “He wasn’t tested a lot, and when he was, in crucial times — isolated chances — he was good.” Friday night, it was a different goaltender in the net for the Wolverines (2-0). Senior goaltender Steve Racine started the game in Michigan’s season
opener after Berenson and the coaching staff saw a “slight edge” in his play leading up to the game. While Racine gave up two more goals than Nagelvoort, the senior finished with 26 saves compared to Nagelvoort’s 19 on Sunday. “I thought he played good,” Berenson said. “He didn’t play great, he played good. I can’t tell you there were bad goals, but any goalie will tell you when they give up four goals, you say ‘I should’ve got that one,’ or ‘I could’ve got that one.’ ” But as the scoreboard showed, neither Michigan goaltender was perfect. The duo allowed six goals combined on the weekend, and each goaltender allowed at least one tally that they could have been reasonably expected to stop. On Mercyhurst’s first goal Friday, Racine was beaten stickside on a shot from Lakers forward Kyle Cook. On Mercyhurst’s second goal Sunday, Nagelvoort gave up a big rebound that Laker forward Jonathan Charbonneau was able finish to knot the game at two. But neither goaltender was completely at fault. Four of the six goals came on odd-man rushes, and in most scenarios, there wasn’t much they could do. At the end of both games, Berenson said Racine was “fine” and Nagelvoort was “good,” but neither was excellent. But both netminders were capable, as they helped Michigan earn two wins to start off the season. And with so many games left to play, that’s all that matters right now. “We have two goalies that can play,” Berenson said. “Don’t be surprised if you see both of them. Or if one of them gets hot, we’ll play the hot goalie.”
Michigan earns draw Wolverines win twice By TYLER COADY For the Daily
With both teams jockeying for a spot near the top of the Big Ten standings, Sunday’s matchup in Minneapolis 0 MICHIGAN between the MINNESOTA 0 Michigan women’s soccer team and No. 11 Minnesota was set to be a tight one. After regulation and two overtime periods, neither side could could claim three points, and the two settled for a scoreless draw. The Wolverines (5-2-2 Big Ten, 10-5-2 overall) entered the game coming off a 3-2 loss to Wisconsin, in which they blew a 2-0 lead in the last 30 minutes. Despite late defensive breakdowns against the Badgers, the Michigan defense looked rejuvenated against the Golden Gophers (6-2-1, 11-3-3). Minnesota started the game strong offensively, generating numerous chances. Despite the scoring opportunities, Michigan
sophomore goalkeeper Megan Hinz stood tall to keep the Golden Gophers at bay. Hinz recorded one of her best outings of the season, stopping all six shots she faced for her fourth shutout “I am really pleased with our grit and effort day,” said Michigan coach Greg Ryan. “I loved the way that we played defensively.” The Wolverines, despite giving up some good chances, also had offensive forays of their own. Junior forward Nicky Waldeck put a header just over the bar in the 15th minute, and redshirt sophomore forward Ani Sarkisian, who has scored seven goals this season, proved difficult to contain as she notched three shots in the match, though neither could find the back of the net. In the second half, Michigan’s defense stifled Minnesota and held its opponent to only one shot in the final 60 minutes. The Golden Gophers are now scoreless in their last two matches. On the other side of the ball,
the Wolverines had possession in Minnesota’s territory for long stretches as they notched five shots on net in the frame. Their best chances came through sophomore midfielder Emma Groffsky and junior defender Melissa Kreutz, whose shots tested Minnesota’s goalkeeper. In overtime, both teams failed to muster any concrete scoring chances. Michigan recorded just two shots. By the end of the second overtime period, both teams appeared as if they were content with settling for a draw. The Wolverines are still just two points back of the Golden Gophers, but are now five points behind conference-leading Wisconsin. Michigan has two games left to play, a home match against Purdue and an away contest at Penn State. “We are in a good spot right now,” Ryan said. “We need to be better attacking and we need to finish our chances, but if we can play with this kind of effort, we will get to where we want to be.”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Sophomore goalkeeper Megan Hinz posted a clean sheet in Michigan’s draw against Wisconsin.
By LELAND MITCHINSON Daily Sports Writer
In its second overtime period against Northwestern on Friday night, the Michigan field hockey team knew it was playing on the edge. One goal either way would end the game. Fortunately for the 11th-ranked Wolverines, the final goal came off the stick of senior defender Lauren Thomas on a penalty corner shot from the top of the circle, winning the game, 4-3. “Honestly at first I was so tired, I was just happy that it was over,” Thomas said. “It’s always a good feeling knowing that you’ve kind of done that for the team, and everyone had worked so hard for the whole game that it felt really good to be able to top it off.” The game began in almost the exact opposite way for Michigan (5-1 Big Ten, 13-3 overall), as the Wildcats scored their own penalty corner just over a minute into the game. The Wolverines answered, however, as sophomore midfielders Katie Trombetta and Veerle Lubbers scored back-toback goals within 30 seconds of one another to give Michigan the 2-1 lead. Northwestern (3-3, 10-6) opened the second half with its own pair of consecutive goals to reclaim the lead. Down 3-2 with less than five minutes remaining, the Wolverines needed someone to step up if they had any hope of defeating the Wildcats on the road. Senior forward Shannon Scavelli was there when her team needed her, and slotted one past Northwestern goalkeeper Lindsay von der Luft to knot the game at three. The Wolverines’ defense, led by strong play from sophomore goalkeeper Sam Swenson, held off late pressure from Northwestern to send the game to overtime. In the first overtime period, the teams battled back and forth to try to gain an advantage. With time expiring, the Wildcats won
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Lauren Thomas scored the winning goal for Michigan on Friday.
a penalty corner and a chance to close out the game. Swenson was at the top of her game yet again, making one of her careerbest 14 saves. Eight of Swenson’s saves came after regulation — an effort that sent the game to a second overtime period, when Thomas scored her eventual game winner. “You really have to focus on not letting your nerves get to you, and just (try to) organize your team,” Swenson said. “I try and get rid of my nerves by talking to the team, getting everyone in the right place and getting everyone set for their best scenarios. You just have to really focus on the game and not even think about the possibility of what could happen.” After its overtime thriller, Michigan traveled to Central Michigan to take on the Chippewas. Unlike their battle with Northwestern, the Wolverines had no trouble this time on their way to a 4-0 victory Sunday. Redshirt sophomore forward Carly Bennett opened the scoring for Michigan with her first goal of the season, and fellow redshirt sophomore Allie Sardo and Thomas each added goals to make
it a 3-0 halftime lead. “Today we definitely couldn’t underestimate them,” Thomas said. “It was important for us to get the goals that we did get early on, and although I’m a defensive player, being on the penalty corner attack there are huge chances for us to get the goals and win the game, so to be a part of that is really big.” The Wolverine defense completely shut down Central Michigan, not allowing the Chippewas to take a shot in the first half. Trombetta scored her second goal of the weekend to put a cap on a successful weekend for Michigan. “It’s not an easy thing to come off a big double-overtime win and then have to drive two and a half hours on the same day you are going to play,” said Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz. “I was proud of the team for staying focused. ... It’s a big win.” Though the Wolverines come away from the weekend with two important victories, there is no time to relax, as they face off against rivals Michigan State and Ohio State in the final two weeks of the season.
SportsWednesday
4B — October 21, 2015
FOOTBALL
O’Neill comes to terms with punt By MAX BULTMAN Daily Sports Editor
Even after one of the most devastating losses in Michigan football history, Blake O’Neill isn’t making excuses. He doesn’t seem to be losing much sleep, either. What the fifth-year senior punter is doing is getting back to work, moving past the fumble on the final play of Saturday’s 27-23 loss to Michigan State to get on with his life. O’Neill met with the media Tuesday at Michigan’s Schembechler Hall, choosing to face the sudden burst of attention coming his way, not run from it. “Why not?” O’Neill said of speaking to the media. “I think football is a very interesting game. There’s ups and downs, highs and lows, and I think that’s the beauty of it. I’m happy to speak if people are willing to listen.” When faced with questions about the logistics of the play, O’Neill dispelled rumors of trick play options and refused to make excuses for the play that ultimately lost the Wolverines the game. “I mean the protection was good, the snap was, sort of, in my catch zone,” O’Neill said. “If anything, put me back out there for the next one, I’m sure I’d make the kick.” After the game, the Australianrules football convert said he paid no attention to Twitter, deciding to let the issue cool off before checking his account. And when he left the locker room, his family was in town from Australia. The O’Neill family still is, in fact, taking in the sights and sounds of Ann Arbor. And for any backlash he received, there has also been ample positive reinforcement. “A lot of support from the
Michigan fan base, from teammates, even people back home,” O’Neill said. “It’s funny that a game over here could get all the way back to Australia, but it did. But mate, it’s been overwhelming, the support I’ve received.” Of course, there are some people who can relate to what O’Neill is going through better than others, including former Michigan and NFL kicker Jay Feely. Feely and O’Neill got a chance to speak this week, and O’Neill was pleased with their chat. As for his teammates, there is one that can share the pain with O’Neill more than anyone else. Redshirt sophomore long snapper Scott Sypniewski was the one snapping to O’Neill, and while the punter maintained it was catchable, the two can commiserate over the fumble. “I think we’ll probably be bound at the hip for the rest of our lives because of that play,” O’Neill said. In the days since, videos of the fumble and ensuing touchdown return have been running on SportsCenter and other highlight shows seemingly around the clock. But while it would be easy to dwell on the play, O’Neill is instead declining to watch replays outside of his viewings with Michigan special teams coach John Baxter. “To me, it’s an error in a game, and if you can learn from it, it’s worth looking into,” O’Neill said. “But we’ve sort of figured out what we can do better and moved forward.” From start to finish of his Tuesday press conference, that much was clear. O’Neill recognizes his error on the game’s final play. But he won’t let it derail him further.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Five Things We Learned By JAKE LOURIM Managing Sports Editor
The last play of Saturday’s game against Michigan State spoiled the Michigan football team’s undefeated Big Ten record, snapped its five-game winning streak and put a serious dent in its Big Ten championship hopes. But before that play, the Wolverines and their in-state rivals were more even than they had been in three years. The Spartans never led Saturday’s game until time expired. Michigan gets a bye this week before its next game at Minnesota on Oct. 31. Until then, here are five things we learned from Saturday’s game: 1. Jourdan Lewis vs. Aaron Burbridge is the best wide receiver-defensive back matchup we’ll see all season. Let’s put it this way: Lewis, who guarded Burbridge all day, had six pass breakups in the game — and Burbridge still pulled down nine catches for 132 yards. About half of Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook’s throws went to Burbridge, and on many of them, it was hard to find anything Burbridge or Lewis could have done better. If Burbridge made the catch, he grabbed the ball at the highest point despite tight coverage from Lewis (who is three inches shorter). If Lewis broke it up, Burbridge was right there, ready to take it if not for Lewis. Both players have drawn praise for their play all year, and it’s no longer a stretch to call them the best at their positions in the Big Ten. Burbridge now leads the Big Ten with 100.3 yards per game, and Lewis now has 14 pass breakups and two interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown.
2. This rivalry is back to being closely contested up front. The Spartans dominated Michigan at the line of scrimmage in each of their previous two meetings. To have a chance to win Saturday, the Wolverines needed to compete better in the trenches, and they did. Sure, excluding sacks and the muffed punt play at the end, Michigan rushed for just 87 yards on 29 carries. Fifth-year senior quarterback Jake Rudock was sacked three times. But Michigan State didn’t fare much better: Excluding sacks, the Spartans totaled an almost-identical 85 yards on 28 rushes. The meager numbers there were more a product of both defenses being strong. 3. Jabrill Peppers is ready to be a threat in all three phases. After a long year and a half of anticipation, Michigan finally broke out its wild card, playing redshirt freshman safety Jabrill Peppers on offense against Michigan State. Fans had been waiting since Peppers stepped on campus to see the athlete in all three phases. Injuries hampered him last season, but he made an impact on special teams in the first six games this season. Finally, he caught two passes for 35 yards Saturday. He was easily Michigan’s leader in all-purpose yards with 164 — 35 receiving, 81 kick return and 48 punt return — despite limited action on offense. For now, the Wolverines’ usage of Peppers on offense appears to give them a psychological edge, too. Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio called two consecutive timeouts when Harbaugh first inserted Peppers alongside Rudock in the first half. Considering his production, perhaps opponents can expect to see more of the same in the
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Jourdan Lewis played tough defense against Michigan State’s Aaron Burbridge.
coming weeks. 4. The passing game still hasn’t established a consistent threat. Michigan’s aerial attack finally played a significant role Saturday, after five straight blowout victories required little in the way of downfield passing. Rudock missed on a couple of long throws, finishing with 168 yards on 15 completions. Those aren’t bad numbers, especially considering the Wolverines rely more on their power running game and defense to push them ahead. But with the passing game on trial for the first time since the season opener, there didn’t appear to be a consistent receiving weapon. Redshirt junior Amara Darboh leads Michigan with just 28 receptions, 332 yards and two touchdowns. His yardage total ranks 13th in the Big Ten.
5. Bold Prediction: The Michigan defense earns another shutout against Minnesota. The Wolverines could respond to Saturday’s devastating loss in two possible ways. They could come out flat in their next game and let Michigan State beat them twice, or they could come out angry and eager to prove themselves again. Here’s guessing the latter. The reason is a combination of a bye this week, a relentless mindset from Harbaugh and what’s sure to be a fiery performance by senior linebacker Joe Bolden, who can’t be happy about being ejected from his final Michigan State game. Meanwhile, Minnesota dropped to 4-3 with a 48-25 home loss to Nebraska on Saturday. Powered by an impassioned captain in Bolden, Michigan’s defense has all the tools to get back to its dominating ways in Minneapolis in two weeks.
THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP-10 POLL Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with first-place votes receiving 10 points, second-place votes receiving nine and so on.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Redshirt freshman Jabrill Peppers totaled a team-high 164 all-purpose yards (35 receiving, 81 kick return, 48 punt return) Saturday against Michigan State.
The good, the bad and the ugly By MAX BULTMAN Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan football team finds itself with a bye week at either the best or worst possible time, depending on your perspective. After a deflating last-second loss to Michigan State on Saturday, the Wolverines now have two full weeks to prepare for their Halloween night matchup against Minnesota. The Daily looks back on the good, the bad and the ugly from Saturday’s 27-23 loss. The good Redshirt freshman Jabrill Peppers finally stole the show, and he was breathtaking. Peppers accumulated 129 return yards, giving Michigan stellar field position throughout the game. Fans also got their first look at him on offense, where his mere presence was enough to force Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio into consecutive timeouts in the second quarter. When he finally got an offensive touch, a reception in
the third quarter, he took it for 28 yards to set up 1st-and-goal. He had another catch late in the game that was just shy of a first down. Rounding out his impact in every phase of the game, he added two tackles on defense. Elsewhere in the secondary, junior cornerback Jourdan Lewis was in full view all night. Tasked with guarding likely All-Big Ten receiver Aaron Burbridge, the two Detroit-area standouts battled throughout the game. Burbridge finished with nine catches for 132 yards, but Lewis broke up six passes and made seven tackles. Through seven games, Lewis has now broken up 14 passes, just four shy of Michigan’s singleseason record.
route. He at first appeared to score on the play, but after review, he was called down at the one-yard line. LJ Scott punched it in for Michigan State to cut the Wolverines’ lead to two, and you know the rest. The fact that a fullback went 75 yards is both a credit to the Spartans’ play design and indicative of some kind of coverage breakdown for Michigan. Fullbacks just aren’t built to go 75 yards if properly covered. These things happen, and Michigan has had its own share of big plays from fullbacks this year, but it’s hard to ignore the importance of this one gaffe given the final result of this game.
The bad
Perhaps you’ve seen it by now. On the final play of the game, fifth-year senior punter Blake O’Neill bobbled a low snap and tried to get the punt off anyway. As he turned to make the illadvised second effort, he was hit, sending the ball into the waiting arms of Jalen Watts-
The “bad” really came down to one play. No, not that play. We’ll get to that later. In the fourth quarter, Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook found his fullback wide open on a 75-yard wheel
The ugly
Jackson. Watts-Jackson ran down the sideline and into the end zone as time expired, ending the game in the most shocking fashion imaginable. Michigan State dominated the yardage all game, but the Michigan defense and special teams had been good enough to earn a win on Saturday. It’s never simply one play that costs a team the game, but the Wolverines looked secure in their lead until this one. O’Neill had been excellent all day, even booming an 80-yard punt earlier in the game, the longest in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season. That’s one reason that this one ugly play is so hard to swallow for Michigan fans. After a few upset fans made unruly comments to O’Neill on Twitter, there was an outpouring of support from the Michigan community to the graduate transfer punter, including interim Athletic Director Jim Hackett, who posted an open letter Sunday afternoon asking students to pledge support and not turn to spite.
1. OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes are undefeated, but not undefeated enough. They will switch quarterbacks this week to J.T. Barrett. Must be nice.
2. BAYLOR: The Bears get Iowa State at home this weekend, because that trip to Kansas a couple of weeks ago took a lot out of them.
3. UTAH: The Utes beat Arizona State on Saturday, which isn’t really fair, because if the Sun Devils don’t have sports, what do they have?
4. TCU: If defense wins championships then, uh, sorry, Horned Frogs.
5. LSU: Unfortunately, the NCAA found out one of the Gators was taking steroids BEFORE they played Leonard Fournette.
6. CLEMSON: Dabo Swinney is letting the wins get to his head. He was seen doing the whip in the Home Depot power tools section.
7. ALABAMA: Saban for USC!
8. MICHIGAN STATE: Friday, in the weekend’s real rivalry game, The Michigan Daily defeated The State News in touch football for the 11th consecutive year.
9. FLORIDA STATE: The Seminoles blew out Louisville, 41-21. The NCAA will do much, much worse.
10. STANFORD: David Shaw is probably the best coach Stanford has ever had, right?
Growing Pains
statement THE MICHIGAN DAILY
OCTOB E R 21 , 2015
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Wednesday October 21, 2015 // The Statement
F O OT B A L L & P O L I T I C S
ON THE RECORD
“Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go again.” –MICHIGAN PUNTER BLAKE O’NEILL after losing Saturday’s game against Michigan State. ***
“I don’t have a Super PAC. I don’t even have a backpack. I carry around my stuff loose in my arms like a professor between classes.” –COMEDIAN LARRY DAVID impersonating presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Saturday Night Live.
Dear Google: Feeling frustrated BY EMMA KERR
D
ear Emma,
I feel like I’m the more emotional one in my current relationship, and it feels very invalidating. I don’t know if I should accomodate my partner’s unemotional tendencies or if I should demand validation and express my feelings to him as I want to do. It’s so frustrating … I feel like I almost always feel this way in relationships, but then when I’m with someone more emotional than me I feel like they are too dependent. Thoughts? Thanks, Feeling Frustrated Dear Feeling Frustrated, I’m glad you acknowledged this pattern right away in your question — because I’m certain you’re not alone in wanting to keep the mystery and fun in a relationship but also wanting to feel emotionally satisfied with your partner. However, scillating between men who can’t help but tell you they love you at every possible opportunity and men who have a hard time telling you you’re even a likable gal probably isn’t going
to result in you eventually finding a partner who exactly matches your emotional level. I’m afraid that your question might be best answered by this: you can’t have it both ways. And frankly, I think your situation calls for a serious personal evaluation of what exactly it is you are seeking in a romantic relationship. I would definitely advise you to talk to your partner if you believe him being more in touch with his emotions and expressing those feelings is a requirement for you when it comes to relationships. It’s worth it to consider there may be more going on here: you don’t feel emotionally satisfied because he’s not quite interested in you with the same intensity you are interested in him, you both are having difficulty communicating with one another or whatever the other issues may be. However, the other side to this coin is that you might decide there is no issue at all, and that you prefer a more independent, self-sufficient partner over one who feels clingy and, well, boring. This could be just a phase of inse-
curity. But I do think you need to decide what you want before you confront him. I almost feel like addressing these feelings of insecurity will be somewhat ineffective, because in your case asking him to become more emotional might lead to you becoming disinterested. So as much as I am an advocate for the classic ideology that promotes communication in relationships, be thoughtful about this one. Maybe all you need is to tell him how you feel and have him reassure you of his true feelings for you, but you may also just need to remind yourself of why you are together and bring a heightened sense of maturity and confidence to the relationship. It’s up to you to figure out your priorities in a relationship and to really be honest with him and yourself — for you personally, is this feeling of invalidation worth the romantic mystery a bit of emotional distance brings? Warm regards, Emma Please send your “Dear Google” queries to Emma at emkerr@michigandaily.com.
THOUGHT BUBBLE
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/DAILY
“We’ve talked about starting a frittata stand before — but now I don’t eat eggs. But the idea being that you could do a stand or cart with little ramekins and make your own frittatas. I think it’s just always been something that we enjoy a lot, but I don’t know if it would go over well on a hot summer day. It wouldn’t require too much overhead though, all you need is just a stovetop and an oven really.” – Ann Arbor residents BRIAN KONICEK and OLIVIA FRANKLIN
3B Wednesday, October 21, 2015 // The Statement 3C
Who am I? B Y N A B E E L C H O L L A M PAT
THE
M
statement Photo Editor:
Magazine Editor: Ian DIllingham
Managing Editor: Lev Facher
Luna Anna Archey
Deputy Editor:
Creative Director:
Natalie Gadbois
Cheryll Victuelles
Design Editor:
Editor in Chief:
Jake Wellins
Jennifer Calfas
Copy Editors: Hannah Bates Laura Schinagle Emma Sutherland
T H E L I S T B U Z Z F E E D, B U T B E T T E R DISTR ACT YOURSELF We lost to Michigan State on Saturday. It was horrifying. Here is a list of five random things to think about to distract yourself from the pain and shame of our Wolverine’s defeat.
1
C H E E Z- I T S
2
A L E X A N D E R H A M I LTO N
So many flavors! So many combinations! How do they get so cheesy? Why are the edges crimped? Who was lazy enough to approve that name? He’s our sexiest Founding Father! (Now with a Broadway musical set to hip-hop music that’s sweeping the nation.)
3 G LO B A L WA R M I N G
Why worry about a football game when our children will inherit a dying planet?
4 G OAT S
It’s a known fact that the best apple orchards have goats. Why do we love goats so much? Do they possess human souls?
5 ORIGAMI
So simple, yet so beautiful.
y friend once asked me, “When did you stop getting ice cream in a cone and instead in a cup?” It was an odd question, asked at an odd time, and I didn’t have an answer. Crucial to this was the fact that we were getting ice cream and I had just gotten a cone, but, now that I thought of it, yes, I do often ask for a cup. The same friend also once asked me, “When did you stop ordering soda at restaurants?” I did have an answer for that. “I think around senior year,” I replied as I took a sip from my complimentary water. They are quite shocking when noticed, these odd signifiers of “growing up.” They eat at you, too, forcing you to question how and when and why you’ve changed so much from your younger self. I always like to think that I was better before. It makes me feel better to tell myself that I was a more fun person to be around back when I ordered mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone. People liked the Nabeel who ordered a Coke at dinner better than the Nabeel who’s started wearing watches, I say in my head. My aunt once told my mother, when I was a sophomore in high school, that “Nabeel became so quiet.” As any concerned mother would do, she told me this, confronted me on our couch in India about why I don’t talk that much anymore. I told her I didn’t know. I looked over and saw my perennially social sister having a very lively conversation with a guy who had just come to visit and whose name I still wouldn’t be able to tell you. And thus, I became known as “the quiet one.” Inexplicably, I embraced this new identity. I sped through the rest of high school as someone who rarely opened up to people outside his close-knit group of friends, the guy who was more prone to off-brand reticence than the ubiquitous affability of the time. I was being who I was, but I was also angry about it. I wished to be like those guys who could make friends on a deserted island, dreamed of having the ability to converse
freely and openly and well and to whomever I wished, yearned for the social skills that would never sprout within me. My father introduced me as the quiet one, my sister as the talkative one, and my life went on. Cut to college, where I now find myself in a state of limbo. I talk to my friends from back home almost daily and see my friends at Michigan all the time. But I didn’t change; I stayed grown up. My personality package didn’t come equipped with the necessary skills to join a fraternity, nor did I feel like I could upgrade myself to be in one. And what friends I did
make, I made slowly, steadily, like one hikes up a hill—like one isn’t “supposed” to do in “college.” It’s tough to realize you’ve grown up — tougher still to realize that the way you are is the way you’re meant to be. It’s easy to be angry at something you can’t change, but this is something we’re always told we can change. “Reserved” isn’t a phase, some ephemeral mood swing that fades away when I grew up (said my mother to her sister, says my mother to herself, I knew, I know); it’s a mark, branded upon me by the gears of time and necessity and change. I won’t complain. I never do.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHERYLL VICTUELLES
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Wednesday, October 21, 2015 // The Statement
Wednesday, October 21, 2015 // The Statement
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Growing Pains: The changing climate of Ann Arbor businesses by Shoham Geva, Senior News Editor
I
n 2012, the downtown Ann Arbor area saw 28 new businesses. In 2013, there were 38 more. By June of 2014, the last time comprehensive data was released, another 15 new businesses were already planned for the upcoming year. Their types varied, from a new outpost of Babo’s Market in Nickels Arcade to vintage and antique store Thistle and Bess. Alongside them, new housing developments were popping up as well, with more than ten apartment and condo complexes entering or exiting construction over the past few years. Depending on who you ask, those eighty-four businesses represent an upwards trend that’s been happening in the area for the past few years. Or the past ten years. Or the past thirty years. Regardless of the timeline, though, the growth is good — that’s what a number of downtown stakeholders, from the city to business owners to residents to business associations, all seem to agree on. But for many of those same stakeholders, the changing face of downtown has also prompted concerns about another trend: the sharply rising cost of living in Ann Arbor, and what an increasingly prosperous downtown means for the economic diversity of the city. Reasons for growth It’s difficult to point to just one reason why downtown is seeing change and growth, or how development might correlate to affluence. The way cities grow and change is complex, and Ann Arbor is no exception. Part of understanding what’s happening to Ann Arbor is a question of looking at national trends on prosperity, according to City Councilmember Sabra Briere (D–Ward 1), who has been active in city politics since 1978. “Affluence is just one part of this, and that goes across the entire country,” she said. “The gap between income brackets grows, the people in the middle shrink. And so what that really means is that a lot of people who twenty years ago were living comfortable lives in a place like Ann Arbor, earning $40,000 a year, are confronting the fact that they could not buy a house in Ann Arbor now.” When it comes to the specific patterns of business growth and subsequent affluence, Maura Thomson, director of the Main Street Area Association, said it’s something a lot of downtowns are experiencing nationwide, albeit in different ways and forms. “I am sure you can go to any downtown in America, and see similar patterns,” Thomson said. “But I think those are the lucky ones, because I think what you’re going to see in a place that isn’t maybe as economically vibrant (as Ann Arbor), is you’re going to see downtowns with stores closing but nobody filling the space. And we don’t seem to have that problem here.” Within Ann Arbor, the growth over the past few years seems to be connected to a multitude of factors, each influencing the city in a different way, from the type of business on the street to
Jobs that don’t support rising housing costs
changes in housing density and average income. Downtown is frequently divided up into four neighborhoods — Main Street, Kerrytown, State Street, and South University areas — for planning purposes, and each is experiencing changes in a unique way, said Thomson. “I think you’re going to find a different perspective in each one of the four neighborhoods,” she said. “This neighborhood, Main Street area, the student impact isn’t as great as, of course, South U. and State Street. Each neighborhood is going to have a little bit different reflection of the changes that are occurring.” Maggie Ladd, director of the South University Area Association, agreed that different parts of the city were seeing different changes. For the South University and State Street areas, she said change over the past years has been largely expressed in the balance of businesses, pointing in particular to a higher number of retail businesses in the area. She said she thought the changes had more of a cyclical nature, as opposed to a push toward affluence — and that the balance between retail and restaurants could already be selfcorrecting in another iteration of change. “It’s cyclical and I think what you’re seeing on State Street is more balanced than you’ve seen in the past,” she said. “Their mix is beginning to be balanced and that’s because I think you have more people living downtown and you have the IT businesses going, you have the office workers there so they create a demand.” On Main Street, Thomson said, growth has also been signalled through a shift in the type of business, though in a different sense, and more definitively in a trend toward affluence. “Our downtown is becoming less available to, perhaps, the mom and pop stores and local business that I think a lot of people in Ann Arbor were used to,” she said. “So I think we see a change, as far as the type of businesses that we see downtown, are catering to the more affluent because they are businesses that can afford to pay the rent. And in this particular neighborhood, we have seen in the last years, we have seen huge turnover in the sale of property, and that’s what drives it.” Thomson cited several of the same factors Ladd did in explaining the shifts, pointing to more visitors, Ann Arbor’s booming technology sector and higher housing density from the new housing developments as a reason for increased prosperity in the area. “I always use cranes as an indicator of a strong economy and if you go around downtown Ann Arbor and look, currently you’re seeing some cranes up there,” she said. “And it’s also, with the increase in residents, we’re also seeing kind of a little bit of downtown expanding a bit from what we have traditionally thought of as downtown….residents and employers (have a) huge impact on our downtown economy.” Business owners cite a number of reasons why they’ve chosen to expand over the past years.
31%
New businesses since 2012
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
81
IT companies in Ann Arbor
Roger Hewitt is a co-owner of Red Hawk Bar & Grille as well as Revive+Replenish, a higher-end restaurant and grocery store that opened in the South University area in 2010. He said he and his business partner felt that opening a business like Replenish made sense in recent years in part because of a customer base in the area that could support it. Speaking to why the downtown area is able to support a business like Replenish, as opposed to a more wholesale, less high-end grocery store, he pointed to students and the new development of high-rises in the area in particular. “The main thing, if you look at all the student high rises, they’re fairly expensive places,” he said. “People there have disposable incomes.” “I think the student body as a whole probably has more of a disposable income for groceries than say, the average shopper at Meijer,” he added. Nonetheless, Hewitt, who is also the vice chair of the Downtown Development Authority, said he thought the area has seen change and prosperity, but not necessarily in the direction of higher affluence, pointing in particular instead to a rise in mid-priced dining options. Consequences of change What development and growth downtown means for the city in terms of its economic future is a messy question. Across the spectrum, stakeholders in downtown are quick to note that there are both positive and negative aspects. One thing, though, is clear — it’s expensive to live in Ann Arbor, much more so than the rest of the state. Overall, the yearly cost of living in the city for a four-person family is currently at $68,302, higher than any other region in Michigan, according to the Economic Policy Institute. And, according to the 2014 Washtenaw County Housing Needs Assessment, 31 percent of Washtenaw County residents don’t make enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Ann Arbor, a figure that includes the median salaries of many jobs located in the city. For Thomson, the question of balance between prosperity downtown and affordability is familiar in a personal light. “I’m one of the people that I live in a near-downtown neighborhood, I rent an apartment, that if my rent does go up I probably won’t be able to stay this close to downtown and I might not even be able to stay in Ann Arbor,” she said. “Which makes me — you know, I love Ann Arbor, and I’m passionate about the job I do, and I think it’s wonderful that we’re so successful. But it’s hard for people who maybe aren’t in an income bracket that will allow them to continue to stay as things continue to increase.” In a sentiment repeated by many, City Councilmember Graydon Krapohl (D–Ward 4) said he thinks the development is good, but that there are unresolved issues downtown, especially when it comes to housing. “Any type of growth like that is positive,” Krapohl said. “It generates tax revenue. It revitalizes areas. I think the challenge
272
Ann Arbor faces with our housing market is workforce housing, affordable housing for our workforce. That’s a challenge for us and part of it is, you know, we don’t have a lot of land to expand to build a lot more housing so a lot of it is redevelopment, and redevelopment is expensive.” Increased housing density — one of the same factors cited in discussing reasons for growth — and housing prices seems to have become a particularly noticeable issue as growth has continued in recent years. A recent Michigan Daily survey found that locating housing downtown is currently so competitive for students that many now sign leases 10 to 12 months in advance. For residents overall, the County Housing Needs Assessment found that to keep up with the number of jobs in the city, 3,137 additional workforce housing units would be needed in Ann Arbor over the next years. Workforce housing generally refers to housing that is affordable for individuals whose income doesn’t currently allow them to find homes within a reasonable distance to their workplace, based on the market prices. When it comes to pricing, there are upward trends for both housing and rents. According to the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors, in October 2012 the average selling price for a house was at $216,465. In April of 2015, it was at $269,321. The median sale price of a home in the United States is currently $225,000 according to Zillow’s housing index. Rental prices have seen a similar increase, rising by up to 10 percent in the area for 2014-2015, according to MLive, compared with a national average of 3.6 percent. “Our downtown is definitely gentrifying,” Thomson said. “And it’s causing neighborhoods, near downtown neighborhoods that were at one time affordable to people who, you know, were maybe working in the restaurants or working in the shops, it’s becoming so that it isn’t affordable. And I think that’s something that our city has recognized, affordable housing is a huge issue.” High cost of living, of course, isn’t only a one-factor issue. Briere noted that in Ann Arbor, the income of the population for both students and residents, as well as the construction that’s part of new development, also plays a big role. “The reasons for the higher cost of living and therefore the sense of increased affluence are complex,” she said. “Some of it is how much income people get from their jobs. Some of it is they get that income because the cost of living is so high. Some of it is we can charge this amount of money for a rental unit because U of M students have affluent parents. Part of it is that new construction in the downtown is inevitably going to be more expensive than older construction. Maybe not significantly more expensive, but more expensive.” For some, the biggest factor in regard to cost of living is that the relationship might be flipped — higher affluence in the area prompting prosperity downtown, instead of the other way around. See BUSINESS, Page 8C
Jobs in downtown Ann Arbor
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Wednesday, October 21, 2015 // The Statement
Graduate and CEO: Alumni-owned Ann Arbor Businesses by Melina Glusac, Daily Arts Writer
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
University alum Nick Lemmer, a co-owner of Iorio’s Gelato, discusses the process of starting a business out of college.
F
iddling with life aspirations and career possibilities is a habit of most daydreaming underclassmen. But by the time senior year hits, reality sets in: professional success is no longer an elusive figment of the future, but a rapidly approaching goal — a must. “I think it’s funny looking back at that last semester in college,” Robby Mayer, co-owner of Salads UP, said. “It was almost like trying to learn as much as you can just to justify to your parents — or at least I was, that I was not going to get a job, that I was going to open up a restaurant.” And so goes the story for three local food-business owners and University of Michigan alumni: Mayer, Max Steir and Nick Lemmer. They took the plunge, and for them, the risk has paid off. Lemmer, twenty-four years old and graduate of the School of Information, co-owns Iorio’s Gelateria on East William Street. Along with his older sister, Mary, a Business School graduate, Lemmer has been selling what he calls “Italian ice” since childhood, after spending summers in New Jersey where the treat was rife. The idea to peddle it around Lansing, their hometown, came when the Italian-American duo’s father bought them a cart in 2004. They began selling their product anywhere they could afford the entrance fee: carnivals, fairs, farmer’s markets, etc. After the two gained some traction, people started asking where they could indulge in ice year-round. By the time Lemmer was a sophomore, he was beginning to form an answer to that question. “Mary had networked herself really well in the business school,” Lemmer said. “She had met a building owner downtown — this building — and they had an open spot — this spot — and he said, ‘I know you guys are doing Lansing, but do you want to try it in Ann Arbor?’ Knowing nothing, not knowing what our first step would be, we were like, ‘Yeah, sure. Why not?’” Following a lot of trial and error, Iorio’s Gelateria officially opened up in 2011. The process wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. They failed their first city inspection the day before
opening because one grease trap was misplaced. “That was kind of the hardest thing that happened, just facing the reality that we actually might not open. One thing I have learned is that hiring really good people to start, and spending time on that, really helps because we’ve always had a really good team. And that just makes everything easier,” Lemmer said. Steir and Mayer of Salads UP on East Liberty faced similar issues with the technicalities of opening up their business. “We signed the lease without realizing the deficiencies of the space to their fullest,” Mayer said. “As we went on we realized — we ended up having to do completely new plumbing, electric. We put in a brand new floor. The construction requirements for such a small space were something we never want to deal with again. But getting through that process — which took six to eight months — was very complicated.” Mayer, a northern New Jersey native, and Steir, a native of New York City, met each other as freshman year roommates. For the 24-year-olds, the idea for Salads UP sparked early on, as they felt a great salad place (a la NYC’s Revive) was missing during their time at the University. It all started to come to fruition late senior year, when Mayer began hunting for local real estate, toying around with the idea of a restaurant. The two met to discuss it, and Steir jumped in from there. Salads UP came to be in December 2014. Steir cites his Business school education in giving him business-minded versatility. “They’re kind of preparing you without realizing it, in my opinion, to run your own company, if you digest all of the coursework that you have there,” Steir said. “There’s finance — it might set you up to be a banker. There’s marketing if you want to be in advertisement. But you do everything when you run a company, no matter if it’s a restaurant or something else.” Lemmer also recalls a tidbit of info, gleaned in college, which now eases his shop’s customer experience.
“I was sitting in an engineering ergonomics class, and we were talking about eyesight, like how big text should be,” Lemmer said. “The rule is called the Bond Rule, like James Bond — 007. It’s a ratio, of sorts; it’s how big the text has to be on the wall as to how far you’re standing away, where you can comfortably read it.” He proudly gestured to the menu on the wall. “When I was designing that menu, I was like, ‘Oh my god. I learned about this engineering class,’” Lemmer said. All three entrepreneurs admit they owe much of their success to the charm and benefits of living on their college campus. “The nicest thing about being here, despite that fact that it’s a university we went to, is that it’s this nice mix of calm, quaint, but also vibrant at times,” Steir said. “People care so much about this community that we’re all so connected to. When you’re alumni, you’re connected to this place for life, whether you have a business here or not. So to be in the midst of it is fantastic.” Mayer echoes similar sentiments of home. “It’s very comfortable, I would say. Having been here for four years, you know the neighborhood so well,” Mayer said. “Whether it’s game day or move-in or graduation, there’s always something happening, a lot of flow and excitement. I think living here post-college you still feed off a lot of that.” Lemmer revels at being so close to students — a perk other businesses in non-college towns are denied. “There’s a few things that we do here that we’ve actually taken from a semester-long project from a marketing class, a consulting group, an operations class. There were graduate students doing inventory operations for us — it’s hysterical. And for free,” Lemmer said. So for those who wish to follow in the footsteps of Ann Arbor’s young entrepreneurs, he offers one bit of advice. “I would say just to do it,” Lemmer said. “I couldn’t tell you how many people come to me with an idea, or have an idea, and then they just sit on it. I’m the dumb one — the crazy one — that’ll come up with an idea and just do it.”
Wednesday, October 21, 2015 // The Statement
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Personal Statement: A plea for common courtesy by Sylvanna Gross, Daily Sports Writer
ILLUSTRATION BY CHERYLL VICTUELLES
“E
xcuse me, my food is cold.” Ma’am, that’s because you decided to finish your conversation before touching your food. “It’s chilly in here, could you turn down the A/C?” No, I don’t know how and I really don’t have time. But don’t worry, in five minutes I will come back and let you know that I did. “Well, why don’t you have any soy-free, vegan, gluten-free products that are organic and are under 100 calories?” Well, sir, you are describing air. And unfortunately I don’t know how to ring that up and give you a bill for that. I suggest water, it’s free. *** There’s an old adage that goes, “You can choose two out of the three things for college: a social life, good grades, and/ or sleep.” But, when you have a job in college, you can really only choose one because having a part-time job in college is hard. Like, super hard. And, if you choose to have a full-time job and go through your undergrad career, I respect you on so many levels. Yet, despite having no time to do everything I need to do, I somehow get by. I get decent grades, I maintain a somewhat regular social life — though I miss a lot of great events — and my classes don’t start until 11 a.m. every day, so I usually get at least six hours of sleep. I’ve always had minimum-wage jobs since I got my working papers. It gave me a sense of independence from my parents. I learned the value of money, the necessity of savings, etc. And, to be honest, I have learned just as much from working minimum-wage jobs as I have sitting in classes. I’ve learned time management and I’ve learned how to pour wine in a fancy way and I’ve learned to tie my hair up in a knot so that it won’t move for hours on end. But the number one thing I have ever learned from working all through high school and college is the value of common courtesy.
Silly, I know, to complain of manners in an age where having a face-to-face conversation is rare and a common greeting between friends is an insult. But I will still complain because, truthfully, people have forgotten the art of respect. It is one thing to be rude to your friends, but it is quite another to be rude to someone you don’t know. I am your waitress. I am there to make your dining experience as pleasant as possible. I understand that sometimes the food is not to your liking but remember: I AM NOT THE CHEF. I am simply the messenger between you two. I have no control over when food will be ready, despite how often I can annoy the kitchen. Trust me, you are not the only person unhappy if the food isn’t right. I am too, because that means that even though I did my job right, someone else did it wrong. But I will be the one to pay for it when you decide what to tip me. Sometimes people’s wallets don’t allow them to tip over 15 percent and I completely understand that. However, I believe you should be budgeting what you plan to spend that night with your waitstaff in mind. I make three dollars an hour legally because the restaurant believes that because I am making tips, my salary will then be adjusted. However, when I have ten tables undertip me or ten patrons forget to tip me or ten customers who are only doing takeout so why should they tip me for spending hours looking over the menu with them, I can sometimes not even come close to making $9 an hour. And when you work ten-hour shifts constantly standing, $9 an hour is not right. So that’s my first request from diners: don’t base your tip on how your food tastes, base your tip on how much I try to make the dining experience as wonderful as possible. I promise you, I’m not smiling and making small talk for my own benefit. And under no circumstances do you choose not to tip. Because that happens, too, and I guarantee the waitstaff will
remember your face. Another frustrating habit: the kid situation. I will preface this by saying that I love children, but please take control of their actions in a restaurant. I am carrying hot food, cups filled to the brim with liquid, and knives. Your child should not be under my feet when I finally get to your table. Your child should not be blocking every possible available surface with their toys. Also, your baby is screaming? Take them outside. Your toddler is throwing a tantrum? Take them outside. You want to chastise your pre-teen? Take them outside. If we close at midnight, do not walk in at 11:55 p.m. and think it’s OK. There is nothing worse than walking up to a table to take your food order and having to wait for the patrons to finish their conversation. Acknowledge my presence! Please! When you are ready to order, put the menu down to signal me to come over. When you are ready to pay the check, put it at the side of the table. Don’t hit on me. If you’re dining with a large group, tell me at the beginning if you want separate checks. With that being said, as a college student myself, I get wanting to go out with your friends. But if all eighteen of you are each ordering one $5 item and you all want separate checks and you’re all not willing to tip, I will have issues. Smile. If you have questions about the food, I will answer them. However, there comes a point where I need to do other things besides spending five minutes detailing every single item on the menu. I can quite literally go on for hours with requests. But please, do me a favor (or really do yourselves a favor) and next time you sit down at a restaurant, remember me. I am your waitress and this is my job, but I am a person. And I deserve basic common courtesy.
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Wednesday, October 21, 2015 // The Statement
BUSINESS From Page 5C
Ladd also cited the need for housing affordable to the workforce, but said she thought costs were going up commensurate with national trends and the local population. “We’ve always been pretty prosperous in Ann Arbor,” she said. “The standards of living and I think the earning capacity of people that live in Ann Arbor has very much increased and so that has an effect on the prosperity of downtown. I don’t think we’re pricing people out downtown.” Finding a balance When it comes down to the policy on how to create that affordable housing and how cost of living increases should be treated overall, the issue has been contentious for years. At a Council retreat for strategic planning in 2012, former Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje said the city had become gentrified, according to MLive. “I’ve seen the city gentrified from the time that I’ve been here,” Hieftje said. “It’s less affordable now, and I think that’s something we can’t ever forget. We have to continue to work in that area. We can’t forget that we need to make it possible for others to live here who may not have the best of jobs.” A year later, at another retreat, multiple members of Council raised concerns about cost of living, and affordable housing was also an oftmentioned topic of discussion in the 2014 Council and mayoral races. Most recently, in the 2015 Council elections, it resurfaced as a focus for multiple candidates. Krapohl, who was elected in 2014, said he thought keeping housing affordable downtown would continue to be an ongoing issue for Council. “I just don’t see how we’re going to get around it,” he said. “Because it’s an issue that affects multiple income levels within the city and our residents. And we have a relatively diverse economic group here and for the health of a city, the health and growth of any city you need to maintain that. And a big part of that is having affordable housing.” So far, he said, it’s been hard to find a policy to promote affordable housing that had a long-term impact. In many ways, Briere said, City Council is limited in what it can and can’t do. The state doesn’t allow the city to mandate building sizes, or require that developers building downtown also build affordable housing. Nor is funding generally available to increase housing downtown through a government effort. “The reason the Council hasn’t moved forward is it doesn’t have sufficient revenue itself to put aside many, many millions of dollars to build and then support enough housing for young workers, for retirees, for people who are earning but who aren’t able to afford to live in Ann Arbor,” she said. “Being able to provide housing for people who are living in public housing is pretty much the maximum we can do, at least today. It’s a source of frustration, and I don’t have an answer. If I did, I’d be promoting that answer.” Beyond the numbers, discussing the changing face of downtown also raises another series of concerns — what it means for the character of the city. “The fear that the people have who want the community to be stable rather than growing significantly is that not only will the charm that Ann Arbor possesses disappear, but also that the sudden growth will be followed by shrinkage,” Briere said. “And all of the changes will occur and then the new buildings will become derelict, the old houses will be abandoned, because the change is not sustainable.” Others, she noted, think that change is what builds the city’s character, creating two ideas about the city’s future with vastly different outcomes. Overall, Krapohl said there’s no easy answer to what the balance should be between growth downtown and cost of living, or how to to mitigate unintended effects that might come from it. However, he noted that the solution might lie in a new approach to looking at the issue — thinking of development of the downtown, and development of the neighborhoods around it as a single concept, not ones at opposition. “It’s a nice thing with some of the new development, new building,” Krapohl said. “It strengthens the city center. To me the city is like a wagon wheel, and the downtown area is like the wagon hub, and you have to have a strong hub for the spokes of the neighborhood going out. I think there’s a lot of discussion at times, the development of the downtown at the expense of the neighborhoods, that to me I think they have to go together.”