ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Monday, December 14, 2015
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Bill could extend med. amnesty to drug use GRANT HARDY/Daily
LSA junior Noor Ahmad chants before beginning the Michigan Climate March outside the Federal Building on Saturday.
Activists march in A after climate agreement in Paris 2
Dingell, students call on officials to curb climate change during Diag rally By LYDIA MURRAY Daily Staff Reporter
After representatives from 195 countries at the United Nations Climate Change Conference on Saturday pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, about
840 protesters took to the streets of Ann Arbor to promote the importance of efforts to counteract climate change. The march was organized by several environmentally focused student groups in coordination with a series of marches held around the world and promoted by the climate change activist group 350.org. Protesters walked through Ann Arbor holding signs and chanting for more than an hour before arriving at the Diag for a rally. LSA junior Alex Kendig, presi-
dent of Students for Clean Energy and an organizer of the march, said the group wanted to create an opportunity for the community to show their support for efforts to curb climate change. “We saw an issue that needed action, but we didn’t see any opportunities to act,” he said. “We wanted to form a march where people could get involved and show they’re on board with this issue.” The rally drew speakers including U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–Dearborn), Yousef Rabhi,
Minors would not face legal action for seeking medical assistance By ALEXA ST. JOHN Daily Staff Reporter
a member of the county commissioner and a candidate for the state legislature, and a few University students. In her speech, Dingell talked about the upcoming budget legislation Congress will soon review. She said it is important that there are no clauses in the budget that prevent the government from taking action on climate change. “You all need to make sure there are no bills or parts put into that bill that don’t let the United States address climate change,” See CLIMATE, Page 3A
Following the successful implementation of medical amnesty for minors who consumed alcohol, Michigan representatives have introduced a bill to extend this amnesty to drug use as well. As stated in the bill, medical amnesty will prevent legal penalties for individuals under 21 who seek medical assistance for drug use for themselves or another. Rep. Al Pscholka (R–Stevensville) introduced House Bill 4843 in August, aiming to encourage those at risk of overdosing to seek help by granting medical amnesty.
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CAMPUS LIFE
TV INTERVIEW
Catching up with ‘How to Get Away with Murder’ star Jack Falahee
Student raises $15K to help Troy-bound Syrian refugee LSA senior made GoFundMe after reading man’s story on HONY By RACHEL COHEN For the Daily
Seven photos, an idea and a top Facebook comment led Daniel Kang, an LSA senior and Troy, Mich. resident, to raise more than $15,000 on a GoFundMe page for a Syrian refugee coming to his hometown. Kang’s efforts to help the unnamed refugee were eventually recognized by Brandon Stanton, the creator of the Humans of New York blog and Facebook page. On Dec. 8, Stanton posted a seven-part photo story to Facebook as part of his collection of 12 interviews he had with Syrian refugee families during his
trip to Turkey and Jordan. The interview told the story of an elderly refugee who was once a successful scientist before the war. Before he sought refuge in Turkey, the man said his home was destroyed and many members of his family were killed. The man said he is unable to work in Turkey and has been diagnosed with stomach cancer. His story drew sympathy and comment from hundreds of thousands of people, including President Barack Obama. After seeing this refugee’s story, Kang decided to start a GoFundMe page to make this man’s transition to a new life in Troy a little easier. Many refugees from Syria fleeing violence in war-torn will likely make their homes in Michigan, though Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has called for a pause on accepting new refugees following recent terrorist See FUNDS, Page 3A
Pscholka introduced the bill after a Michigan teen died from a drug overdose and his friends did not get him medical help for fear of getting in legal trouble, according to CBS Detroit. The bill is an amendment to Michigan’s 1978 Public Act 368 titled, “Public health code,” which discusses the legal repercussions of being found in possession of drugs. Legal action taken with regard to drug possession often includes felony or misdemeanor charges or paying a fine, depending on the type and amount of the drug. Lifetime probation or compliance with substance abuse and addiction services are potential penalties as well. According to the University’s National College Health Assessment survey from February 2014, 70 percent of undergraduates reported drinking alcohol at least once See AMNESTY, Page 3A
GRANT HARDY/Daily
LSA senior Gavin Gao reads James Joyce’s “Ulysses” as their English 464 final at the home of one of his classmates on Friday. The final, which primarily consists of collectively reading the entirety of “Ulysses” in one day, permeates the rest of the students’ activities for the day.
Obama to sign education reform proposal into law After passage with bipartisan support, bill to replace No Child Left Behind By CAITLIN REEDY Daily Staff Reporter
No Child Left Behind — the education reform bill signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007 which has
generated widespread criticism in recent years — is on its way out. A new bill, the Every Student Succeeds Act, now awaits President Obama’s signature after it passed the U.S. House and Senate. The final bill includes bipartisan amendments proposed by Sen. Gary Peters (D–Mich.). After three failed attempts to replace NCLB, this is the first large scale education reform bill to achieve passage
in recent years. Most notably, the bill states that it will end “the federal test-based accountability system of No Child Left Behind, restoring to states the responsibility for determining how to use federally required tests for accountability purposes.” Education Prof. Don Peurach, who works with the University’s Center for Higher and Postsecondary Education, said he believes the ESSA will alleSee EDUCATION, Page 3A
Ann Arbor native still getting used to recognition and sudden, newfound fame By KAREN HUA Daily TV/New Media Editor
Over Thanksgiving weekend, I caught up with “How to Get Away With Murder” ’s Ann Arbor-born and Huron High-educated actor Jack Falahee. Shonda Rhimes’s most recent series drew 14.3 million viewers when it premiered in 2014, outperforming both “Scandal” and “Grey’s Anatomy” ’s pilot episodes and launching it to the No. 1 most popular show last fall. The legal drama on ABC just wrapped its sophomore mid-season finale and will resume this February. As Connor Walsh, a gay, sharptongued and fiercely competitive member of the “Keating Five,” Falahee found his breakthrough role working alongside the likes of Viola Davis (“The Help”), Alfie See FALAHEE, Page 6A
Split Decision Michigan fell just short Saturday, splitting a series with Minnesota » INSIDE
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FIRST ROW: Seated, from left, Editorial Page Editor Aarica Marsh, Editor in Chief Jennifer Calfas, Managing Editor Lev Facher, Managing News Editor Sam Gringlas, Managing Photo Editor Allison Farrand. SECOND ROW: From left, Senior Web Developer Nick Cruz, Assistant Opinion Editor Melissa Scholke, Social Media Editor Danielle Ray, Online Editor Amrutha Sivakumar, 2014 Senior News Editor Rachel Premack, Michigan in Color Editor Gaby Vasquez, Senior Photo Editor Virginia Lozano, Arts Beat Editor Karen Hua, Senior Arts Editor Catherine Sulpizio. THIRD ROW: From left, Managing Photo Editor Ruby Wallau, Deputy Statement Editor Natalie Gadbois, Senior Sports Editor Simon Kaufman, Editorial Page Editor Derek Wolfe, Michigan in Color Editor Demario Longmire, Michigan in Color Editor Sarah Khan, Managing Arts Editor Chloe Gilke, Arts Beat Editor Mariam Sheikh, Assistant Photo Editor San Pham, 2014 Senior News Editor Stephanie Shenouda. FOURTH ROW: From left, Magazine Editor Ian Dillingham, Senior Photo Editor Luna Anna Archey, Managing Sports Editor Max Cohen, Managing Arts Editor Adam DePollo, Michigan in Color Editor Ryan Moody, Senior News Editor Amabel Karoub, Daily Staff Reporter Maya Kalman, Daily Staff Reporter Charlotte Jenkins. FIFTH ROW: From left, Senior Sports Editor Jason Rubinstein, Daily Sports Writer Justin Meyer, Senior Arts Editor Jamie Bircoll, 2014 Senior News Editor Will Greenberg, Copy Chief Hannah Bates, Copy Editor Nicole Skehan.
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Used book Student sale at library arts sale
Dogs in the library
WHAT: Several thousand gently used books and vintage vinyl records will be sold. WHO: University Library WHEN: Today from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. WHERE: Hatcher Graduate Library Gallery, Room 100
WHAT: Therapaws of Michigan will bring dogs to the library to help students relax. WHO: University Library WHEN: Today from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. WHERE: Shapiro Undergraduate Library, Second floor
Grilled Cheese Deli WHAT: FeelGood will deliver a grilled cheese sandwich to any location on Central Campus in exchange for a donation to end poverty. WHO: FeelGood WHEN: Today from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. WHERE: Central Campus
WHAT: Student paintings will be on sale for the holidays. WHO: University Library WHEN: Today from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: Duderstadt Center, Media Union Gallery
Philharmonia UMHS concert project WHAT: The University presentation philharmonic orchestra will perform music by four composers with Hungarian connections. A pre-concert lecture will take place at 7:15 p.m. WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: Today at 8 p.m. WHERE: Hill Auditorium
WHAT: Two researchers will present work on the University Health System’s analytics services. WHO: University Library WHEN: Today from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. WHERE: Hatcher Graduate Library, Second floor, Clark Room
Caroling WHAT: Join Beyond the Diag neighborhood ambassadors for caroling, hot cocoa and candy canes. They will meet at Fletcher Hall and walk throughout neighborhoods. WHO: Dean of Students Office WHEN: Today from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. WHERE: Fletcher Hall
Clarinet recital WHAT: Haotian He, a student clarinet player, will perform three pieces. WHO: School of Music, Theatre & Dance WHEN: Today at 8 p.m. WHERE: Walgreen Drama Center, Stamps Auditorium Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@ michigandaily.com.
‘U’ debate team achieves first place national rank Group ends semester with two consecutive tournament wins By SOPHIE SHERRY For the Daily
After two consecutive first place wins at the Wake Forest University and Harvard University debate tournaments earlier this semester, LSA seniors William Morgan and Joseph Krakoff are ranked first in the country, according to the December 2015 National Debate Coaches Association poll. If the team is able to hold on to that ranking through next semester they will be the first University team since 1997 to enter the National Debate Tournament as the first-place seed. The college debate season
is divided into two semesters, with teams competing in at least four tournaments each semester. This semester began in late September and ended in mid-November with the Wake Forest tournament, which was the largest event with 146 teams from across the country competing. The tournament takes place over the course of two or three days and begins with eight preliminary rounds. Next, the top 32 teams are seeded in a single elimination style bracket. The University team then had to win five elimination rounds to win the tournament. The team won their final debate on a 3-2 decision Morgan and Krakoff have been debate partners for the past two years. Morgan views this year’s success as the culmination of their studies. “We are pioneering a
THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY
relatively new style of debate that heavily involves critical theory based argumentation, evidence that comes out of Ph.D. programs at universities and faculty working there, high level academic work,” Morgan said. “We use this in debate, which is a little bit of a departure from the norm, which is mostly policy based arguments that come from think tanks or foreign affairs.” University Debate Director Aaron Kall said this ranking will cause many of the top teams to spend a disproportionate amount of their research and preparation time on efforts to beat Morgan and Krakoff. “It’s nice in one regard to have that top ranking, especially of your peers and the other coaches that vote, but at the same time you know that you are going to really have some tough debates in the second semester because everyone is going to be aiming for you,” Kall said. The second semester will include two tournaments at the University of California, Berkeley, a tournament at the University of Texas at Austin and the National Debate Championship in Binghamton, N.Y. The top 78 teams in the country qualify for the National Debate Tournament, with no more than three team entries from each school. The University debate team has been a runner-up at the National Debate Tournament for the past two years in a row. Last year the University’s team lost in a 3-2 decision to Northwestern University. Since the University started competing in the National Debate Tournament in 1971 they have been the runnerup four times, but never have won a National title. Krakoff said he believes that success in the the second semester will come from maintaining the same work habits that have got them to See DEBATE, Page 3A
1
In the first election in which Saudi Arabian women could vote, at least two women were elected to office, Reuters reported. They are Salma bint Hazab al-Otaibi and Hanouf bint Mufreh bin Ayad al-Hazimi.
2
The Michigan hockey team split a home series with Minnesota this weekend, winning 8-3 on Friday before losing 3-2 on Saturday. The Wolverines are now 9-3-3 on the season (2-1-1 Big Ten). >>FOR MORE, SEE SPORTS
3
After a two-week climate summit in Paris, almost 200 nations agreed to an accord that will cut greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of to slowing climate change, The New York Times reported.
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Art & Design senior Elizabeth Pearlman mixes adobe for a pizza oven in the Riverdale district of Detroit as part of a park designed and built by the students in the class, Designing Sustainable Food Systems, on Friday. The oven was shaped into a groundhog in honor of the park’s resident groundhog.
Zingerman’s to partner with Korean restaurant Alum’s Asian eatery set to open in Kerrytown by July By REBECCA SOLBERG Daily Staff Reporter
A new Korean restaurant has partnered with Zingerman’s Delicatessen to bring Korean flavors to Ann Arbor. After experimenting with her favorite childhood dishes, University alum Ji Hye Kim, the owner of the San Street food cart, decided in July to open her own Korean restaurant. The restaurant will take over the location of Zingerman’s Catering in Kerrytown. Kim said she hopes for her food to be accessible to people of all backgrounds. “The kind of Korean food that I want to serve is really full-flavored and delicious, but
yet approachable,” Kim said. “I want it to be slightly different Korean food than what you can find elsewhere in town: street food or regional food that you’ve never seen before.” Kim graduated from the University in 2002. After spending four years at a start-up insurance company, she said she decided not to continue in the industry. “You put 70 hours a week working but you think, is this industry worthy of me?” Kim said. “Do I want to spend 70 hours a week of my life at this job? I decided that I didn’t.” After joining her husband in Ann Arbor, she applied for jobs with three different employers: an insurance company, the University and Zingerman’s. Though she got called back to all three jobs, she chose Zingerman’s despite her limited experience in the food industry and the relatively lower pay.
Kim said she was driven to take the Zingerman’s job because of her love for food, as well as her experience with the deli’s exceptional customer service. Kim said her love for food began at a young age, when her mother made her homemade Korean food from scratch “My mother didn’t teach me how to cook,” she said. “What she taught was to recognize good food because she fed me good food.” After beginning at Zingerman’s, she said she realized she wanted to bring that same caliber of service to the Asian food industry. “I was having a great time, but at the same time I was thinking wouldn’t it be great if I walked into a Chinese grocery story and got this level of food and this level of service,” she said. Soon after Kim heard about Zingerman’s Path to See ZINGERMAN’S, Page 3A
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viate pressure currently placed on the states and allow for more positive growth. “One of the big impacts will be that in many ways (ESSA) relaxes the tremendous pressure that schools have felt from the federal level down to the states to local districts and schools,” Peurach said. “It broadens the capabilities of states and districts in finding successful ways where they won’t be nearly as pressure labeled.” The bill will strip the federal government of some of its power, which will be returned to the states, allowing them to decide on appropriate measures when tackling various issues, such as how to rate the success of individual schools. It also will allocate a higher percentage of federal funding to low-performing schools as identified by the individual state’s accountability systems, which may include graduation rates and English proficiency, alongside test scores. “One of the things it will do is open up the opportunity to cultivate improvementfocused climates in schools and improvement-focused cultures that have been difficult to cultivate when the achievement level was so pressured,” Peurach said. Sens. Peters and Cory Gardner (R–Colo.) proposed a bipartisan amendment supporting dual and concurrent enrollment in schools. This will allow high school students to receive college credit from courses taught by college-approved teachers while still in high school. The amendment will also permit fifth-year programs to allow students to continue with their concurrent enrollment and thus receive more credits. “My provisions in this bill will support funding for dual enrollment programs that can help make college more affordable, arm students with the tools they need to make responsible financial choices in the future and protect our most vulnerable children from falling into the school-to-prison pipeline,” Peters said. Peters also championed the addition of two other measures. One concerned supporting funding for financial literacy programming — particularly among at-risk youth and immigrants. The other additional measure worked to identify dual status youth. In a letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Peters described dual status youth as those who have “come into contact with both the child welfare and juvenile justice system.” He wrote that these children are considered most at risk for not succeeding in school and contribute to the current “school to prison pipeline.” By more accurately identifying at-risk youth, as Peters pointed out in his letter, the government can work on improving intervention services to benefit them. Despite the intended benefits of ESSA, Peurach said there are concerns about the implications of 50 different achievement standards from 50 different states. “It locates a lot of the responsibility of making all of this work on to the state departments of education,” Peurach said. “Some departments are healthier and have more capacity than others so there is a risk in variability in what counts as success across states and variability in support for schools across states.” Still, Peurach said the bill’s overall benefits should lead to greater trust in the educational system, and will perhaps inspire current college students to tailor their studies to the field of education reform. “I expect to see a real change in the climate and culture of change in schools,” he said. “We’ll see a rise of students interested in program evaluations to continue to become more active in schools and educational innovations to make sure that what these people are trying to do actually works. I think it continues to open up the opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty, interested in getting into schools and helping them get better.”
attacks in Paris, Lebanon and elsewhere. Kang created the page the same day the photos were posted and said the page grew more popular when his friend posted the page’s link to her top comment on one of the photos. Kang said he started the page because he recognized that many people get very upset over the refugee’s stories, but few took action to help the man and his family. “A big reason why I started this is because I feel like people get so heartbroken over the refugee stories and then when it comes down to it, some people at the moment want to help but then afterwards they don’t care about it,” Kang said. “I wanted to jump in while people were prepared to help and give them the opportunity that they could do something.” Actor Edward Norton had a similar idea. On Saturday afternoon, Stanton posted on the HONY page that Norton had contacted him asking to start a fundraiser for this same scientist. Stanton included a link to Norton’s fundraiser and commented on the post rec-
ognizing Kang for his fundraising efforts. Kang said he did not expect to be recognized by Stanton. “I didn’t really think I did much, so to get a shout-out from (the) Humans of New York (creator), who I think is one of the most influential people in the world was pretty great,” Kang said. “The amount of people who had nice things to say was really foreign. I still don’t feel like I did that much … I can see that people will think that I’m doing good in the world so I really appreciate all of the support.” Kang wrote in a top-ranked Facebook comment that he is trying to get in contact with Norton and has been in contact with other people and organizations who are also trying to give the scientist a better life. Kang has also been working with the Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, a Troy-based nonprofit that helps refugees coming to the area find jobs, housing and translators if needed. If Kang cannot give the money to the scientist, he said he would donate the money to the Lutheran Social Services of Michigan. Kang said he still hopes that the man will want to meet him when he arrives in Michigan.
Monday, December 14, 2015 — 3A
This refugee’s particular story touched Kang because the scientist said that he hopes Troy will be a place that respects science. “I think that Troy … except for maybe Ann Arbor is the best place (for) somebody who wants to raise a family that’s from another region and is interested in science,” Kang said. “It’s a very welcoming town, it’s very diverse and the education system is very good and they’re always pushing for bigger and greater things.” Kang said he hopes that people will support refugees even if their stories are not made popular by the media. “One big thing that I’m worried about regarding future donations and fundraisers is that I feel that people are much more concerned about doing good for somebody that they can relate to even if they’ve never met them, than doing good for the masses in general. I think that it’s a problem with the media and the way of making the masses unrelatable whereas Humans of New York always gives them a face, gives them a story.” Kang said. “I think in the future people should look towards acknowledging that everybody has their own story regardless of how nameless they are.”
TA R I S R I PA M O S O
KRISTINA PERKINS/Daily
Rackham student Zoë McLaughlin performs Tari Sri Pamoso, a traditional Javanese dance, with the UM Gamelan Ensemble at Hill Auditorium on Saturday. The event was sponsored by School of Music, Theatre & Dance, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies and the Residential College.
CLIMATE From Page 1A she said. “You need to spread out across the country and make sure we walk, we talk.” Rabhi said the way to achieve real input in climate change legislation is by mobilizing young voters. “This struggle will be won at the ballot box,” he said. “When we vote, we win. When we knock on doors, we win. When we go to the streets and protest, we win. We will win.” Meghan O’Neill, a high school student in Washtenaw County, said she joined the march because she thought it was key for people to show their support. “I think it’s really important to get involved in this because if we don’t take action, who else is going to?” she said. “We have to make a change.” The demonstration followed the conclusion of the climate talks in Paris, where countries set a target of keeping the global temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius,
with each country submitting specific goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The University sent a delegation of students and faculty to the conference where they were able to observe the negotiations. Rackham student Mayank Vikas, one of the students on the delegation, said the deal is not as comprehensive as it could be, but he hopes it will lead to more progress in the future. “I’m cautiously optimistic this deal will lead to something bigger and better,” Vikas said. “It’s a good start, but I don’t think the deal is ambitious enough to actually match the aspirations that its text reflects.” Information and History Prof. Paul Edwards, who also attended the conference, said he hopes the talks serve as a motivating force for the University to take more action against climate change. “We should be leading the way,” he said. “If we are really the leaders and the best we should be showing the rest of the world how it’s done.”
ZINGERMAN’S From Page 2A Partnership, she said she began to dream about starting her own Korean restaurant. Path to Partnership is a program through which current Zingerman’s employees have the opportunity to apply to become a partner at an existing restaurant or create a brand using the Zingerman’s name. Kim talked to Z ingerman’s founders Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig about her ideas. She said they were very supportive and encouraged her to start small. Accordingly, Kim and a
DEBATE From Page 2A where they are today. “We need to keep winning,” he said. “We need to keep doing new research, innovating and being new. Things went well
co-worker acquired a food truck and sold meals at Mark’s Carts on Washington Street for four years, then this January applied for and received a partnership with Zingerman’s. “The process is usually faster,” Kim said. “But I chose to do it slowly because I wanted to figure out exactly what I wanted to pinpoint and do.” She also plans to make her own versions of the more famous Korean dishes, like bibimbap. Above all, she said she wants the food to fit well in the Ann Arbor setting. “The kind of Korean food I want to do will inevitably reflect the setting I am in, which is Ann Arbor,” she said.
first semester, they went better in the second half of the first semester than the first half and I attribute that to being comfortable, being practiced and being very prepared.” “The pressure is on,” Morgan said. “But that is what you want.”
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AMNESTY From Page 1A in the past month, and 21 percent reported using marijuana at least once in the past month. Eight percent of undergraduate students reported using drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines and ecstasy in the past month. All of these numbers had increased since a previous NCHA survey taken in 2010. Mary Jo Desprez, director of Wolverine Wellness, said alcohol and other drug use is a problem that spans the entire student population. Wolverine Wellness is a program housed in University Health Services that, in part, addresses the potential harm of drug use on campus. Though freshmen are often the highest risk group for drug use, Desprez said students of all ages are affected. Though the bill addresses drug use, she said alcohol abuse continues to be a bigger issue on the University campus. Desprez said medical amnesty laws are usually created to address the fear students experience when debating whether or not to seek medical assistance. “At U-M we have a caring community and most students tell us they would call for help regardless if they were worried about a friend or a fellow student,” Desprez wrote in an e-mail interview with The Michigan Daily. “For those few that might not, this law could provide an additional measure of certainty.” However, these laws have the potential to limit the ability of health care professionals to follow up with drug users, Desprez said. Prior to the introduction of this bill, it was often the citation that students would receive from drug possession or other unlawful acts that allowed the court to require an educational intervention. “When you remove that accountability loop we lose a strategy to talk with people about what role alcohol and other drug use is playing in their lives,” Desprez wrote. “We should continue to advocate for these laws to include options for addressing the potential continued harm to that person beyond the danger that is happening that night.” Desprez said through education programs, Wolverine Wellness aims to intervene before any overdose happens in the first place. “We have a lot more potential to help people by moderating their behavior before they get to the point of overdose,” Desprez wrote. “If students learned how to care for their friends long before a potential overdose was happening we could prevent a large majority of these situations.” LSA junior Erin Dunne, co-director of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy organization on campus, said students’ misunderstanding of the amnesty policy plays a large role in limiting reporting. “There’s a lot of catches in these laws that might make some students be afraid,” Dunne said. While some believe that medical amnesty laws could go too far, particularly in the case of students abusing the privilege to stay out of legal trouble, Dunne said SSDP generally believes medical amnesty should apply to all drugs and situations. “You should never be in a situation where you are going to get in trouble for a medical condition, be that a condition, overdose or misuse,” she said. Ultimately, Dunne said medical amnesty is crucial, especially considering the Michigan teen that died potentially because this provision was not in place.
Opinion
4A — Monday, December 14, 2015
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com JENNIFER CALFAS EDITOR IN CHIEF
AARICA MARSH and DEREK WOLFE EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
LEV FACHER MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
FROM THE DAILY
Phase out fossil fuels
The University must investigate divestment from oil and coal
C
oinciding with the last five days of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Divest and Invest — the student campaign advocating for the University to divest from fossil fuel companies — hosted a Pledge to The Planet Climate Action Week to raise awareness about the University’s role in combatting climate change this past week. Similarly, during his last fireside chat of the semester, University President Mark Schlissel answered questions about his stance on fossil fuel divestment. While Schlissel maintained that the University is committed to sustainability, he believes fossil fuel divestment is ineffective and a “mostly symbolic action.” One day later, Schlissel released a statement on the University’s role in addressing climate change, sustainability and the possibility of divestment. Though his concerns are realistic, Schlissel’s logic regarding fossil fuel divestment is flawed. Divestment from fossil fuels is more than symbolic; it’s a tangible action that demonstrates the University isn’t complicit in an industry that’s destroying our environment. Schlissel must reconsider his statement and request that the University’s Board of Regents form a committe dedicated to investigating the University’s investments in fossil fuel companies — which is what the Divest and Invest campaign is currently advocating for. There is a three-pronged requirement for the University to form this committee: there must be a consensus on campus for the issue, the industry or issue is antithetical to the University’s core values and the organizations being examined are uniquely responsible for the issue at hand. Divestment from fossil fuel companies fits all three criteria. According to the Divest and Invest Campaign, the University has about $1 billion of its $10 billion endowment invested in fossil fuels. However, the group only seeks to have the University investigate coal and oil investments, providing a gradual and reasonable way for the University to divest from fossil fuels. In March, Central Student Government passed a resolution supporting the divestment campaign. The Senate Assembly also voiced its support for the resolution just last month. Agreement on the issue of climate change by both students and faculty demonstrates the urgency of the issue, which the University should not ignore. Other universities have already taken steps to reduce their financial investment in fossil
fuels. Three months ago, the University of California system sold the $200 million it had invested in coal and oil sands. Stanford University, Georgetown University and Syracuse University have pledged to divest from coal mining companies. Other schools, such as New York City’s New School, have not only dropped fossil fuel stocks from their investment portfolios, but have also reshaped curricula to promote sustainability and combat climate change. About 40 universities have made such commitments, and the list of corporations and financial institutions that have fully or partially divested is large and growing fast. However, the University has yet to make a comprehensive study of divestment that would weigh its commitment to sustainability against the effect divestment might have on its endowment. No large research university can afford to mismanage its endowment, nor can it fail to examine its options when it can clearly identify investments that stand opposed to its professed values. Indeed, the Board of Regents has dropped socially irresponsible investments twice in the past, divesting itself of tobacco companies and entities associated with apartheid in South Africa. Schlissel objects to divestment in part because it would not reduce carbon emissions. But neither of the University’s previous divestments were expected to solve their associated problems. They were steps taken on principle in the interest of the global community and human life. For reasons that are impossible to ignore, the board must form a committee to research the possibility of divestment from fossil fuel companies, and then make its findings public.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Lillian Gaines, Caitlin Heenan, Ben Keller, Minsoo Kim, Payton Luokkala, Aarica Marsh, Anna Polumbo-Levy, Jason Rowland, Lauren Schandevel, Melissa Scholke, Rebecca Tarnopol, Ashley Tjhung, Stephanie Trierweiler, Mary Kate Winn, Derek Wolfe
JOE IOVINO
E-mail joe at jiovino@umich.edu
F
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Maintaining happiness
our months ago, I had an epiphany while working at my beloved sleepaway camp. As I lay awake in my child-sized bunk bed, feeling genuinely happy for the first time in a long time, I realized that I had things to say and I wanted to find a way to ANNIE say them. Eight HUMPHREY Daily columns later, I am ready to reflect on the heart of what I was really trying to communicate. In my first column, I described how I began feeling empty and sad around this time last year. My heart and mind had finally come to terms with how disconnected I felt at the University, and I had trouble thinking of valid reasons to get out of bed each morning. Luckily, I was able to rediscover happiness over the summer by doing what I loved (working at my camp) with people I loved (shout out to my campers and co-counselors). Yet even while on such a high, I was perceptive enough to worry that I might relapse into depression as soon as I set foot on University property. Miraculously, it’s finals week and I’m just as happy as I was back in August. However, I had to completely change my attitude this semester to ensure my happiness would stick, a process that I described throughout my columns. Learning to see life through a positive lens has been draining at times, especially on bad days when I want to give up and revert to my old mentality. But staying optimistic has also made life so much more enjoyable. According to Forbes contributor
Travis Bradberry, specific steps are required to stay optimistic, such as identifying positive thoughts and writing down negative thoughts to evaluate them more rationally. My attempted optimism began more haphazardly. I decided I was sick of being sad, and therefore I no longer tolerated sad thoughts. Whenever one surfaced, I attributed it to sleep deprivation and moved on. Unsurprisingly, my simplistic optimism failed, and I crashed from my happy summer high right before classes started. I had just Skyped my best friend from home, who told me I was the most smiley and enthusiastic she’d ever seen me. I informed her that I had finally attained true happiness and my depression was gone forever. But as soon as I hung up, the wonderful feelings vanished. It dawned on me that I had to finish two more semesters at a place that didn’t feel like home, with people I didn’t connect with. I wasn’t sure if I could get through it, and worse yet, I felt disingenuous for proclaiming that I had finally found happiness when I clearly hadn’t. In retrospect, I’m glad I crashed as early as I did. When I woke up feeling happy again two days later, I realized this wasn’t depression. This was just a bad day. If I could get through this bad day, then I could get through all the future bad days thrown my way. As the semester progressed, I rediscovered coping strategies, such as journaling and working out, which reduced my bouts of sadness from days to mere hours. And of course, taking time to connect with people and do my favorite hobbies gave me something to look forward to every time I started feeling down. At first, I thought having a positive attitude meant being positive about
everything in my life. But eventually, I realized it meant knowing when to step up versus walk away graciously. While seeking new connections with people who made me happy, I sacrificed a lot of superficial connections that had contributed to my emptiness and depression. I called my mom several times and told her I felt like a quitter, but she assured me I made the right choice and that I needed to re-label it in my head to sound more empowering. Like the song from “Frozen,” I wasn’t giving up; I was letting go. With all the positive changes in my life, I finally feel true happiness in relation to my college experience, and I no longer worry about the good vibes disappearing. Though it took me longer than most, I think I figured out how to do college right and I can’t wait to see where my positive attitude takes me next semester. I’m in a place where there is no shortage of opportunity to do what I love, and no shortage of people to whom I can connect. I’m curious to see what will happen when I graduate and find myself in a whole new environment. After my first column, a University alum reached out and said that the coping strategies she learned while dealing with tough situations in college prepared her to deal with future challenges in her life and career. Based on her experience and my own unwavering optimism, I’m confident that I will be prepared for whatever obstacles come my way. Finding a platform to say all the things I wanted to say this semester was such a privilege. Thank you so much to everyone who supported me along the way. — Annie Humphrey can be reached at annieah@umich.edu.
SINDHU SREEDHAR | MICHIGAN IN COLOR
CSG continues silencing minority voices Editor’s Note: The original version of this Michigan in Color piece was published November 30. The Michigan Daily temporarily retracted the piece due to factual inaccuracies brought to the Daily’s attention after publication. This is the final version of this piece. On November 22, I, along with the other 10 members of the Campus Inclusion Commission under the Central Student Government, resigned. The original goal of the commission was to provide a space within the student government where students with marginalized identities felt safe voicing their concerns. However we, as a commission, came to the conclusion that CSG’s efforts to make campus more inclusive weren’t entirely genuine and we felt that working with them wasn’t in our best interests. We left, not because the chair of our commission was fired, but because of what we believe are the reasons why he was fired — for making noise, for demanding justice, after I, personally, faced discrimination within CSG, for questioning CSG’s homogeneity, and for advocating for minority voices. In our opinion, for doing his job. As a woman of color, I often feel as though I have limited influence in spaces. Because of that, I often let problematic things go unchecked and don’t say anything for fear of retaliation. This experience will not be one of them. Here’s my story. This past September, an Executive Committee member of CSG met with me to inform me of a significant change within student government structure — three separate commissions would be merged into one larger Campus Inclusion Commission. As the executive chair of the LGBTQ Issues Commission, that decision would significantly impact my role. However, before I could say anything, he seemed to imply that if the commission didn’t comply with the new structure, we could leave CSG, and they would find people to replace us. The preemptive threat caught me off guard and I felt pressured to go along with what he was saying, simply because of the power dynamic. He is a white man in a higher position than me, and had just implied that that I was dispensable. I’m a woman of color with seemingly no real authority in that space. Whose voice really matters here? I felt as though the LGBTQ community that I was advocating for had suddenly lost any voice that it may have ever had in CSG. That meeting set the tone for the rest of my involvement in CSG. However, despite that encounter, I still tried to be open to the idea of working with the student government because of the credibility they have under the administration and the reach they
have with students. I continued to brush that event and my skepticism aside in order to do what I came to do — create a more inclusive campus. Things moved quickly from there, as they do in CSG. Applications were sent out for a chair position of what we now called the Campus Inclusivity Commission, or CIC. While I was invited to apply, I doubted I’d stand a chance in the process and didn’t have additional time to give an organization that had already shown they didn’t care about me. I ultimately decided not to, and a new commission chair was appointed soon after. The new commission first met in mid-October, and by the middle of November, we had three large projects in process, and the members of our new team began to get closer. Feeling decently comfortable with them, I offhandedly mentioned the unsettling interaction I’d had with the CSG Executive Committee member. Our chair immediately suggested that we report the microaggression to the rest of the Executive Committee, and after a day of thinking over it, I decided it should be addressed. Though I didn’t want to cause trouble or ill will within CSG, I believed that discussing the comment and its impact could begin to create a more inclusive campus, one person at a time. Especially given that doing so aligned with the mission of the inclusion committee that student government had just created, I’d believed we would have their support. I was very wrong. After the CIC chair and I reported the incident to the rest of the Executive Committee, we attempted several methods of restorative justice. We tried implementing an ally training for all members of the assembly. We tried getting the Executive Committee member who’d made the comment to go to an ally training. We tried creating a new position on the Executive Committee to hold them all accountable to using inclusive language and taking the needs of marginalized students into consideration. These initiatives were either not taken seriously, were not done to CSG’s best efforts or didn’t even happen. For example, the person who had committed the microaggression against me was supposed to go to a Growing Allies retreat, a training that would educate him on microaggressions and social identity. Though he did receive a link to the wrong website — which was not his fault — he still knowingly signed up for and attended a sexual assault training instead. His failure to question the training he was attending and how it related to the harm he did indicates to me that he was merely fulfilling a mandatory requirement instead of showing a true dedication to learning. Finally, I met with the CSG adviser and president last week to talk
about the original microaggression I had faced, at this point, two months ago. I explained it yet again, thinking this would be my final dealing with this issue. Instead of simply listening to what had happened and helping me find the solution I’d wanted, they began probing me about the commission chair — the person who’d helped me report in the first place. They asked me how I felt that our commission chair had taken charge in dealing with the issue and making sure I was treated fairly. Though I didn’t fully understand why I was being asked about our commission chair, I was honest with them in saying he only took charge in dealing with the issue when I had asked him to. At the time, I’d believed they were just trying to support me, but I now see that they had been trying to ambush me into providing the Executive Committee with an excuse to fire him. I realized this on November 20, when I saw an e-mail in my inbox from the Executive Committee. It said, very bluntly and without explanation, that our commission chair had been fired. In their words, “the chair of the Campus Inclusion Commission was vacated.” The now-former commission members met with a member of the Executive Committee and the CSG adviser for one last meeting, in which we were told several of the reasons the commission chair was fired. While some of the reasons given were understandable, other factors they listed and implied should have never been considered. For example, the Executive Committee member mentioned he didn’t like that the CIC chair told him to check his privilege during several meetings. Even though our committee explained to him that this is a crucial part of inclusion work, he continued to complain that the CIC chair was belittling him for not understanding certain issues. Because of comments like this, it seemed that what the Executive Committee member was most upset about was the CIC chair’s challenging his perspective — a bias I doubt was applied to his friend (who made the microaggressive comment to me) when deciding what consequences would befall him. Though I will always be invested in advocating for a more inclusive campus, I (and the rest of the former CIC members) have realized that within student government is not the place to do it. From the unchecked comments to the subtle power plays to the unjust firing of our commission chair, CSG is no longer an organization I trust or am willing to work for. Sindhu Sreedhar is a Michigan in Color contributor
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FILM REVIEW
Monday, December 14, 2015 — 5A
ALBUM REVIEW
‘Sea’ a shipwreck Sensual ‘Late Nights’ By MADELEINE GAUDIN
By MATT GALLATIN
Daily Arts Writer
Daily Arts Writer
“In the Heart of the Sea” is a beautiful trainwreck, or perhaps its better to call it a beautiful shipwreck. Visually C+ stunning and painfully bor- In the Heart ing, the latest from director of the Sea Ron Howard Rave & (“Rush”) is a Quality 16 film adaptation of the Warner true story that Brothers Pictures inspired Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick.” It’s not a “Moby Dick” movie but it’s also not not a “Moby Dick” movie. The film begins with a young Melville, played by Ben Whishaw (“Spectre”) approaching Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson, “In Bruges”), the lone survivor of the whaling ship Essex, in the hopes of uncovering the secrets of the ship’s final voyage. Told mostly in flashbacks, Thomas’s story revolves around the ship’s first mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth, “The Avengers”), a shift in main characters that can be confusing if you, like me, can’t understand every word of Gleeson’s scruffy accent. I spent the entire film thinking that Owen Chase was narrating the story to Melville — oops. The facts of the story are pretty incredible. A mythic whale singlehandedly taking down a ship full of men should be cinematic gold, but “In the Heart of the Sea” manages to make the extraordinary painfully ordinary. It could be the only film
Jeremih’s music evokes a velvet fantasy. The lyrics are almost exclusively and sexual, and the production mimics this Aimplicit sensuality. Take his Late Nights: enormous hit “Birthday Sex” The Album — you know Jeremih exactly what you’re getting. Def Jam The genius of Jeremih is that he still manages to set himself ahead of the competition at a time when seductive and “alternative” R&B is everywhere. Perhaps even more impressive is that he has done this without releasing a true album since 2010. But instead of coming across as a throwback, his new Late Nights: The Album, like all of Jeremih’s releases, is years ahead. The features pull from some of the most in-the-moment artists (Migos, Ty Dolla $ign, Future and Jhené Aiko to name a few) and the production feels as sharply smooth as ever. The result is an album so infectious and addictive that you’ll find yourself listening to it over and over and over. Single “Oui” takes that addictive quality to another level. It’s a diamond-studded work that is so perfectly crafted and layered that it demands to be replayed. It gives and sustains just enough to draw you in and make you still want more. Such is the strength of Jeremih, and this skill is used throughout Late Nights. “Impatient” and “Remember Me” croon higher and higher, just grazing a
WARNER BROS.
Can you drown in CGI?
to ever make an audience think, “Cannibalism? Mass destruction? So what.” The characters are underdeveloped and difficult to care about — to the point that you might find yourself rooting for the whale to end things as soon as possible. Literary snobs in coffee shops across America (myself included) breathed a collective sigh of relief upon discovering that “In the Heart of the Sea” isn’t really a “Moby Dick” movie. But making a movie about the true story that inspired a book is not only confusing, it’s limiting. Therefore, the film is defined not only by what it is, but also by what it isn’t. It isn’t a literary epic. It isn’t a known story. Then, what is it? Because ultimately it is as much about “Moby Dick“ as it isn’t. The captain isn’t named Ahab but that doesn’t really matter because the audience knows it’s the same person, only a simpler, less compelling version. “In the Heart of the Sea” is an origin story that desperately does not want to be an origin story. The only thing keeping the film afloat is its cinematography. In shots that resemble Turner paintings, the sea is a power-
ALBUM REVIEW
Rozay does it By SHAYAN SHAFII Daily Arts Writer
When 50 Cent exposed Rick Ross as a former correctional officer, it seemed his career as a rapper was irreparably fucked. Instead of just taking the B+ loss and picking up a new hustle Black (competitive Market eating?), Officer Ricky Rozay Rick Ross vacuum-sealed Maybach his echo cham- Music Group ber and took his delusions of grandeur to the next level. The rest is history. He hit his peak with the 2012 release of Rich Forever (one of the greatest titles in recent rap history), where for the first time it seemed he was actually crazy enough to believe his own fantasies. While Rick Ross and his “untouchable” Maybach Music Empire have since taken more than a few stumbles, the only thing that has remained unscathed is Ross’s intense desire to be something in between El Chapo and Jay Z. What makes his latest effort, Black Market, particularly interesting is a noticeable shift in narration. We finally get some insight on William Roberts: the man behind the cardboard Scarface mansion. The lush multimillion-dollar beats are present as usual, but Black Market isn’t another cookie-cutter mafia movie. Instead of the traitor in our midst, we get Mariah Carey on a surprisingly pop-y track (“Can’t Say No”) that Ross sounds right at home on. Instead of the wall of henchman blocking the head Bawse, we get a song where Roberts contemplates quitting promethazine cough syrup for the sake of his mother (“Smile Mama, Smile”). Hardly the thoughts and actions of a real kingpin, but that’s a good thing. It seems in attempt to paper over the cracks in his façade, Black Market also hits some of the brightest peaks in Ross’s career from a technical perspective. “One of Us” sees Ross trade verses with Nas and actually keep up. When he says “You getting money, got a body? / Then you one of us” it’s easy to forget that the closest he has ever been to murderers is when he monitored them from the outside of a prison cell.
There’s also “Free Enterprise,” where Ross alternates between his classic luxury rap bars and outrageous threats. He likens “beefing with broke n****s” to pulling teeth just moments before addressing his dreams of assassinating Donald Trump “like Zimmerman” — A line so absurd, the first time I heard it I laughed loud enough for someone to come to my study carrel and tell me to quiet down. The most infectious track on the album is “Crocodile Python” (no such animal or material exists, but again, we’ll let it slide), where Ross levitates over a beat made of yak’s wool and chinchilla fibers, or some other expensive sounding shit. Point being, this is Ross at his smoothest. “Rims on my whip got it lookin hypnotic / Stuffing money in my pockets as you n***s watchin,” is about as Rick Ross as it gets. He also compares the size of his chain to the girth of a python. Say what you will about his fraudulent persona and one-dimensional verses, but his ear for beats and steadfast commitment to character has to be considered admirable. In a year that’s seen an increased focus on ghostwriters (I’m looking at you, Drake), Ross also opens up about his presence as a ghostwriter himself on “Ghostwriter:” “Fat boy behind all of your favorite flows, man.” For a guy who routinely lies about killing people and pushing enough cocaine to fill a Brinks truck, he takes great pride in having (allegedly) written all of his own rhymes. As if that feat alone warrants a victory lap, he spends the hook triumphantly shouting, “I be so lonely at the top!” for the bulk of the track. Regardless of your preference for the more sinister-sounding Rick Ross from Rich Forever, this is about as good as a “Rick Ross album” can be. It’s filled startto-finish with some of the best beats this year (featuring mandatory production assistance from J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League), has some of his most memorable bars to date and is overall an aesthetically cohesive project. Rick Ross is never going to make a life-changing album, and it would be stupid to expect him to; it’s simply not within him. The best he can do is make something that blows out your car speakers without you regretting how you blew them out, and that’s what he’s done here, again.
ful beast, churning with color and life. Storms sweep violently across the water and sunsets burn against the massive sky. In that sense, the sea is the best character in the film, more complicated and compelling than any of the humans. The camera moves vertiginously, allowing the audience to empathize with the character’s seasickness — the closest thing to an emotional tie in the film. During a particularly nasty storm, the camera alternates between sweeping aerial shots and underwater shots at deck level, spinning and cutting at nauseating speeds. Similarly, the whale is a masterwork of CGI. A while speckled monster covered in scratches and barnacles, the whale is as beautiful and is it terrible. It’s complicated and mysterious in ways that none of its human counterparts are. Nature brutally defeats man in “In the Heart of the Sea,” but the audience is glad that it does. Ultimately, visual aesthetics can’t save “In the Heart of the Sea” from being a dull and emotionless attempt at telling (or sort of telling) one of the greatest stories in history.
DEF JAM
So sensual.
climax before pulling off. This quality is what has allowed Jeremih to inhabit a strange space of being both viscerally associated as a “back-in-the-day” artist and still wield a radio-relevant force today. If you’re in college, “Down On Me” and “Birthday Sex” were likely played at your high school homecoming dances. Depending on your experience, they either evoke fond or regretful memories — but they certainly invoke memories. That Jeremih is still making songs that crystallize the times (“Don’t Tell ‘Em”) and that reveal a talent beyond just singing over catchy beats. Part of this talent involves his ability to effortlessly integrate with so many artists. Recently, he appeared on the new Chance the Rapper track, “Somewhere in Paradise,” a bright, optimistic and trumpeting song. Jeremih’s voice is another instrument that weaves in with the orchestra. “Giv No Fucks” from Late Nights, on the other hand, seamlessly incorporates the Atlanta rap group Migos — the aesthetic antithesis of Chance the Rapper
Classifieds
RELEASE DATE– Monday, December 14, 2015
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Main idea 5 Seniors, to juniors 9 Pizza party drinks 14 A whole bunch 15 Skip past 16 __ Jeane Mortenson: Marilyn Monroe’s birth name 17 Six-sided state 18 Cares 20 Superfan to the max 22 For each one 23 Org. that created American Hunter magazine 24 BBC time traveler 26 Ginormous amount 28 Girl who lost her sheep 31 Lawyer’s org. 32 Enjoy the pool 33 Narnia lion 37 Beauty goop 38 Get cracking 41 Cubes in a tray 42 Canonized fifthcen. pope 45 “Very funny!” 47 VCR format 48 Short online message visible only to approved followers 52 Important Colonial cash crop 55 Carrying a gun 56 “The Simpsons” Squishee seller 57 Parka part 59 Awards for Helen Hunt and Holly Hunter 62 Get lovey-dovey 65 Sunburn soother 66 German pistol 67 Expel 68 Really anger 69 Revise, as text 70 Makes a choice 71 __-dish pizza DOWN 1 Wearing a long face 2 Greek letter before kappa
3 Display confidence and pride 4 Top with a slogan 5 Canine gnawing toys 6 “__ hearing you right?” 7 Prima donna 8 Answer the call 9 Salad veggie with an edible pod 10 Fireworks reaction 11 Stingless bee 12 Valentino’s valentine 13 The devil 19 Vague amount 21 Beltmaking tools 25 Memorial news item, briefly 27 Adorns with Cottonelle, informally 28 Falls behind 29 “Yeah, whatever” 30 Nebraska city associated with steaks 34 Pretended to be what one isn’t 35 Tooth woe
36 Home in a tree 39 Pro __: in proportion 40 Jimmy Fallon’s longtime house band 43 Org. concerned with pesticides 44 Apple tree grouping 46 Emer. money sources 49 Desktop image
50 Ritualistic kind of doll 51 “This convenience store checks IDs” 52 Blackjack surface 53 Poppy narcotic 54 Jut out 58 Bra spec 60 Audition goal 61 Ooze 63 Quarterback Dawson 64 East, in Essen
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— and finds Jeremih leaning on the side of trap. Yet neither seems at odds with the other, a testament to the fluidity and ethereality of Jeremih’s croon. Of all of the fantasy worlds that Jeremih has painted, Late Nights is certainly the most mature and brooding. His first two albums felt, rightly, more youthful and full of discovery. This ethos has been replaced with a confident and seasoned professional. “Know you probably worried what I’m used to,” he sings on “Impatient”; this isn’t the Jeremih fresh out of music school. He still surprises though, and the best moment comes as the album closes. After the long night of partying that the majority of Late Nights alludes to, “Paradise” is the moment when the sun comes up. The bass and synths fade to reveal a tender acoustic guitar with Jeremih’s voice as the main attraction. It’s a beautiful and disarming moment that sees Jeremih reflecting on the wonder of life. “And they say it gets better,” he sings. It seems the same is true for his music.
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Arts
6A — Monday, December 14, 2015
TV COLUMN
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MUSIC COLUMN
The true meaning of To the people who Netflix Christmas stand still at concerts I’m a sucker for Christmas. I love tacky store windows with paintings of reindeer and piles of crunchy fake snow. I love the way the smell of molasses drifts to my bedroom all the way from the kitchen when my mom bakes gingerbread men. I love the cringey Christmas music, espeCHLOE cially Michael GILKE Buble’s aggressively no-homo cover of “Santa Baby.” But most of all — more than all the holiday pop culture and more than spending time with my friends and family — I love Christmas episodes of TV. Christmas on TV is goddamn magical, a sparkly time of year when characters say what they feel and hug and show each other the meaning of friendship. There’s a reason why Christmas episodes of sitcoms are often cited as their finest hours — “Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo” from “South Park,” “The One with the Holiday Armadillo” from “Friends” and “The Strike” from “Seinfeld,” to name just a few classics. TV Christmases tend to be warm and satisfying, but are also saturated with drama and intrigue. The holiday coincides with the mid-season break that many network series take at the end of the calendar year, following the traditional “November sweeps” period where shows try to garner key ratings by providing jam-packed and exciting episodes. No matter your religious affiliation (or lack thereof), Christmas episodes are prime entertainment. I grew up without any religious affiliation. Though I have relatives who celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah, the holidays were always a time for decorations and fun secular dinners for our branch of the Gilke family tree. Christmas episodes are designed to appeal equally to those who celebrate the holiday and those who do not. Whether you celebrate Chrismukkah or are a godless heathen like myself, there’s a special, heartwarming joy in watching that “West Wing” Christmas episode. In preparation for this column, I took a break from studying for finals to chill with Netflix and revisit a few of my favorite Christmas episodes from recent years. “The O.C.” ’s “Chrismukkah” and “Seinfeld” ’s “The
Strike” have already achieved cult status, but other shows have turned out some equally great holiday episodes. I was obsessed with the late, great NBC series “Community” in high school. (“Obsessed” is an understatement; if you could crack open my skull at any moment, Abed quotes would pour out instead of blood.) I could list off 20 episodes I know by heart, but two of my absolute favorites are the show’s Christmas-themed installments, “Regional Holiday Music” and “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas.” “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” should be the model of a perfect Christmas episode. Most of the episode’s events take place in Abed’s increasingly unhinged mind, as he hallucinates the study group being claymation characters and going on a WIlly Wonka-style journey to find the true meaning of Christmas. It’s simultaneously funny, heartfelt and deeply melancholy, as all holiday episodes (and holidays) tend to be. The holiday season is an emotionally complex time of year. For those of us who have recently lost family members or suffered a break in our nuclear unit, a holiday can serve as a reminder of all those bygone “perfect” Christmases or Hanukkahs or Kwanzaas. Holidays as a construct are full of warmth and happiness, so every imperfect one feels like there is something missing. The ritual is disrupted. As Abed takes his friends on an animated journey through the annals of his mind, it is eventually revealed why he is imagining the world in claymation. In the past, Abed’s mother came to visit him every Christmas season. But she sends him a letter saying that she won’t be able to make it this year — she has moved on, remarried and built a new family. Abed doesn’t have a place in it. The “uncontrollable Christmas” the episode portrays is his attempt to reconcile the lost ideal of a perfect holiday with the lonely state of mind he’s in. He’s stranded alone at school for the holidays, and even pop culture can’t fill the void that his estranged family left him. Toward the end of the episode, “Community” reveals the alternative to traditional family holidays. Friends are just as important of a familial unit, and Abed’s pals rescue his holiday. As Abed’s animated self (literally) freezes into a catatonic ice block, and it’s up to the study group to
FALAHEE From Page 1A
catering parties in New York. A year and a half ago, he led life in L.A. as a Lyft driver. Now 26 and home for the holidays, Falahee gets approached for a photo while browsing at Bivouac, and he and his family are still slightly in awe of the recognition that follows him. He has noted before how his
Viola Davis (“The Help”), Alfie Enoch (the “Harry Potter” series) and Matt McGorry (“Orange is the New Black”). Just two years ago, Falahee was
sing a sweet song and melt his heart. Abed’s mother may have broken their tradition, but his friends patched the holiday back together. One of my other favorite holiday episodes is “Christmas Party,” from season two of “The Office.” This installment is meaner-spirited than “Community,” and all the sourness is due to Michael Scott, the acerbic but lovable boss from Hell. In “Christmas Party,” Michael organizes an impromptu white elephant gift exchange because he’s dissatisfied with the handknit oven mitt that Phyllis made for his present. Michael preaches the merits of expensive presents: “It’s, like, this tangible thing you can point to and say, ‘Hey Man, I love you this many dollars worth.’ ” In his eyes, a cheap gift is basically a fuck-you to his entire existence. For us watching, it’s a very public (and hilarious) demonstration of his poor character. But since this is “The Office,” a show where every biting joke is met with equal sweetness, one of the episode’s subplots deals with Jim’s heartfelt gift to Pam. He buys her a teapot stuffed with inside jokes — and a card presumably confessing his crush on her — because “Christmas is the time to tell people how you feel.” The teapot gets passed around at the gift exchange, but eventually ends up back with Pam, because she realizes that Jim put it together just for her. If I’m a sucker for Christmas, I’m even more of a sucker for romantic gestures, and this is right up there with the best of them. (Jim-and-Pam is my paradigm of perfect love, and that is my cross to bear.) On TV, Christmas is a time for telling people how you feel. This often takes the form of a kiss or a sweet gesture to close out a midseason story arc, but just as frequently, telling people how you feel means demonstrating your commitment to a friendship and picking up someone’s fallen spirits, like Abed’s friends do for him in the “Community” episode. Maybe because I missed a Bible lecture, but I don’t really know the true meaning of Christmas — nor do I really care. According to TV, Christmas is made of plot sweetness, friends and family and a teapot stuffed with inside jokes. Gilke is celebrating Chrismukkah. To donate a Santa dreidel, e-mail chloeliz@umich.edu.
big Italian family has a tradition of hand-rolling gnocchi, and this year is no different. “I come from a really supportive family. But my grandma still jokes with me like, ‘When are you going to get a real job?’ ” he laughed. With a whole week home, Falahee ate his way through his favorite local spots, remedying his flu with an Arbor Brewing Company draft. Despite being sick, he played football in the rain with old friends and cheered on Michigan against Ohio State in The Big House. He caught up on his reading list, which included Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Between the World and Me,” Patti Smith’s “M Train” and Elon Musk’s biography. In multiple Instagrams, he documented his obsession with the Settlers of Catan board game, of which he raved, “I mean, have you played? It’s incredible!” Well-read and proudly nerdy, Falahee is the third child of four in a very academic family. His younger brother, Michael, whom he enjoys playing the guitar with, graduated pre-med from the University last May. His older sister, a lawyer, saved him and his “Murder” castmates from relying on “Legally Blonde” to learn courtroom jargon. In his senior year of high school, Falahee dual-enrolled at Pioneer High School to join their Theatre Guild (PTG), which School of Music, Theatre & Dance students help instruct. When one of his student teachers pulled him
“
We’re not a serious band,” Carrie Brownstein reminded the fans at Royal Oak Music Theatre last week. She was looking out at a packed crowd of hundreds, but most of what she could see was blank, unemotional faces. Her band was mid-set, just absolutely tearADAM ing through THEISEN tracks from all across their career, but all these bearded dudes and flannelwearing mid-30s couples just looked dead inside. This was at a Sleater-Kinney show, and Sleater-Kinney was being fucking incredible (as usual), so I don’t think unmet expectations were the problem. Brownstein played guitar like a true possessed rock star, convulsing around the stage and wreaking havoc on the music. Corin Tucker’s voice remains one of the great mysteries of the world, howling in this powerful, soulful way that nobody will ever be able to recreate. And Janet Weiss is an underrated stud on the drums, skillfully providing the backbeat to Brownstein and Tucker’s fireand-ice musical interaction. But through no fault of the band’s own, the crowd just really, really sucked, and it brought down the whole performance just a bit. Brownstein had no external energy to feed off of, everything going on off stage was dull and there were none of the beautiful communal moments that make getting together with tons of people to listen to music worth it. I hate to say it, but I kind of saw it coming. I went to the Sleater-Kinney show by myself, because while last week was crazy hectic for any student, I’m the kind of person who will do whatever he can to see his favorite band live. I know that going to shows alone can be a risky, potentially awkward endeavor, but I wasn’t worried. I covered Sleater-Kinney in Chicago back in the summer, and for that set I was also entirely among strangers. But while I was camped out for hours at the front of the stage at Pitchfork, I was surrounded by young die-hard fans with weird hairstyles who were just insanely, infectiously hype to see the band. So whether I knew them or not, in Royal Oak I was going to be with my people. Flash forward to actually get-
aside and asked if he’d consider doing theatre at a collegiate level, Falahee decided to seriously audition around the country. While he may not have been accepted to the University’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance, he graduated from New York University’s prestigious Tisch drama program in 2011. “I went from being this guy who played sports in high school to taking a ballet class in New York City,” he said. However, Falahee reflected on the value of pursuing acting through higher education. “I think there was definitely a lot I learned in college, I got a lot of experience I wouldn’t have,” Falahee said. “But especially since we invest so much in academia now, the amount we pay to go to NYU … I don’t know.” Nevertheless, he justified that it was less the university experience and more being in “the center of the world,” surrounded by theaters in New York City, that influenced him most as a performer. In fact, while at NYU, he saw Viola Davis and Denzel Washington co-star in the Broadway revival of August Wilson’s play “Fences.” Little did he know, he’d one day find a maternal figure in Davis, and Washington would one day listen in on his table read. Now, it’s no secret (unless just an elaborate social media cover-up) that the entire “Murder” cast has become a close family. Falahee told
ting inside the venue, and the entire vibe is different. I’m one of the youngest people in a room filled with all these suburban hipster couples who could barely be bothered to smile. I didn’t want to judge based on appearances (after all, they looked like I’ll probably look in 15 years), but once the show started, nobody acted any different. The crowd was quiet, standing around like statues and just looking like they were there out of obligation. There was no dancing, no connection among strangers and no sense that people were excited or felt like what they were seeing was special. And this was right in the front of the main floor, where most people stand outside for hours to be. Don’t get me wrong, I still had loads of fun watching S-K play some of my favorite songs back to back to back to back, barely taking a breath in between, but I definitely felt isolated, like there was a serious detachment between me and all the older people around me. There was a guy in a baseball cap right in front of me, literally as close to the band as you could possibly get, and he never moved except to half-heartedly clap after some of the songs — and he was indicative of most of the crowd. All these “fans” with the best spot in the whole venue just looked so bored. I realize you’re not reading music columns from a college kid to get told what to do, but if you’re going to spend money on a band you like and go to a concert, why act so uncaring and unmoved about it? Just think about how unreal it is to go to a show, any show — how our brains inexplicably recognize the noise coming from the stage as beautiful, invaluable brilliance and make us do weird, stupid shit like losing our voices by singing along on every chorus and shouting “I love you!” at the musicians or completely forgetting ourselves while we dance. And if you were at the Sleater-Kinney show last week, think about the unique power of Brownstein, Tucker and Weiss and why you care about them enough to spend a night in their presence, and please try to figure out why you couldn’t smile or at least act engaged. I know most concerts aren’t real conducive for going all-out “Saturday Night Fever” and clearing a huge space for yourself to show off on the dance floor, and I admit that I’m at a bit of an advantage compared to most. I can stand in place and just
whip my long hair or do some sort of semi-coordinated arm movements and not feel too selfconscious about it, but you don’t even have to move that much, especially if you’re at a lower-key, melancholy or acoustic show. I’m not saying you have to be sweating and out-of-breath after the show, just ready to crash into bed as soon as the last note ends, but you’re probably going to a concert because an artist’s music moves you in some way, and to share that with people, especially when you’re all packed in at a festival or a punk club, can be a really rewarding, memorable thing, especially when everyone does it all together. And I get, too, that if you’re in your 30s or older, you may not be completely, religiously obsessed with music in the same way you were in college or earlier. I shudder just a bit at this ever happening to me, but I have to be honest with myself and say that a lot of the adults I saw at S-K weren’t all that superficially different from me with their pale faces and dark-rimmed glasses and unkempt hair. But I’m taking this Sleater show as a warning — even if responsibilities and work and the general stress of being a grown-up keep me from indulging myself with music as much as I do now, I can’t ever let myself treat having fun at a concert as a chore, and I can never let myself lose touch with the heart-bursting happiness I feel whenever I’m at a wild show with unhinged music fans doing crazy shit. So to the one girl who screeched “I fucking love this song!” while Brownstein was just tuning her guitar, to the guys scattered throughout who were furiously nodding their heads and even jumping up and down at times, I thank you for giving a shit. To the Arctic Monkeys fans who turned GA at The Fillmore into a whirlpool of bodies a couple years ago, to the people who threw at least five grams of weed onstage at a Schoolboy Q show, even to the oversexed couple who kept bumping into me at that Chance the Rapper show — to everyone who has helped turn the concerts I’ve gone into the bizarre explorations of humanity they’re meant to be, I wish you had been at Sleater-Kinney last week.
me about a continuous prank on set. “I know, I get to watch Viola Davis act in front of me, but when it’s the same two pages for 14 hours, it’s exhausting,” he said. “So Matt (McGorry) and I have this thing where we try to make each other laugh during the serious court room scenes … Alfie (Enoch) and I are holding it in, biting our lips to the point of self-harm. Aja (Naomi King) is over there falling asleep. It’s hilarious.” Then, when asked about his “bromance” with “Murder” co-star McGorry, Falahee was quick to respond: “Oh yeah, it’s a real romance.” Their playful friendship and teasing on social media translates to real life as well. “Matt’s just so funny. We’ll get together sometimes and just read Shakespeare to exercise different muscles,” he said. “He’ll send me these emails that are written entirely in iambic pentameter.” Along with admiring his co-stars, Falahee’s acting inspirations constantly change as he matures as an actor. Most recently, he has been fascinated with Tom Hardy (“Mad Max: Fury Road”). “I go through these phases where I have an obsession with one actor,” he explained. “I’ll just watch everything they’ve ever been in.” In addition to “Murder,” Falahee plays Frank Stringfellow in “Mercy Street,” a new PBS original series about the American
Civil War to premiere on Jan. 17 — a show Falahee detailed extremely passionately. His own fascination with the Civil War started when his father took him and his two brothers to visit Gettysburg when they were younger. “I never thought I’d be spending half my year in Richmond (Virginia)” he said. “But (the show is) so relevant to everything that’s been happening in the world right now … race relations between African Americans and whites.” In thinking about future projects, Falahee noted how he would love to eventually return to musical theater, which he started with in the PTG. He recently saw “Hamilton” on Broadway and “Elf the Musical” while back home, but he laments his crazy filming schedule for having little time to see more shows. A lover of animation and the “Toy Story” series, Falahee’s other dream role would be a cartoon character. Though he has become very well-adjusted in the Hollywood spotlight, Falahee has one piece of advice for up-and-coming actors — a note taken from Matt Damon: “Don’t do it.” “I know it sounds funny, but I’m being serious,” he said. “I realize how privileged I am to be where I am, but you have to be a little crazy and insane to pursue it.” To be successful, to be on a show titled “How to Get Away with Murder,” I guess you have to be at least a little mad.
Theisen is whipping his hair back and forth. To talk about the new Willow Smith record, e-mail ajtheis@umich.edu.
SportsMonday B
The Michigan Daily | December 14, 2015
“I think that I showed people you can’t ever let someone tell you what you can or can’t do. ... I always just tried to go out there and prove people wrong.”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
FAREWELL, SPIKE A guard, a grandpa and the end of an era
sporting events. “He was unbelievable,” Albrecht recalled. “He came to everything. He was the grandpa hen Frank Brunski that was so supportive and Jr. passed away on bragged about me, thought I was Sept. 1, 2012, he left the best thing since sliced bread. behind a wife of 50 years, three That’s how our relationship was. children, 10 grandchildren, one We got along great.” great-grandchild and a legacy of Watching Grandpa Frank, hard work. Spike learned a thing or two One of those grandchildren about hard work. When Spike — Spike Albrecht — was a senior in high adopted that hard school, Frank came over work ethic. and built a deck for his Frank was a family’s pool. lifelong Hoosier. He Spike embodied that was born in Gary, sense of hard work and Ind., in 1938 and determination. He went stayed put in that area from having no college his whole life. For 43 basketball offers after SIMON years, he worked as graduating high school KAUFMAN a bricklayer in the to a full-ride scholarship steel mills of Indiana. to Michigan a year later, You could count the after playing one season number of days he missed work in prep school. on one hand. He missed even When Grandpa Frank passed fewer of his grandchildren’s away the week before Albrecht
W
started classes at Michigan, he kept quiet about it. It tore him up on the inside, but he had a college basketball career to begin — one most people never thought he would have. “I never wanted people to feel sorry for me or anything like that,” Albrecht said. “But it was something that was just tough to deal with.” That’s Spike. He doesn’t want to talk about himself. He doesn’t want your sympathy. He just wants to do his thing and go home. So Friday — when he announced that due to injuries he would end his career with Michigan — he was out of his comfort zone. He was forced to talk about himself, his time at Michigan and his future. Asked about his legacy, he paused. “That’s a tough question. I don’t like talking about myself,” Albrecht said. “I think that I showed people you can’t ever let
someone tell you what you can or can’t do. You know, my whole life I was told I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t big enough, I wasn’t strong enough, fast enough — things like that. But I never really let that faze me. And I always just tried to go out there and prove people wrong.” For three and half years, that’s what he did at Michigan. He proved people wrong. His legacy won’t be in his stat line, it’ll be in everything you don’t see in the box score. Forget the 17 points in the National Championship Game in 2012. Forget the postgame tweet to Kate Upton. Forget the acrobatic pass to Aubrey Dawkins against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament last year. Forget the 3s from deep, the circus passes and the gritty defense. Remember this: With Michigan up 19 points in the second half against Houston Baptist last Saturday, Albrecht hit the deck
in an attempt to get a loose-ball rebound. The ball went out of bounds and Albrecht slapped the floor with his right hand. Michigan didn’t need that rebound — it went on to win, 82-57 — but Albrecht wanted it. So, with 12:10 left in the route of the Huskies, Albrecht laid out, new hips be damned. Remember this: During Michigan’s Final Four run his freshman year, he was simultaneously working on a group project for school. He never missed a meeting or an assignment. His group got an A. Remember this: When he comes home from Michigan, he goes into his mom’s second-grade class and reads to her students. Spike Albrecht — Michigan basketball royalty — hangs out with second graders when he goes home. And most importantly, remember this: Spike Albrecht cared. He cared when he hit the
SMOOTH SAILING ALMOST GREAT n Even without Spike Albrecht, Michigan coasted to an easy win over Delaware State. Page 4B
n The Michigan hockey team nearly rallied for a series sweep of Minnesota on Saturday night. Page 3B
deck for loose balls, when he’d smile with a fan for a photo and when he went back home and sat in a second-grade classroom. There was never an ego with Spike. He was never bigger than the game. And because of that, in Spike, we saw ourselves. He was the little engine that could, and with him on the court, anything was possible. He left Michigan the same way he came into the program, with humility and gratitude. After his press conference Friday, he got up from his seat, pushed his chair back in, shook a few hands and — as he walked out the door — said thank you to everyone. With the help of a work ethic he learned from his grandpa, Spike Albrecht made his dream come true. Grandpa Frank never got to see him play college basketball, but he would have been damn proud if he had.
SportsMonday
2B — December 14, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
Michigan comes close, but not close enough J
T Compher skated down the ice, passed the Michigan hockey team’s bench and angrily smacked his stick against the boards on the other side. He then put his gloves on his knees and his head JAKE down. A few seconds later, LOURIM freshman defenseman Nicholas Boka did the same thing. About 10 seconds earlier, Compher ended up with the puck in his possession and no one between him and Minnesota goaltender Eric Schierhorn. In the waning seconds of Saturday’s series finale at Yost Ice Arena — after the Wolverines rolled Friday night, 8-3 — Compher couldn’t put it past Schierhorn for the equalizer. Instead, the Golden Gophers pulled out a 3-2 win to split the series. That was how most of the night went. Michigan peppered 33 shots at Schierhorn, converting on just two. Friday, the Wolverines had 10 shots in 35 minutes, and everything went in. They knocked Schierhorn out after five goals. Every weekend, Michigan seems to have one of each kind of night. Some nights, the pucks go in. Some nights, they don’t. Of course, the Wolverines win all the time when they’re getting the bounces. They have done it even in the past three years, despite missing three straight NCAA Tournaments. What they couldn’t manage to do Saturday was win when the pucks weren’t going in, no matter how close they were — and they were very close. Michigan put itself in a 2-0 hole at the end of the first period, but for the No. 1 scoring team in
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
The Michigan hockey team nearly pulled off a win despite not playing its best game Saturday, but the Wolverines fell short in a 3-2 loss to Minnesota.
the country, that’s nothing. At the 11:53 mark in the second period, freshman forward Kyle Connor scored his fourth goal of the series to cut the deficit in half. “We’re reminding our team constantly — you just can’t bury your head and give up because the game’s not going the way you want it to,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson after practice Tuesday. “You have to be resilient, and then you have to come up with a strategy, or an attitude, or something, that’s going to change the momentum of the game if you need a change.” Connor’s goal could have been the spark that started the Wolverines’ comeback. Instead, 19 seconds later, junior defenseman Michael Downing laid a crushing hit on a Minnesota player, earned a five-minute major penalty and
was ejected from the game. He stayed on the ice for a moment, arguing with one official while another held him back. Compher pleaded his case, too. Berenson called the ruling “disappointing.” It was no use. Downing was out, and Michigan was behind. Things weren’t going right. But the Wolverines fought back. They stifled Minnesota on the five-minute penalty kill. Halfway through, they cleared the puck and changed lines as the Yost crowd let out a loud cheer. With a minute remaining, they did it again. Finally, they killed off the penalty.
Michigan came out for the third period still behind by only a goal, and 94 seconds into the final frame, Connor gave the Wolverines another boost. He stood on the weak side of the net and awaited a loose puck, and on the third effort he slipped it past the goalie. At that point, Michigan had done everything it doesn’t always do when things aren’t going well. It played defense, killing off the penalty. It capitalized on its chances, scoring on the third effort. And it stayed in a rare low-scoring game long enough
“You have to come up with a strategy, or an attitude.”
Albrecht ends career amid injuries By LEV FACHER Managing Editor
Everything about Spike Albrecht’s career at Michigan was unexpected — even the ending. The senior guard came to Ann Arbor after receiving offers from no other Big Ten schools. Prior to an offer from Michigan coach John Beilein, he had considered playing basketball at Appalachian State or becoming a “rec-league star” at Indiana. Then, as a true freshman, he scored 17 points in the 2013 National Championship Game. He became known to coaches and fans alike as a “baby-faced assassin.” For the last two years, he has served as the Wolverines’ de facto team spokesman. But it’s over. Albrecht’s time with the Michigan men’s basketball team — always fun to watch, often surreal, rarely straightforward — came to an end Thursday, when he informed Beilein of his decision to sit out the rest of the season as he continues to recover from a pair of offseason hip surgeries, thereby ending his career as a Wolverine. “We’d been doing everything we can for the past two months,” Albrecht said Friday. “It had just been progressing and getting worse, so I think it was finally time to shut it down.” Albrecht had played only sparingly this season, recording 11 assists, 15 points and 69 minutes over the span of eight games. Beilein had said earlier in the season that Albrecht was available only for “spot minutes,” but with junior guard Derrick Walton Jr. suffering a sprained ankle in Dec. 1 at North Carolina State, Albrecht’s presence became more of a necessity than a luxury. But Albrecht wasn’t in game shape in the second half on Tuesday at Southern Methodist. Though he has endured nearconstant pain in his hips for the better part of two seasons, the way he felt in Texas may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. “I was actually worried that I would pull a groin or re-tear my
for the breaks to come. With more than 18 minutes left, there was still plenty of time. But the break never came. Instead, Minnesota came out of the ensuing faceoff and scored in 12 seconds. Forward Vinni Lettieri knocked a wrist shot past Michigan junior goaltender Zach Nagelvoort, and the Wolverines were in a hole again, this time one they couldn’t climb out of. “That’s not a good goal to give up, and the timing couldn’t have been worse,” Berenson said. “We just bounced back, and all of a sudden that was a big goal for them, and a really disappointing goal for us.” More often than not, they find their way out of that hole. They have the top scoring offense in the country for a
Young lineup looks strong Daily Sports Writer
JAMES COLLER/Daily
labrum,” Albrecht said. “That’s how bad it was out there. If that’s how I was going to have to get through my senior year, it just wasn’t worth it.” Albrecht had previously told Beilein that he was was available for bench minutes at “60 to 70 percent” health, but as long-term health concerns became more tangible, the mindset changed. Beilein likened the injuries to a concussion — one that doesn’t physically prevent an athlete from playing, but that poses massive health risk if not given the proper time and attention required to heal. “He’s going to have children, he’s going to have grandchildren,” Beilein said. “Your hips are pretty important to you.” Albrecht’s family considerations don’t just pertain to the future. “It’s a genetic thing,” Albrecht said. “My dad has really bad hips. He needs two hip replacements. I sure as hell didn’t want to go down that road. … I’m not saying that it could have gotten there, but you never know.”
While Albrecht’s absence shakes up Michigan’s roster in a big way, there are still a few things that won’t change. Albrecht will attend practices, he’ll be on the bench at games (dressed in street clothes), and he’ll travel with the team unless circumstances (namely, academics) make road trips burdensome. What does change, however, is Michigan’s rotation. Albrecht’s absence, alongside Walton’s, doesn’t just deprive the Wolverines of two of their upperclassmen leaders — it leaves a gaping hole at the point guard position. To spell sophomore guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, junior guard Andrew Dakich is burning his redshirt, and will be available for the Wolverines on Saturday against Delaware State, likely off the bench. Dakich is likely experiencing a degree of déja vu as he reshapes his mentality. This is the second consecutive year he has entered expecting to redshirt in order to preserve a fifth year of eligibility, either at Michigan or with
another program. But as was the case in 2014-15, circumstantial changes have called him into action. Last year, it was injuries to Walton and then-junior guard Caris LeVert that brought Dakich off the bench. Now, it’s injuries to Walton and Albrecht, along with recent ones Beilein declined to disclose Friday. This time, one of those absences is permanent. Asked Friday what his lasting legacy at Michigan would be, Albrecht paused, immediately remarking that he doesn’t like talking about himself. In the end, he offered up a pearl of wisdom that epitomizes his unlikely career as well as any other. “I think I showed people that you can’t ever let someone tell you what you can or can’t do,” Albrecht said. “My whole life, I’ve been told I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t big enough, I wasn’t strong enough, I wasn’t fast enough, things like that. But I never really let that faze me. I guess: Always try to go out there and prove people wrong.”
Lourim can be reached at jlourim@umich.edu or on Twitter @jakelourim.
MEN’S GYMNASTICS
By COLE ZINGAS
Spike Albrecht announced the end of his Michigan basketball career Friday as he recovers from hip surgeries.
reason, and usually, that’s good enough. Friday, they scored in the first 16 seconds — before the clock was even set on the scoreboard at Yost. They cruised from there, scoring every which way in a highscoring victory. In a down Big Ten, there will be at least one of those every weekend. (There were two last weekend against Wisconsin.) The Wolverines have the firepower to win those games. A team with a great offense and an average defense that wins 8-3 games will win enough games in the regular season and the Big Ten Tournament to reach the conference final. It will have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament, like Michigan did last season, before it lost to Minnesota in the Big Ten Championship, 4-2. The Wolverines proved Friday they can be that team. But when they killed off the five-minute penalty, and then scored the game-tying goal Saturday, they almost proved they can be so much more. They almost proved they could win a 3-2 or 4-3 game, one that will be much more common in March. “We had good shots. We had good chances. We had just about, and woulda, coulda, shoulda, but we couldn’t find the back of the net,” Berenson said. That’s why Compher slapped the boards at the end of the game after he missed the potential game-tying shot. He knew what was at stake. The Wolverines know they can win when everything is going right. What they have to do, and what they keep getting ever so close to doing, is win when everything isn’t.
Michigan men’s gymnastics coach Kurt Golder said Sunday he doesn’t expect this season to match what has transpired in the last four. The Wolverines are preparing for their season opener next month, but the void left by the senior class is just too big to fill, he said. “Not this year,” Golder said. “They were too good. But we can progress a long way to get to that.” The Michigan men’s gymnastics team has been good for a while. After capturing two national titles in the last three years, the graduating senior class left a gaping hole in the program. The fifth-ranked Wolverines return just seven out of 25 routines from their lineup from the NCAA Championships last season. Yet even after losing athletes like NCAA All-American junior Tristan Perez-Rivera for the season to a knee injury, the team is full of energy and has high aspirations for the season. Michigan welcomes a strong recruiting class — 15 freshmen made their debuts at the annual Maize-Blue intrasquad exhibition on Sunday, as fans peered in to see if this Wolverine squad could rely on such a young roster. The first-year Wolverines did nothing to give anyone reason to doubt their abilities. Five out of the six highest-scoring gymnasts were freshmen. This class features redshirt freshman Marty Stretch and true freshmen Emyre Cole and Anthony McCallum, none of whom are strangers to the spotlight. Stretch has been a member of the U.S. National Team since 2011, and placed second overall at the USA Championships in 2013. Cole and McCallum have also competed on the national level — Cole won the U.S. National Qualifier in 2015, and McCallum placed first in the
floor and vault at the 2015 Junior National Championships. But Cole, like his coach, recognizes the freshmen have work to do. “We mess up sometimes,” he said. “But hey, we’re freshmen.” Though there might be a learning curve for these freshmen, Golder continues to be impressed by their talent. One of the highlights of Sunday’s meet featured McCallum performing and landing an extremely difficult vault exercise, earning him a score of 15.3, the highest single-event score of the day. “There’s only a few people in the world that are capable of doing that vault,” Golder said. “It wasn’t a surprise because he’s been doing it in the gym really well, but doing it in competition … that’s another thing.” This is Golder’s youngest team in his 20-year tenure at Michigan, but he hopes this team can reach its potential in the upcoming months. For him, that means finishing top six nationally and top three in the Big Ten. One person who quickly figured out how to make an impact as a freshman is All-American sophomore Dmitri Belanovski, who in his first year was named team MVP and led the 2015 squad to a spot at the NCAA Championships. Belanovski’s performance on Sunday did not reveal any signs of slowing down. He won the meet with an overall score of 84.4. Belanovski was placed alongside Cole on the 2016 Big Ten Men’s Gymnasts to Watch list. Though Belanovski was expected to be listed, Cole was pleasantly surprised by the honor and says he will use it as motivation in upcoming meets. Cole said his ultimate goal for 2016 is being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Many of his competitors for the award are wearing the same colors.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
‘M’ starts series with win By KEVIN SANTO Daily Sports Writer
Thirty seconds had ticked off the clock at Yost Ice Arena, and the game was already tied at one. Welcome to Michigan hockey. The Wolverines opened the scoring 16 seconds into MINNESOTA 3 8 the frame, MICHIGAN when junior forward Tyler Motte fired a slap shot into the bottom-right corner of the net. It was a start Michigan only could have dreamed of in its rematch with Minnesota — the team that dashed the Wolverines’ hopes of making the NCAA Tournament last March. But their excitement was short-lived. Just 14 seconds later, Minnesota forward Hudson Fasching responded with a goal of his own to even the score at one. From there, the scoring continued like it has all year at Yost Ice Arena, as No. 9 Michigan cruised to an 8-3 victory against Minnesota behind a three-goal surge in the second period. “(The scoring), it’s not all confidence,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “We’re putting our chances in. Sometimes it goes in too easy, and maybe this was one of those nights. (Minnesota) will be better tomorrow, and we have to be better. We have to go home now and put this game behind us, which is hard to do because everybody is going to be talking to our players about how good they were.” Thanks to sophomore forward Dexter Dancs — who picked up a loose puck after a scrum in front of the net and found twine from the top of the crease 6:30 into the first frame — the Wolverines (2-0-1-1 Big Ten, 9-2-3 overall) ended the first period with a 2-1 advantage. After Dancs’ finish, the frame was surprisingly quiet compared to its opening. Michigan effectively prevented Minnesota from setting up in
the offensive zone, limiting the Golden Gophers (2-1-0-0, 6-8-0) to just four shots. The handful of times that Minnesota did have an opportunity to establish itself, though, the Golden Gophers looked dangerous — passing well and getting quality shots on junior goaltender Zach Nagelvoort. Nagelvoort was good enough throughout the game for Michigan to hold down the victory, accumulating 22 saves on 25 shots. At times, the netminder committed costly turnovers and made questionable decisions. But he conceded only one goal in the first 10 minutes of the second period, when Minnesota peppered the net with shots. The Golden Gophers opened the frame with newfound energy and buried the equalizing goal off the stick of forward Tyler Sheehy. The Wolverines ensured that energy wouldn’t last too long. Michigan responded with three unanswered goals, the first of which came in a spectacular fashion from senior center Boo Nieves. Nieves picked up the puck at the defensive blue line and went on a tear down the ice, leaving Minnesota defensemen dumbfounded in his wake. The veteran deked three Golden Gophers before finishing it over goaltender Eric Schierhorn’s shoulder to give the Wolverines a 3-2 lead. “That was huge,” Berenson said. “It’s an individual effort, but when (Nieves) got through their defense and scored, you could just feel that pick our team up. Sure enough, we scored the next shift, and away we went. “I have always thought he’s a better player than he thought he was, and I think he’s gonna live up to my expectations.” After Nieves’ one-man show, freshman forward Kyle Connor buried Minnesota in an even deeper hole. The rookie tacked on
Daily Sports Editor
Diagnosing the Michigan hockey team’s identity has become nearly impossible. Are the Wolverines MINNESOTA 3 2 MICHIGAN a team that can erase three-goal leads at the snap of a finger? Or are they a team that will allow three-plus goals in a single period? What about nights where the nation’s top offense can muster only one goal against a much-lesser opponent in Dartmouth? No one really knows the anatomy of the Wolverines (2-1-1-1 Big Ten, 9-3-3 overall). Even this far into the season. And not much is clearer after Michigan’s 3-2 loss to Minnesota on Saturday. “Minnesota played with more conviction, they played harder and
they got the lead,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “When they got that second goal, that was a higher hill to climb than maybe its been in previous weeks, and we just couldn’t climb it.” Heading in to Saturday’s contest, Michigan couldn’t have felt comfortable. Even after putting up a snowball against the Gophers (3-1-0-0, 7-8-0) the night before — winning 8-3 — the past had to cross the Wolverines’ minds. “Some nights the puck goes in too easy,” Berenson said on Friday, “and maybe this was one of those nights.” Berenson’s comment stems from his team’s past performances during the second leg of a home series. Six weeks ago on Friday, Michigan came from two goals behind to beat Robert Morris, 5-3, before losing on Saturday, 4-0. Three weeks ago on Friday, the Wolverines dismantled Dartmouth, 7-0,
Eliminating head contact in hockey By JUSTIN MEYER Daily Sports Writer
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Kyle Connor recorded a hat trick in Michigan’s win over Minnesota Friday night.
a goal of his own just 15 seconds after Nieves did by putting a rebound from junior forward Tyler Motte’s shot into the net. Connor wouldn’t be stopped there, either, as he lit the lamp for the second time just over three minutes later. After allowing his fifth goal of the night, Schierhorn was replaced by sophomore Nick Lehr. Roughly two minutes after the change, Fasching finally stopped the bleeding for Minnesota, scoring his second goal of the night to cut Michigan’s lead to two. Though the Golden Gophers suffered the same fate as most teams do when faced with stopping the Wolverines’ explosive offense, they did improve offensively in the second frame themselves — outshooting Michigan 11-9. But that was simply a consolation prize for Minnesota, as the two-goal deficit was the
closest the Golden Gophers came for the rest of the contest. Motte and junior center Max Shuart rubbed salt in Minnesota’s wound 2:44 and 13:51 into the third period, respectively. The pair combined to score the Wolverines’ first two goals of the frame, before Connor completed his hat trick with 3:10 left on the clock. The Golden Gophers entered Yost Ice Arena having ended Michigan’s season in the Big Ten Tournament last year. And the Wolverines had to wait eight months to get what they have wanted since that moment. “It’s tough not making the tournament since we’ve been here,” Nieves said. “But this season’s definitely looking up, and we want to keep it going.” And behind the offense that just keeps on scoring, Michigan gave itself a new memory of the Golden Gophers it is sure to be fond of.
Michigan splits series after lapse in Saturday’s contest By JASON RUBINSTEIN
December 14, 2015 — 3B
before coasting to a 1-1 tie a day later. And last Friday, Michigan erased a three-goal deficit to beat Wisconsin, 6-4, before tying the same team 6-6 the next night. And Berenson’s sentiment held true on Saturday. “Last night, it was going in too easy, I told you,” Berenson said. “And tonight, it was not going in.” The Wolverines, who have come out with strong starts the previous two weekends, struggled to find any semblance of offense in the first frame. And unlike the night before, Minnesota had no trouble doing the opposite. Jake Bischoff opened the night’s scoring on the Golden Gophers’ first power-play chance. The defenseman rifled one from the blue line, and junior netminder Zach Nagelvoort never saw the puck. It didn’t take long for Bischoff to be heavily involved in a scoring play for a second time.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Red Berenson lamented that his team has had trouble stringing together consecutive solid performances in weekend series.
Three minutes later, like he did on his first tally, Bischoff found the puck at the top of the slot and fired it toward the net. Forward Hudson Fasching, who was screening Nagelvoort, ultimately redirected the puck home. And just when it seemed like Michigan had any sort of momentum when freshman Kyle Connor scored with seven minutes left in the first period, junior defenseman Michael Downing was ejected after laying a massive hit on Minnesota forward Connor Reilly. Berenson wasn’t pleased with the referees’ decision, calling the call “disappointing.” Michigan was able to kill the five-minute penalty, but those were five minutes the Wolverines couldn’t pester netminder Eric Schierhorn, who was pulled Friday. It looked like Michigan would have control of the game, and all of the momentum, early in the third period when Connor scored his second goal of the game — his fifth of the series. And that had Berenson smiling. “He’s really, really starting to find himself now,” Berenson said. “I’ve always thought that freshmen usually take about half a year in, and then after Christmas they take off. And he’s starting to take off, so good for him.” But Berenson’s smile quickly turned the other way on the very next shift when forward Vinni Lettieri put one past Nagelvoort on a point-blank chance. “When they got that goal, the timing could not have been worse,” Berenson said. Lettieri’s tally sealed the game and for the fourth straight home series, Michigan was unable to complete a weekend sweep. So for now, the trend of Michigan playing sloppy Saturday games will continue and the opportunity to sing “The Victors” — a tradition after sweeping a series — will have to wait until 2016.
With eight minutes to play in the second period of the Michigan hockey team’s game Saturday night, junior forward JT Compher stood at center ice flailing his arms in an animated fashion at the official. Another referee pushed Michael Downing toward the exit behind Michigan’s net while the junior defenseman hollered at the rest of the officiating crew. It was a scene that college hockey fans have become familiar with. The loudspeaker announced the call — contact to the head — and Downing received an automatic five-minute major and game misconduct penalty. The Wolverines’ defensive rock was tossed mid-comeback. Minnesota won the game, 3-2, splitting the weekend series. The advent of concussion research brought forth a variety of suggestions for reducing dangerous hits in contact sports. Today, automatic ejections are in vogue. Division I football reached its own apex of controversy this season with hard-to-define targeting rules. In football, a player is automatically ejected for “contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent.” Senior linebacker Joe Bolden was the subject of such a call during the Michigan football team’s loss to Michigan State this season. While the targeting rule has been widely lambasted for a lack of clarity, the success of the contactto-the-head rule in NCAA hockey is still up for debate. Positive signs include yearover-year declines in penalty minutes at the Division I level. Also comforting is the evidence of a rapid return to a normal rate of game misconduct penalties. When the NHL adjusted its rulebook, it saw a dramatic spike for only one year — about 30 percent in 2010 — before settling back to historically normal levels. But some still feel that the penalty doesn’t fit the crime. It’s unfair to say that Downing’s ejection was the reason Michigan lost. Instead, it seemed to light a fire under the Wolverines, who killed off the long penalty and eventually evened the score at 2-2. But it would also be wrong to deny the significance of the call, which left Michigan with just five defensemen and required junior defenseman Nolan De Jong to play in extraattacker scenarios. Michigan coach Red Berenson said after the game that the call was “disappointing.” The players didn’t use it as an excuse. But was the game better off because of the dramatic call?
Minnesota was flat-out embarrassed Friday night to open the series. Freshman goaltender Eric Schierhorn posted an abysmal .667 save percentage, and the Gophers looked helpless as the Wolverines piled on eight goals. Saturday, Minnesota was determined not to get pushed around. Both teams came out hard in a game that featured 31 penalty minutes. In the early going, the contest was a sluggish affair because of sloppy passing and physical play in the corners. Bodies flew, the boards rattled and several hits took the breath out of the crowd. For the most part, though, the refs were lenient when sending players to the box. It’s what made the Downing ejection such a surprise — the offending hit certainly wasn’t the worst of the game. Downing himself went to the box earlier for breaking his stick on a slash across the back of a Minnesota player — a minor penalty was assessed. Later, the normally mild-mannered senior forward Boo Nieves took a Golden Gopher player to the ground following a crosschecking bonanza in front of the net. Nieves received a two-minute minor as well. Either offense might have warranted a more costly penalty, but Downing’s head contact penalty was the one that changed the game. The NCAA updated the rule before the 2010-11 season. A few months later, Sidney Crosby sustained a concussion that would keep him out of the NHL for close to a year. That injury made rules of this sort more palatable, and may have permanently changed the conversation on concussions in the sport. Downing received his game misconduct for a hit on Minnesota’s Connor Reilly. The replay makes apparent that, in the process of going for the big hit, Downing connected with Reilly’s head in an illegal manner. Reilly was shaken up for a second, but climbed gingerly to his feet and finished the game without any visible symptoms. It was an awkward hit in which Michigan’s enforcer appeared to miss his mark due to last-second movement. Detractors would argue the game misconduct penalty was intended for use on a malicious play, not a questionable hit. Downing has had trouble in this area before. He was suspended three times last season, earning him an extragame suspension as a repeat offender. Two weeks ago, while talking about his timing on big hits, he said he was working to stay on the ice this year. But with automatic ejections, trying just isn’t good enough.
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Michael Downing was ejected from Michigan’s loss Saturday night.
SportsMonday
4B — December 14, 2015
‘M’ routs Delaware State By JACOB GASE Daily Sports Editor
The halftime entertainment at Crisler Center on Saturday afternoon featured “Tommy LaSwordfish” twerking in front of 33 DEL. ST. University MICHIGAN 80 booster Al Glick, “Kevin Duranteater” rolling around on the court to the sounds of Limp Bizkit and, of course, “Mackerel Jordan” swallowing a man whole and spitting him out wearing only his boxers. And though the antics of the giant sports-themed inflatable animals known as the “ZOOperstars” may have stolen the show during Michigan’s game against Delaware State, the Wolverines’ thorough demolition of the Hornets proved to be just as flashy — and at times, just as bizarre. It was a contest that featured Delaware State clanking 17 3-point attempts off the rim, Michigan chasing a slow-rolling loose ball three-quarters of the length of the court and sophomore guard MuhammadAli Abdur-Rahkman appearing to square-dance in a 10-foot circle with a defender who hooked his arm while dribbling. But with the lowly Hornets (0-9) unable to get anything going offensively or defensively, the Wolverines had no issues finding shots all afternoon. Just five days after being manhandled in the low post by Southern Methodist, Michigan outscored Delaware State 36-10 in the paint (20-0 in the first half), made 11 3-pointers, converted seven dunks
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Duncan Robinson made his first start of the season against Delaware State.
and had six players reach doubledigit scoring in the 80-33 rout. “(I liked) the growth we made in those couple of days (after) a performance that we did not like at all,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “We were really solid with our defense. Our offense, the ball didn’t stick nearly as much — we had 23 assists. We hate to lose, but the only good is that it really makes us better in some other areas.” The Wolverines (7-3) led from wire to wire, starting the game off with a 3-pointer from redshirt sophomore Duncan Robinson — who made his first start of the season — and
“We hate to lose, but the only good is that it really makes us better.”
beginning a 24-8 opening run. As usual, senior guard Caris LeVert led the charge for Michigan, scoring a team-high 15 points while working as the lead guard for the third straight game in the absence of injured junior guard Derrick Walton Jr. Junior forward Zak Irvin, whose game has steadily improved over the last few games as he continues to recover from back surgery, had one of his best showings of the year. After tallying nine points and nine assists at SMU, Irvin posted 12 points to go along with eight rebounds. He also showed off his dribble-drive talents, finding open lanes on two straight firsthalf possessions and finishing with one-handed jams. Thanks to a putrid 24-percent shooting performance for the game, the Hornets were never
able to recover. Completely locked out of the paint, they resorted to launching 21 3-pointers, just four of which dropped through the net. The Wolverines also controlled the rebounding battle, 41-29. Even against vastly inferior competition, Michigan came in knowing it would have to work on its defense and rebounding, especially with the Big Ten season looming. “Those are the two main things,” LeVert said. “I think today we did a great job of that — we limited their offensive rebounds, and we played great defense at times. We have to keep our focus up, because we know the level of competitiveness will rise as soon as the Big Ten season starts.” The usual suspects did most of the damage for the Wolverines, but several role players turned in solid performances as well. Sophomore forward Kam Chatman was feeling it from the moment he checked into the game midway through the first half, picking up five points, two assists, two rebounds and a block in his first three minutes on the floor. And junior guard Andrew Dakich, who burned his redshirt for the second straight season after senior guard Spike Albrecht announced his retirement yesterday, set new career highs with four points, three assists and two rebounds in his first game of the season. Though Beilein admits “outsiders” might look poorly upon Michigan’s weak nonconference stretch, he explained that playing opponents like Delaware State is important to get those role players a chance to see where they stand, even if the game isn’t pretty. “There are some games where we can just get guys out there and get them minutes when the lights are really on,” Beilein said. “That was huge today.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Lineup shake-up sparks Michigan By KELLY HALL Daily Sports Writer
Michigan coach John Beilein started off his Friday press conference with bad news, just not the kind Michigan fans had anticipated. After mentioning that junior guard Derrick Walton Jr. still hadn’t practiced more than a week after suffering an ankle sprain against North Carolina State, Beilein made note of more injuries that had been sustained just that day in practice. Then came the news the Wolverine faithful already knew: Senior guard and captain Spike Albrecht would be retiring from the Michigan basketball team due to his slow recovery from offseason hip surgeries. Despite injuries and rotation changes that included redshirt sophomore guard Duncan Robinson replacing sophomore Aubrey Dawkins in the starting lineup, the Wolverines (7-3) exceeded expectations against winless Delaware State on Saturday, clobbering the Hornets, 80-33. There weren’t any transitional issues for Robinson, who got on the board first with a 3-pointer after being left open on the wing. He went on to score 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting, validating his new status as a starter. “We feel right now, that our flow, defensively and offensively, is better as a starter for Duncan,” Beilein said. “Get him in there and let him go and get more scorers out there. … I think he makes other guys better.” Robinson dished out four of the Wolverines’ season-high 23 assists. After the Wolverines tallied just 12 in their loss to Southern Methodist, Beilein made sharing the ball a point of emphasis in practice. Starting Robinson takes more
pressure off of senior guard Caris LeVert, who leads both the scoring and assists categories. “He opens up the floor because he’s such a great shooter, so that really gets us going offensively,” said sophomore forward Kam Chatman. “Him starting really opens up the floor for Caris or (sophomore guard MuhammadAli Abdur-Rahkman) or Derrick to get into the paint.” Chatman made some noise himself. As soon as he came in off the bench, he dished the ball to Robinson, who took it home for a dunk. Within the next two minutes, he added five points, an assist, two rebounds and a block. “Just coming in, I knew the play when I was going through it the past day, it was going to be open, so I told Duncan, ‘Just be ready,’ ” Chatman said. “And so just throwing that pass, it kind of got me going. It was pretty good.” Junior guard Andrew Dakich also had a more impactful day than usual, burning his redshirt by checking into the game less than 10 minutes into the first half. With Walton still recovering, Dakich supplements sophomore guard Abdur-Rahkman and LeVert. “I mean, it was a no-brainer after he went down,” Dakich said. “Coach Beilein pulled me in and told me what was going on with Spike. I said, same thing as last year, (I’ll help) any way I can and contribute the best I can.” The crowd favorite got Crisler Center to the loudest it was all game when he made his first field goal attempt by faking a 3 and completing a running layup. The walk-on had a career day in all categories with four points, three assists and two rebounds. “I didn’t want to shoot it today,” Dakich said. “I just wanted to get other people open. “It was nice. It was fun to see that first one go down.”
Youth shows in UCLA too much for Michigan first home loss WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
By CHRIS CROWDER Daily Sports Writer
By BRANDON CARNEY Daily Sports Writer
Hallie Thome was on track to earn her first collegiate doubledouble. Then she picked up her fourth foul. It was a situation the freshman center had never been in. Play too aggressively, and she’d be on the bench the very next possession based on the way UCLA forward Monique Billings drew fouls seemingly every time she touched the ball. Play too conservatively, and the defensive pressure Thome had been putting on the Bruin frontcourt would disappear. Thome ended up choosing the latter. At that point, when UCLA’s guards drove the lane, Thome was the only thing standing in between them and the basket. Her inexperience showed, as Michigan couldn’t put together a comeback against the 20th-ranked Bruins on Sunday, falling 86-77. The Wolverines had been able to keep up with UCLA for the first half and the beginning of the second half. But Michigan began to show its immaturity around the time Thome picked up her fourth foul with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. After struggling with the Bruins’ height early in the game, the Wolverines’ offense ran through Thome. She had 20 points and seven rebounds when she was removed, leaving Michigan searching for a new strategy. Freshman guard Boogie Brozoski committed two turnovers on the night, both in the time between Thome was subbed out and when she came back in with 8:44 left in the fourth quarter. With Thome off the court, the Wolverines committed five turnovers and were outscored 13-7 without an offensive option to replace her. As UCLA continued to go to the basket, Michigan
struggled to come up with an answer to stop them. Brozoski and freshman guard Nicole Munger couldn’t lock down their defensive assignments, and sophomore forward Jillian Dunston had to foul the Bruins’ forwards to prevent them from scoring easy baskets. “We talk about it as a team,” Munger said. “We try and go out every game with the same mentality, and every single moment of every game. Nothing really changed because we have the same focus.” But in this situation, not changing the game plan may have hurt the Wolverines. Michigan’s lead scorer was on the bench, and the younger players seemed to lose confidence as the deficit grew larger. Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico knew the only way the Wolverines were going to get their confidence back was sending Thome back in. But the freshman was overcautious defensively, and didn’t know how to handle the situation knowing she couldn’t pick up the foul. “She’s been in that situation before where she’s picked up fouls early and she’s had to sit out,” Barnes Arico said. “But it’s been a while. She’s going to need to learn how to play successfully with fouls, because we really need her on the floor.” Inexperience caught up to the young Wolverine squad Sunday, and while it may have ruined their chance at an upset, making mistakes and competing for a majority of the game with a top-20 team will benefit Michigan with Big Ten play quickly approaching. “We cut it to four and had some opportunities, and we didn’t make the best decisions,” Barnes Arico said. “Any mistake we made, they made us pay for. I think that is experience. On our side that’s a sign of our youth, and I think we’re going to grow and we’re going to learn from that.“
The Michigan women’s basketball team faced a tall order, both literally and figuratively, when it faced No. 20 UCLA on Sunday. 86 UCLA The Bruins MICHIGAN 77 (5-2) lost both of their contests to topfive teams by single digits, and are physically a noticeably tall team. That size was an issue for the Wolverines. The Bruins started the game with a big lineup, throwing out 6-foot-3 forward Kacy Swain to match up with 6-foot-5 Michigan center Hallie Thome. UCLA subbed in Swain with 6-foot-4 Monique Billings to play alongside 6-foot-3 Paulina Hersler. Nine of the 12 active players on the Bruins’ roster are at least six feet tall, compared to the Wolverines’ four. “They’re long, and they can run the floor,” Thome said. “They basically can pass to anyone on the court, and they can score. You could tell that they weren’t nervous when they stepped on the floor.” Michigan (7-2) fought back with its own height in Thome, who scored a team-high 24 points, but the Wolverines fell, 86-77. Michigan struggled to adjust to UCLA’s length, as sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty missed her first three shots, including a wide-open layup. The Wolverines also adjusted to the Bruins’ three-quarter-court press, an element of Michigan’s game that it continues to implement in its own defensive agenda. On both sides of the ball, Thome led the way. “When (Thome) was out of the game, they really took advantage of the rebounding and the size difference,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “That definitely hurt us. She needs to be in the game for us, because we don’t have anyone else with that physical presence.” After the Wolverines held a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter, the second quarter
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Freshman guard Nicole Munger came off the bench and scored 15 points in Michigan’s loss to UCLA on Sunday.
was no different, as the matchup remained a back-and-forth affair. About six minutes into the frame, Thome converted an and-1 to give Michigan a three-point lead. In the following possession, Bruins guard Kari Korver hit a deep 3-pointer to tie the score once again. The next time Korver got the ball, she converted from behind the arc again for her third 3-pointer of the day. The Bruins’ other star guard, Jordin Canada, came into Sunday’s matchup averaging 19 points per game, but was held to only one by the end of the first half. While Canada was crucial for the Bruins in other ways, racking up seven rebounds and five assists, she still looked frustrated at times. With the band cooing, “O Canada!” in the middle of her free throw routine, she missed the next free throw, unable to get her shooting on track before the halftime break. Despite Canada’s slow start, UCLA led, 34-30, heading into the third quarter. The Wolverines came out of the gate firing, making their first three shots. But a block ended the streak, directly leading to another three from Korver in transition. Three minutes later, freshman guard Boogie
Brozoski tossed a rainbow pass from half court to Thome, who was cutting toward the basket for the fundamental layup. The players on the Michigan bench collectively jumped from their seats, down by just three. After a UCLA basket and two straight turnovers, the Bruins had their largest lead of the contest with 2:30 left in the third quarter at 10. UCLA’s length continued to be an obstacle, as guards such as senior Madison Ristovski couldn’t dish the ball into the paint without getting the delivery tipped or stolen. As Ristovski and Brozoski struggled, the Bruins thrived off their mistakes, leading by nine going into the fourth quarter. “Any mistake that we made, they made us pay for it,” Barnes Arico said. “I think that is experience. On our side, that’s a sign of our youth. … We looked young at times.” With about seven minutes left in the final frame, Flaherty drove into the lane, but was blocked. The ball was deflected right into the hands of Ristovski, who immediately knocked down a 3. On the ensuing Wolverine possession, Thome knocked down another basket. Junior guard Siera Thompson
had an opportunity to cut the lead to two, but missed the layup. Canada, who eventually found her rhythm, scored four straight, bringing the lead back up to eight. “The little things, the turnovers at the end, were what separated us,” Thome said. UCLA didn’t look back from there, as Billings dominated the paint on both sides of the ball, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds. The Wolverines were outrebounded, 45-27. “We didn’t rebound great like we usually do,” Flaherty said. “That hurt us, and we tried to box out, and that’s something going forward we need to work on … Going in (to the paint), we got a lot of our shots blocked.” It was fitting that the contest ended on a UCLA block. The Wolverines lost to a more talented and, ultimately, a much larger team. “We always talk about being better tomorrow than we were today,” Barnes Arico said. “I think we’re always trying to get better. … If each one of us can get a little bit better, we can be a lot more successful against quality opponents. That’s what we try to do every day and will do from here on out.”