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CSG inclusion commission charts path forward AVA RANDA/Daily
Ray Cummings, market dynamics director of PATH, delivers information about viruses around the world at the Global Impact Speaker Series at Ross on Thursday.
Director of nonprofit talks economics of vaccinations PATH supports developing nations in providing immunization
improve public health through vaccines — discussed the influence of vaccines in lowincome countries and other areas and the economic costs tied to immunization at a talk Wednesday. Cummings spoke to an audience of approximately 80 students, faculty and community members at the Ross School of Business. The event was one of several in the annual William David Institute
By MADELEINE GERSON For the Daily
Ray Cummings, director of PATH — a nonprofit organization that aims to
Global Impact Speaker Series. Cummings’ nonprofit strives to improve global public health through five main platforms: vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, devices and system and service innovations. In 2014, PATH served 160 million individuals in more than 70 countries, working alongside UNICEF, the World Health Organization and other non-governmental organizations such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
PATH is currently working to combat the spread of rotavirus, Japanese encephalitis and pneumococcal pneumonia. The nonprofit hopes to further progress in terms of vaccine waste reduction, supply chain management and data management of immunization information. “PATH is not in a position to help countries make budget choices. That is a process each See PATH, Page 3A
After controversial disbandment, members discuss future for committee By JACKIE CHARNIGA Daily News Editor
The Central Student Government’s Campus Inclusion Commission, which disbanded last semester after its 11 members resigned following a conflict between the commission’s chair and the executive commission, has been reinstated with theappointment of LSA junior Kendall Poindexter as the new chair. For CSG members, especially in light of upcoming elections for next year’s assembly in late March, the resignations prompted conversation about issues of transparency, identity and power dynamics within the body, as well as questions about how the assembly would move forward. CSG commissions are committees of students chosen by
RESEARCH
CAMPUS LIFE
Attachment in relationships linked to more online abuse Insecurity leads to individuals tracking partner’s social media, phone use By ALEXA ST. JOHN Daily Staff Reporter
Feeling insecure about relationships and exhibiting anxious attachment often leads teens to engage in digital dating violence and electronically intrusive behaviors, according to a recent University of Michigan study. According to the study, the availability of social media at nearly every teen’s disposal through smartphones and other electronics has given them the ability to electronically harass their partners and express insecurities regarding their relationships. According to Pew Research
Center’s “Teens, Social Media and Technology Overview 2015,” 92 percent of teens ages 13 to 17 report going online daily, with 24 percent saying they are online “almost constantly.” The report also highlighted that nearly three-quarters of teens own or have access to a smartphone. This ease of access to technology leads to abusive behaviors in adolescence that are often predictive of abusive behavior throughout adulthood, the study showed. Digital dating violence is defined as the use of technology to bully, harass, stalk or intimidate a dating partner, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Abusive behaviors include sending negative messages online, controlling who the partner can and cannot be friends with or follow on social media sites, stealing a See ANXIETY, Page 3A
the body’s executive committee to unite students behind specific areas on campus. The Inclusion Commission, whose purpose is to address campus issues associated with race, gender and the LGBTQ community, was effectively inoperative for the month following the members’ desertion of the commission. In a Michigan in Color piece published last semester in The Michigan Daily, a former member of the Inclusion Commission wrote about why she and the 10 other members resigned. The article was temporarily retracted by the Daily for additional review— an edited version has since been republished. Engineering junior Sindhu Sreedhar, former executive chair of the LGBTQ Issues Commission, said the power dynamics displayed during a meeting with members of the executive committee regarding commission consolidation left her feeling marginalized and dispensable. Sreedhar was contacted multiple times for comment and did not respond. See INCLUSION, Page 3A
Participants at IGR event develop plans for openness
Discussion focuses on how to talk about social justice with loved ones By EMILY MIILLER Daily Staff Reporter
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U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) speaks about her “In the Red” initiative, a program aimed at reducing student debt in the Michigan League on Wednesday.
Stabenow discusses student loan debt legislation at ‘U’ U.S. senator to introduce bill that aims to increase college affordability By LYDIA MURRAY Daily Staff Reporter
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D–Mich.) visited campus Wednesday to speak with
members of Central Student Government and other campus leaders about her #InTheRed campaign, which aims to address rising student debt. Stabenow discussed the Reducing Educational Debt Act, which she and a group of senators will introduce in the Senate within the next several weeks. Stabenow also visited Michigan State University, Western Michigan University and Wayne State University to
speak with students about the RED Act this week. Meeting with students and talking about this issue with them, Stabenow said, is important because they are the ones directly affected. “This is very personal for students,” she said. “Everyone on an individual basis has a story of trying to get the help they need. It’s important to me to understand how they feel and people asking questions See STABENOW, Page 3A
About 20 students and faculty members filled a circle of chairs in the Intergroup Relations Office for a discussion called the Talking Social Justice with Those You Love Open Dialogue on Wednesday. The event aimed to facilitate conversation on strategies for openly discussing different identities with loved ones in the participants’ lives, including family and friends. The discussion was part of IGR’s CommonGround group, which holds dialogues to facilitate conversations on issues such as race and gender throughout the semester. Social Work student Jonathan Vanderbeck, an intern at IGR, See DIALOGUE, Page 2A
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CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Department of Labor Talk WHAT: Listen to Michigan alum Randall Hicks from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Affairs speak about his work with human rights and labor and how his career developed. He will speak about working for the federal government and job opportunities in Washington, D.C. WHO: Randall Hicks WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: School of Social Work - 2609
Wake Up WHAT: Join an open and honest discussion about sexual health, hosted by Wellness Advocacy Keenness and Engagement in Undergraduate Programs (WAKE UP). WHO: Office of Multicultural Initiatives WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: Student Activities Buildimg - 3009
Pre-Law Penny Stamps Career Crawl WHAT: Learn about Consultations Speaker what it would be like to have a career in WHAT: Make an Series the retail and service appointment through your Handshake account for a one-on-one consultation with the director of admissions at Wayne State University Law School. WHO: Joshua Davis WHEN: 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: Career Center
The African Diaspora WHAT: A screening of a documentary entitled “The African Disaspora: Bound Together,” followed by a community dialogue. WHO: Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs WHEN: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. WHERE: William Monroe Trotter
DIALOGUE From Page 1A and Corina Kesler, a facilitator with IGR and a researcher with the University’s International Institute, led the dialogue. Vanderbeck said he intended the conversation to be in keeping with the Valentine’s season, in relation to love, but also to provoke reflection on the subject of open discussions about important issues. “When you’re with loved ones, people you care about, how do you go about having these contentious conversations?” he said. He said the dialogue was a part of IGR’s ongoing efforts to encourage openness in relationships. “A lot of what IGR is about is learning how to dialogue, and at IGR we talk about dialogue being this third way between open discussion and debate,” he said. “Dialogue is a focused way of having a conversation.” Attendees broke out into smaller groups based on
WHAT: Hear Patricia Urquiola, an architect and designer, speak about her work, which is unconventional and experimental, combining humanist sensibilities and technical expertise. WHO: Patricia Urquiola WHEN: 5:10 p.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Theater
industries. Meet with University alumni who work within this industry and learn about their work and experiences. WHO: Career Center WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union-Pond Room
EIHS Lecture Gifts of Art WHAT: Listen to Gabrielle Foreman of the University of Delaware speak about white uses of Black bodies in a lecture entitled “Northern Slavery, the Art of Dissection and a Doctor’s Fortune.” WHO: Gabrielle Foreman WHEN: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. WHERE: Tisch Hall 1014
which category of loved ones they found having dialogues about identity most difficult. The choices were family, classmates/coworkers, significant others and friends. The talk also allowed the entire group to come together and share their ideas. Education graduate student Chelsea Noble said she liked how they could break into groups and get to know other participants. “I really appreciated that they kept us moving between circles so you got to hear from different folks, but there was also some big group debrief,” Noble said. “It felt dynamic, it felt like you could get your voice heard in a small group but also hear from the big group.” While in these smaller groups, Vanderbeck and Kesler asked participants to discuss why they felt dialogue was challenging with this type of loved one and also offered suggestions for possibly easing this difficulty. They brought up different topics of dialogue
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Seven alleged ISIS members were detained in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and charged for a bombing massacre in Moscow, St. Petersburg, according to CNN. This has been anticipated since November, when ISIS threatened to attack Russia. “very soon.”
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In this week’s B-Side, Daily Arts writer explore all things coffee, from a local company to a student who roasts coffee beans. >>SEE B-SIDE, PAGE 1B
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WHAT: University graduate and professional singer Katharine Ball will perform musical theater and cabaret, accompanied by professional organist Andrew Meagher. WHO: Katherine Ball and Andrew Meagher WHEN: 12:10 p.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: Universiy Hospital Main Lobby
such as gender, race and sexual identity and allowed people to switch groups with every change of topic. Kesler said the willingness of various people to share experiences and thoughts made this discussion possible. “I think the presence of so many participants interested in learning made our role much easier,” she said. “If this was a success, it had very little to do with us, to be sure.” Education graduate student LaQwana Dockery, a graduate intern with IGR, said she really appreciated the camaraderie she felt with other audience members. “It was nice to be around people who share the same feelings about certain issues and topics when it comes to important people in our lives and when we want to talk about different issues that are important to us,” she said. “But also we don’t want to damage the relationships we have with certain people that we really care about,” Dockery said the dialogue helped her see that there were different ways to express her opinions on social justice. “There’s a lot of different ways that you can intervene and that necessarily doesn’t have to be directly confronting someone,” she said. “I think people who are really involved and passionate about social justice put the weight on their shoulders that we need to tackle every single issue at that moment, but that might not necessarily be the case sometimes. It might be important to change the subject or pull someone aside and talk to them the next day.”
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UMHS adopts new visual technology to aide surgery BrightMatter devices will allow higher microscopic detail for doctors By SOPHIE SHERRY For the Daily
The University of Michigan Health System has recently acquired Synaptive Medical’s BrightMatter technology, a device that fuses highdefinition intraoperative visualization and surgical guidance to transform the way surgeons operate. Currently, when surgeons want to view something in high detail they use a microscopic eyepiece. The field of view provided by this microscope is incredibly small and requires the surgeon to frequently move around while working. The surgeon is able to project two-dimensional images onto a screen for others in the operating room to see, but the surgeon her or himself cannot see that image. UMHS neurosurgeon Oren Sagher said the new device aims to change that. “The BrightMatter device parts from that,” Sagher said. “The surgeon is now seeing the same high detail over a larger area and is able to see it on a large screen in front of them rather than having to look into a microscope.” The device also allows all those in the operating room to see exactly what the surgeon is seeing. Sagher said he believes this will greatly improve communication and teaching capabilities in the operating room. “Now everybody knows exactly what the surgeon is seeing and doing and the scrub can anticipate what
the surgeon needs and (this) really greatly improves the workf low in the operating room,” he said. What sets this device apart from current technology is that it combines more advanced visualization technology with surgical guidance, Sagher added. Currently, surgeons take digital images of a patient’s brain, for example, and reconstruct them into threedimensions. A computer in the operating room then guides the surgeon’s hand where to go according to this three-dimensional model. This technology has existed for more than 20 years but lives completely separately from the microscope used previously — this new device will combine them. “If a surgeon was operating under a microscope, they cannot use the guidance system very easily, in fact sometimes not at all,” Sagher said. “With the Synaptive device, BrightMatter, not only can you do that, but it actually is integrated into the device. They are actually able to guide your view and your path exactly the way you have planned it based on the patient’s preoperative imaging.” The device itself is a robot. The visualization camera hangs above the head of the surgeon and slightly in front of them in order to not get in their way. The surgeon is able to give the robot verbal commands to change paths and trajectories. “It is just short of the ability of the robot to actually do the operation,” Sagher said. “It essentially allows the surgeon to just get to that limit where the surgeon is operating but being aided by the robot.” The BrightMatter device is currently being used at a
handful of hospitals across the country, including Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Karin Muraszko, chair of neurosurgery at the University, said while the BrightMatter device is costly, the University thinks it is a worthwhile investment. “It’s a significant outlay of funds and a hospital has to feel that they have got the need for that kind of technology,” Muraszko said. “We view ourselves, and I think appropriately so, as a place that leads in cutting edge technologies. I think that, like everything, it is going to require a learning curve, but we have invested a fair amount of effort and time to access its feasible and usefulness in our own practice before we made the commitment to bring this system to Michigan.” Both Sagher and Muraszko said they believe the University will uniquely implement of this technology due to the prominent brain tumor program the University has, as well as how they will be able to integrate the BrightMatter technology with a visualization instrument that another UMHS neurosurgeon, Daniel Orringer, has developed. Orringer has created a visualization instrument called stimulated Raman spectroscopy, which allows for the visualization of actual cells. This offers the potential to be able to differentiate between tumor cells and normal cells in the operating room. “We can take a real breakthrough and make it a truly monumental breakthrough, leveraging what our in-house talents are here with Dr. Orringer’s SRS microscope,” Sagher said.
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STABENOW From Page 1A helps me make sure we are on the right track.” Stabenow said since the time she attended college, the percentage of funding provided by the state to the University of Michigan has decreased from 70 to a percentage in the mid-20s. More recently, funding for higher education was cut by 15 percent in 2011. Overall, in recent years state funding for higher education has seen both cute — including a 15 percent one in 2011 — and small increases. In Gov. Rick Snyder’s recently released budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, he recommended a 4.3 percent increase in higher education funding, which would bring the total funding back to pre2011 levels. The RED Act incorporates portions of a bill proposed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D–Mass.) in 2014, which would allow student loan borrowers to refinance highinterest loans and create fixed interest rates for future borrowers, in contrast to the variable rates borrowers face now. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–Dearborn) has also cosponsored a similar bill in
PATH From Page 1A country needs to go through on its own,” Cummings said. “We can help them get more for their money through the immunization process.” Cummings explained the economic value of investing in immunizations, saying there is generally a positive return on such an investment. “Economists at PATH and a number of groups have looked at the cost effectiveness of these vaccines,” Cummings said. “The metric that is most commonly used is disabilityadjusted life year. That is the measurement for the average amount of healthy years of life that are spared by a particular intervention.” Cummings noted that distribution systems differ for lower income countries, Gavi is involved in providing the funding for vaccination, while UNICEF is focused on the distribution and procurement of vaccines. After the event, Peiyu Yu, Public Policy senior,
ANXIETY From Page 1A partner’s social media passwords and looking through a partner’s cellphone records to see who they are texting or calling. Lead author of the study Lauren Reed was a doctoral student in the University’s Psychology Department when the study began and said she was interested in the ways that new forms of media, such as the Internet, cellphones, texting and social media sites impact dating relationships and shape dating violence. “What we do is we ask teens and college students about what they do in relationships and then we also look at how is this associated with other things,” Reed said. “If you’re engaging in an activity that makes your partner feel uncomfortable or unsafe, or if it’s one of many behaviors that you’re engaging in that control or manipulate or threaten or harass your partner, then those are some problematic behaviors that could be abusive.” According to a 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nationwide survey, 23 percent of females and 14 percent of males who have experienced a sexual assault, act of physical violence or cyber-stalking from an intimate partner first experienced one of these forms of relationship violence between 11 and 17 years of age. The CDC reported that for the person experiencing the abuse, certain types of violence can lead to engaging in alcohol and drug abuse, reporting symptoms of depression and increased anxiety and ultimately having greater risk to be on the receiving end of these abusive behaviors during college years.
Congress that would allow student loan refinancing. The bill would additionally allow two years of tuition and fees to be waived for community college and technical school and increase the funding for federal Pell Grants. In his State of the Union address in January, President Barack Obama called for the former aspect of the current bill. Stabenow said these three main aspects of the bill are achievable if Congress can come together in a bipartisan effort. “We basically have three things that we are doing that are very doable if we can get the bipartisan support we need,” she said. Pamela Fowler, executive director of the office of financial aid at the University who was at the event, said in recent years the University has been increasing financial aid by an average of 12 percent, and students and prospective students need to be more aware of the resources available to them to help alleviate debt. “Affordability is something I live personally every day,” she said. “How do we let people know that they can afford to come here? Once they see that they can afford to go here then the word will get out.”
Stabenow said outside groups, including the National Association of Realtors, have spoken up about the need to aid the student debt crisis, as it affects the overall economy. She added that providing that assistance depends on the government’s priorities, and higher education strongly influences the economy and should be better supported. “It’s a question of priorities and how you grow the economy,” she said. “Higher education is an economic driver and we ought to be heavily supporting that at every level.” Public Policy senior Max Lerner, chair of the University’s chapter of College Democrats who was also at the event, said he appreciates the support of Stabenow and other Democrats on this issue, as he does not see the same urgency within the Republican Party. “It’s great to see Democrats and Sen. Stabenow are taking student issues and the college debt crisis very seriously,” he said. “Republicans clearly are not. Snyder is continuing to divest in public education and higher education and it really a shame as Michigan students are literally being priced out of a higher education because of this governor’s policies.”
agreed that there is a significant economic benefit to vaccination, but raised concerns over how vaccines are implemented and received in foreign countries. “I do not know what countries with a large aging population will do and if they are ready to cover term health costs,” Yu said. “The resistance of intervention is that some countries have a history of not welcoming Western intervention because of deep skepticism.” Cummings also discussed the organization’s challenges, citing the expensive cost of new vaccines as well as the problem which arises as countries transition out of Gavi eligibility and become responsible for the cost of immunization. With the rising costs of new and expensive vaccines, PATH is struggling to pay for the more costly medication, he said. Furthermore, as countries gain wealth, they no longer meet the threshold to attain vaccinations through Gavi and must pay for vaccines themselves. The World Bank defines low-income countries
as those which have a gross national income per capita of less than $1,045. To be eligible for aid from Gavi, the country has to have a GNI per capita of below $1,580. Ari Shwayder, lecturer of business economics, said the challenge for transitional nations was significant. “For me, the idea is that we have to think about new ways for getting the middle-income countries vaccines,” Shwayder said. “We need to work with manufactures to develop cheaper vaccines, to focus on the supply side.” The World Health Organization estimates that 2.5 million deaths are prevented per year due to vaccines. Cummings said amid some resistance and controversy surrounding vaccines, their importance remains clear. “I hope I have given you some appreciation for what impact vaccines have had in public health and in what terms vaccines have had in saving lives, and in doing so economically,” Cummings told the crowd.
Richard Tolman, School of Social Work professor, said from his previous workregarding forms of dating violence, including nondigital abuse, it was clear the increasing use of social media and the Internet to control a romantic partner was becoming a major aspect of relationship abuse. “It was unusual to use media that way (in the past),” Tolman said. “Now with the dawn of the digital age — not the dawn any longer — pretty much everybody has that kind of surveillance monitoring technology available to them in their pocket on a smartphone. Eighth graders on up have access to this kind of technology that was once the province of mega-controlling abusive partners.” The survey of teens was done in response to a UM survey done by Reed, she said, which included questions about common controlling behaviors such as monitoring a romantic partner and looking at a partner’s cellphone or computers without their consent. In both the University survey and the high school student survey, researchers included a measure of attachment insecurity, which was linked to executing electronically abusive behaviors, Tolman said. The high school student study surveyed 703 high school students from ninth grade to 12th grade and focused on more electronically intrusive behaviors than did the University survey, according to Reed. “The reason that we did it in both age groups is that we wanted to know if these findings were consistent across age groups,” Reed said. “High school students (are) having their first dating experience, they’re new to dating, they might be more influenced by these digital media, so we wanted
to replicate our college student survey in the high school. We had a better, more comprehensive measure of electronic intrusion than we did in the college survey, but we found still pretty consistent results across age groups.” Reed said ultimately, these findings are indicative of what she calls a “cycle of anxiety.” Insecurely attached high school and college students are more likely to engage in electronic intrusion in their relationships, Reed said. Seeing a photo or post on social media could trigger their anxiety, leading to increased use of electronically intruding behaviors in an attempt to alleviate their anxiety. “The more you look and the more you intrude in your partner’s privacy, probably the more anxiety you’re going to have,” Reed said. The question arises as to where the line is between normal social media and technology use in a relationship, and digital abuse, both researchers said. “I don’t think we know enough to say where the exact line is,” Tolman said. “Part of that depends on the perceptions of the people involved to be sure. Unquestionably, there is some version of this that is normative. (However) saying that it’s normative doesn’t mean it is good or positive, it may be that it’s something that just about everybody does a little bit of.” Social media use today is often an acceptable way to check in with one’s partner, Tolman said. However, when social media use becomes a pervasive behavior that continuously proves harmful to a partner and begins to define that relationship, it can cause psychological damage. He added that was important, particularly for insecurely attached individuals, to know
INCLUSION From Page 1A “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,” she wrote, referencing a member of CSG’s executive committee. “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.” CSG chief of staff, LSA junior Sean Pitt was integral in the restructuring of the commissions and conveyed the executive committee’s decision to combine commissions, which was in part the catalyst for the commision’s disbandment. At the beginning of the 2016 fall semester, CSG launched a complete restructuring of the body’s 19 commissions, cutting 11. Some of these former commissions were turned into subcommissions. At a CSG meeting on Dec. 1, after the Michigan in Color piece had been published, CSG President Cooper Charlton called the resignation a misunderstanding but acknowledged the writer’s concerns about the power structure. “The author of this article felt negatively about this proposal due to the power dynamic in the room,” Charlton said. Charlton added there was further misunderstanding surrounding the measures of restorative justice that were agreed upon after the perceived microaggression. “Because full information was not provided to the commission, negative sentiment towards the executive committee grew surrounded in the idea that the executive chose not to meet the requests for restorative justice,” Charlton said. “The sentiment that grew within this commission is founded on false information, and there is no evidence to support these claims.” In interviews with The Michigan Daily, CSG representatives said the events of last semester were troubling and full of confusion. LSA and Education senior Michael Chrzan, a School of Education representative, said in an email interview hearing there were issues with diversity in CSG spurred him to run during the mid-term elections last semester to reclaim his seat on the assembly. Following the incident, Chrzan contacted the commission members who had resigned to get their perspective. “From my outsider view and someone who came into this discussion really late, I’d say personally it was a lack of
their personal boundaries as well as what their partners are comfortable with in terms of checking social media and other forms of technology to check in on a relationship. “The findings from the study hint that … there may be aspects of times of insecurities that somebody brings into a relationship that could add to their increasing this activity in a way that could be problematic to the relationship,” Tolman said. Some previous findings have indicated that it is possible that young men and young women have behavioral and emotional differences in the way that they use and interpret social media. However, in this most recent study, Tolman said few differences were observed. “We found that attachment and insecurity predicted perpetration of electronic intrusion similarly for boys and girls,” he said. “But we did find that, in our study, girls reported more perpetration of electronic intrusion than boys did.” He added that this might simply be because females are more likely to be more honest reporters of their digital activities. On the other hand, however, this electronic intrusion could be intended for positively preserving and maintaining a relationship. “Although there are some positive uses of digital media in dating relationships, and it’s great way to build intimacy and bond between partners, for anxiously attached teenagers and college students, this might exacerbate their anxiety and lead to potential emotional abuse,” Reed said. Ultimately, Tolman said the overuse and misuse of digital media in adolescence for the purpose of controlling relationships can be predictive of
Thursday, February 18, 2016 — 3A transparency and communication on numerous levels,” Chrzan said. Charlton said the restructuring was necessary to actualize the potential of these commissions, which hadn’t been seen in the past. “Of the 19 commissions, only five of them were active, and by that I mean had communication with the executive team,” Charlton said. “Of those five, only three of them produced changes that students actually felt. Fourteen either didn’t do anything because they were vacant, didn’t have enough members to function or frankly just gave up halfway through the semester.” However, though the inclusivity commission was disbanded, members of CSG said the body continued to make progress on issues of campus inclusivity. LSA sophomore Anushka Sarkar, CSG chief programming officer, said the initiatives they had been working on were implemented in other ways. “Maybe there was a vacuum on paper, but the initiatives the commission was being tasked with fell to the executive committee or the other body members,” Sarkar said. Chrzan wrote though he did not have much experience with the commissions prior to this semester, he was in support of their consolidation. “That being said, I would argue the decision could have been made and communicated in a better way,” Chrzan wrote. “I know that some commissions were upset about the change and also upset about how it was communicated, specifically those in the Campus Inclusion Commission.” Chrzan said he has seen more of the commissions and their work than he ever had before, but noted he attributed the change to the CSG chief of staff Sean Pitt, more than the new structure. Issues of transparency, identity and power dynamics have also been raised by members of newMich and Your Michigan — two political platforms which have emerged in preparation for the upcoming March CSG election — in reactions to the commission’s walk-off. Public Policy junior Thomas Hislop, a CSG representative and Your Michigan’s presidential candidate, said CSG relies heavily on its commissions to fulfill its directives on campus. “People often forget that commissions are such a resource for us,” Hislop said. “I’m a deep believer in the power of these commissions, and I think Cooper’s administration did a really great job of redesigning those nine commissions that really do have a voice and a power so that they can go forward with their initiatives.” LSA junior David Schafer,
a CSG representation heading newMICH’s executive ticket, said the events of last semester need to be a wake-up call for the assembly. “What happened last semester, it’s entirely unfortunate. Anytime a student feels silenced, where their voice is not heard, regardless of the circumstances, we need to care about that and we need to do something about that,” Schafer said. “Of course when everyone on the commission resigned, that was not something you should look happily upon.” Hislop voiced similar sentiments about the events surrounding the commission. “Obviously it was unfortunate what happened last semester, and you know I know there was some frustration with how it was published as well,” Hislop said. “It was a really unfortunate event because that’s not what CSG is about, and I think the people behind Cooper, they do believe in the importance of inclusivity and diversity on this campus.” CSG representative Micah Griggs, an LSA junior running for vice president with newMich, said their knowledge of the current power dynamics of the body sets them apart as a party. “I think what’s unique here is that we realize the root of the problem when someone didn’t understand their power and their privilege in a certain situation,” Griggs said. “Having an IGR mandatory workshop can prevent those things from happening and work towards being more inclusive by understanding our identities and how they impact others.” Intergroup Relations, a University program of social justice education, offers training to student organizations to create understanding of inequalities and the influence of diverse identities. Sarkar, who is the campaign manager for newMich, said their platform includes plans for opt-in CSG newsletters and text alerts so that the student body is informed of what goes on behind closed doors. “A commission chair resigning would definitely be an alert that would go out to people,” Sarkar said. LSA junior Shamaila Ashraf, who is running on newMich ticket for the upcoming CSG election, said though she was not on the assembly at the time, she believed it displayed a lack of transparency and accountability on the side of the executive committee. “Transparency in terms of what is CSG doing, what are these commissions? And then the other side, the accountability, who are we putting in those positions and how are they trained?” Ashraf said.
adult behavior, as has been seen in other forms of non-digital dating violence. “The issue is not so much stopping or somehow trying to temper the amount of use, though that might be possible, but certainly teaching people about how to manage boundaries more effectively and more selfmanagement strategies and coping
with this relational context that is now an everyday reality,” Tolman said. “It does signal a broader societal need, and certainly an individual need, for teaching people how to better manage these kind of relational issues when social media is involved, and when it’s not, too.”
Read more online at michigandaily.com
Opinion
4A — Thursday, February 18, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Incestuous, integral and in loving memory
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com SHOHAM GEVA EDITOR IN CHIEF
CLAIRE BRYAN AND REGAN DETWILER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS
LAURA SCHINAGLE 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
Prompt appointment needed
T
he death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has caused the already-volatile American political environment to reach a new height. Republicans are now rallying behind the idea that the next president should be the one to nominate a new justice. However, President Obama has the constitutional obligation and right to nominate someone, just as the Republican-controlled Senate has the constitutional obligation to consider that nominee. Inaction on this issue due to overt partisan politics is not the correct solution to this situation, and not a precedent our government should establish. Furthermore, cases concerning divisive issues such as abortion, affirmative action, contraception, public unions and immigration are all on the docket for this Supreme Court term. By leaving Scalia’s seat vacant, Republicans risk a 4-4 tie on many of these controversial votes. This is a problem because tie votes uphold the decision of the lower court in that court’s respective jurisdiction, which does not establish national precedent. If these cases are heard by an eight-member Court in the term that begins in October, a tie vote would essentially mean the hearings were a waste of the Court’s time. It is therefore essential that the Senate fulfills its constitutional obligation by at least considering an Obama nominee. Republicans argue that a nominee should not be considered during the election cycle. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the rest of the GOP caucus maintain that the people should have a say in choosing a nominee through their vote in November. While Republicans assert that nominating a replacement during an election season is misguided, history disagrees. Throughout history, there have been eight Supreme Court nominations during election season, and six have been confirmed. On average, it takes 25 days to vote on a Supreme Court justice once nominated. Constitutional duties, along with government precedent, should not be suddenly suspended because a presidential election is ongoing. Obstructing the nomination process not only spurs inflamed partisan divides, but it could also
disjoint the normal decision-making process of the Court. The potential for numerous 4-4 split votes on many critical issues will mean the decisions of the lower courts will be upheld within their respective jurisdictions, but the case does not establish precedent for later Supreme Court cases. The American people need and deserve a full Supreme Court so the nation can have closure on issues of such critical importance. The Republican-controlled Senate must fulfill its obligation to the citizens of the United States and work with the president to confirm a new nominee. The Supreme Court was designed, through lifetime appointments, to stay the test of time and be greater than the political squabbling of our country. The late Justice Scalia himself best exemplified this ideal when he requested that President Obama fill an empty seat with Elena Kagan, now the most liberal member of the Supreme Court. Even though she contradicts Scalia ideologically, he chose her because he believed the Court needed a brilliant, qualified mind arguing the most important issues of our day, regardless of belief. It is time for Senate Republicans to move past partisanship and do what they were elected to do. Nominating a Supreme Court justice is one of the Senate’s most crucial constitutional obligations and should not be a political fight. Legislators cannot simply abandon their constitutional duties and disrespect two centuries of precedent — their jobs are too important and the stakes are too high.
T
oday is my great uncle Gail’s memorial service. I called my dad last Saturday evening to invite him and my stepmom to dinner for my birthday when he told me the news. My dad, just waking up from a nap, sounded groggy. There was an edge of sadness AARICA MARSH in his voice. “Aunt Marian texted me,” he interjected. “Uncle Gail passed away yesterday.” “Wow,” I responded, recalling the last time I had seen my grandma’s brother-in-law. It was my dad and stepmom’s wedding, held on my grandma’s 75th birthday, in their backyard. My grandma was more than happy to share her birthday with my dad and his new wife. After a brief pause, I continued, “I knew he wasn’t doing well, but I didn’t know it was that bad. Do you know when memorial service is yet?” There was no question in my mind concerning my schedule: I was going home to see my family. *** I grew up in a small town — a village — that, generally, I did not leave for the first 18 years of my life. As a senior in high school, I only applied to two colleges, both less than an hour drive from home. (Thankfully, I was accepted at the University of Michigan before having to apply to Michigan State.) Leaving was exciting, yet it simultaneously scared me; I needed the stimulating experience of a completely different place with the security blanket of somewhere that was close to home. Now, after almost five years in college, I envision all of the things I can accomplish, and I don’t want to look back. “If I don’t leave now, I don’t think I ever will,” I told one of my cowork-
ers during a lull in customer traffic. She rolled her eyes, understandably, at my constant use of the word village to describe my hometown during our conversation. I kept rambling. “I don’t know, though. It’s really hard. I love Michigan and I have a really big family. All of my siblings are still in Parma. All of them have kids. I don’t want to miss anything. But I feel like I need to see more of the world and find the way I can best help others. It’s weird to think about. I feel so conflicted sometimes.” Struggling with my past, present and future, I went to visit my personal essay professor, John Rubadeau, during his office hours. In our first conversation, I told him about my family: My brother is married to, and has a son with, one of my best friends from high school. He’s buying the house my three siblings and I grew up in from our dad. My youngest brother and his pregnant girlfriend live with them. My sister lived in the house with her husband and (now four) kids for nearly three years before moving 10 minutes outside the village. And that’s just the surface. Deliberating for a moment while chewing his gum, John responded: “Sounds incestuous.” “Hmm,” I contemplated, sorting through the facts about my family in my head. “That’s a good word for it.” But, after leaving his office that day, something kept bothering me. The connotation of “incestuous” seemed so negative. I Googled the definition: 1. Involving or guilty of incest OK, my family is close, but not that close. 2. (of human relations generally) excessively close or resistant to outside influence, esp. as to prevent proper functioning Bingo. Incestuous implies something improper. *** On Sunday evening, the day after my dad told me about Gail’s death, the local newspaper released his
DAN PARK
obituary, which I’ve paraphrased below. I read it online and was amazed by the things I didn’t know about my great uncle: Lloyd “Gail” Reardon was born in 1931 on County Farm Road on the outskirts of the village of Parma. He loved sports and went to the same high school as me and nearly all of my dad’s family; then, it was Parma High School. He met my great aunt Marian, my grandma’s sister, when she stopped into Gail’s Friendly Gas Station, now my uncle’s shop, Don Marsh Service. They had six kids — four sons and two daughters. In 1959, the year before my father’s birth, Gail became the youngest mayor of Parma. He owned and operated several successful businesses: Gail’s Friendly Service gas station and repairs, Parma Party Store, Gail’s Pizza, Gail’s Car Wash, Reardon Realty and probably a few I’m missing here. He was known to many as “Mr. Parma.” His favorite mantra was “Keep on keeping on.” He always put others first. Suddenly, a different, more fitting term popped into my head. Integral. Google made this clear for me with a definition: 1. (adj) necessary to make a whole complete; essential or fundamental. Gail, and most of the other residents in our small town, played an integral role in the history of Parma, shaping the place it is today. He planted a seed that extended well beyond his six children and numerous grandchildren. Uncle Gail did so much for my family, his extended family and so many other people. His influence is everywhere — my youngest brother’s middle name is Lloyd. In the same way, Parma plays an integral role in my history, shaping who I am today. And, no matter where I end up after graduation, I’ll never let that go. In loving memory of Lloyd “Gail” Reardon July 25, 1931 — Feb. 12, 2016 — Aarica Marsh can be reached at aaricama@umich.edu.
E-mail Dan at dancp@umich.edu
A feminist undecided for 2016
I
n politics, labels are paramount. I’m frequently reminded of this fact during conversations with one of my older siblings. Our discussions — while usually respectful — often devolve into a clash of policy perspectives between a republican and the family’s designated “bleeding-heart liberal.” More often than not, the phrase is intended as a light-hearted jab, but there’s certainly some MELISSA truth to the title. My SCHOLKE opinions regularly lean a little to the left. However, I can’t deny that the political identifiers my sibling and I attribute to one another, from time to time, have led us to misjudge each other’s beliefs and stances on issues. Republican. Democrat. Conservative. Liberal. Independent. With these designations — self-proclaimed or not — come a variety of assumptions. In a highly polarized political sphere, these titles are often — and sometimes poorly — used as societal determinants of which candidate is supposedly best suited to occupy an office, where a candidate should supposedly stand on an issue, how voters supposedly should vote and how they actually will vote. Momentarily casting partisanship aside, the use of labels such as “feminist” and “millennial” have recently created tension among female voters within the Democratic Party. Addressing millennial women, renowned feminist figureheads Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright recently voiced their concerns about the vast number of young female voters supporting Sen. Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton. Steinem, viewing female support for Sanders as perhaps an attempt by young women to avoid accusations of a bias toward their own gender, or as an attempt to seem more united or more likable to their male counterparts, stated, “When you’re young, you’re thinking, ‘Where are the boys?’ The boys are with Bernie.” During a Clinton rally in New Hampshire, Albright stressed the need for the younger generation’s support to continue progress toward gender equality by saying, “We can tell our story of how we climbed the ladder, and a lot of you younger women think it’s done … It’s not done. There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.”
Unsurprisingly, Albright and Steinem’s commentary wasn’t well-received by young female voters. Millennial women viewed the remarks as condescending. Young women interpreted the comments as yet another rendition of a prevalent narrative told by older generations that deems the millennial generation self-absorbed, lazy, unaware and shortsighted. The statements could be viewed as contradictory to feminist values. Feminism — at its core — stresses the importance of a woman’s ability to make her own decisions, and a woman should be able to do so without her individual agency being questioned. Additionally, whether a woman decides to vote for the only female candidate in the party certainly doesn’t provide a measure of her effectiveness as a feminist. The movement is meant to be intersectional in its practice. Therefore, it’s crucial to recognize that gender is merely one of numerous factors and experiences capable of influencing an individual’s vote. However, the reactions to Steinem’s and Albright’s remarks do highlight prevalent issues within both the political campaign process and the feminist sphere. It’s understandable why generations of older women and older female political figures are seeking solidarity among female voters. Hillary Clinton faces a unique and undoubtedly difficult situation as a woman in politics and, more importantly, as a woman whose entrance into the presidency would make history. Clinton, as a result of sexism, faces myriad obstacles that her male competitors don’t. Gender itself is an issue that arose in her first presidential bid and remains one she must carefully navigate in her present campaign. Her status as a woman, if ignored, will likely result in the public viewing her as inauthentic and unlikeable. If she tries to acknowledge her status as a woman, Clinton runs the risk of not being taken as seriously as her counterparts or of taking advantage of her gender to appeal to the female demographic. Even recently, issues arose around the topic of shouting during campaign speeches. While theatrics and shouting certainly haven’t been in short supply for either party during the campaign process, Clinton’s use of tactics that her male competitors regularly utilize is frequently interpreted by viewers as overly aggressive and off-putting. The commentary from Albright and Steinem illustrates the existence of a professional, ideological and experience-related
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Caitlin Heenan, Jeremy Kaplan, Ben Keller, Minsoo Kim, Payton Luokkala, Kit Maher, Madeline Nowicki, Anna Polumbo-Levy, Jason Rowland, Lauren Schandevel, Melissa Scholke, Kevin Sweitzer, Rebecca Tarnopol, Ashley Tjhung, Stephanie Trierweiler, Hunter Zhao gap between generations of women. Women from the older generation may have more experience with these double standards, and research proves Steinem’s point that women professionally “lose power as they age.” Younger women do need to take these factors into account, and acknowledge that they perhaps are privileged in ways their predecessors weren’t. Older generations may be eager to increase concerningly low levels of female representation in government and to further along initiatives to end inequality in a variety of realms. However, they must recognize many members of the younger generation share their aims. The older generation must also be willing to accept that the younger has its own set of experience with inequality and its own set of challenges. For older feminists, perhaps the only viable next step guaranteed to break down barriers
is to elect a woman into the White House. Yet younger voters may see alternatives to continue achieving progress. A number of younger women, in fact, claim the reason they support Sanders is because they believe his platform would be more effective for ensuring equality and economic stability. Feminism is not one-size-fits-all. Rather than further exacerbate a generational gap, perhaps the best option for female Democrats is to shift away from labels, expectations and distinctions between older and younger. Instead, voters need to direct their focus to the candidate’s stances on concrete policies. Clinton inarguably has a vast amount of beneficial executive and foreign policy experience working as the secretary of state, and has placed a large emphasis on the importance of paid family leave. Additionally, she’s argued against the Hyde Amendment. Conversely, Sander’s policies
concerning “Medicare for all” and free college tuition are appealing to a generation of women plagued by debt, disillusioned by various aspects of higher education and anxious about achieving financial stability. Over the years, I grew accustomed to hearing the idea that votes shouldn’t be swayed by political labels or allegiances to a particular party. Voters must now also be cautious of allegiances toward a particular gender or a particular age demographic. During this nomination period, voters shouldn’t place emphasis upon the gender or the superficial likability of the candidate, but rather on the candidates’ platforms and on their ability to improve conditions for all individuals and make substantial progress. In the case of this particular liberal and feminist, I’m still undecided. — Melissa Scholke can be reached at melikaye@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Wolverines fall to Maryland on road By BRAD WHIPPLE Daily Sports Editor
During the second half against Maryland on Wednesday night, Madison Ristovski gave the Michigan MICHIGAN 56 women’s MARYLAND 76 basketball team a fighting chance. With every rebound, steal and basket the senior guard made, she kept the Wolverines afloat against the sixth-ranked Terrapins, who were hungry to finally take the lead. Largely due to Ristovski’s second-quarter heroics, Michigan came out of the first half leading a top-10 opponent by one point. But the Wolverines’ strong first-half defense eventually succumbed to the pressures of an unstoppable Maryland offense. As was the case Jan. 14 against the Terrapins, Michigan allowed a few scoring droughts to get the best of it, and Maryland came out unscathed with a 76-56 win in College Park. “I thought we did a great job, obviously, in the first half of really taking Maryland out of what they normally do,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “But the No. 6 team in the country really showed why they were the No. 6 team in the country tonight with the balanced attack they had.” Michigan’s full-court press completely took Maryland for a spin in the first quarter by forcing 11 turnovers and allowing the Wolverines (7-8 Big Ten, 15-11 overall) to defensively assert their dominance. In fact, the Terrapins didn’t even score their first field goal until four minutes into the game — knocking down just two free throws two minutes prior. Unable to keep possession, Maryland (13-2, 24-3) turned the ball over at half-court twice in a row, which allowed sophomore forward Jillian Dunston to score four of Michigan’s first six points 30 seconds apart. “The scary part against Maryland with doing that is their size,” Barnes Arico said. “But we went with it anyway just to try to change that tempo, and that really was effective for us and helped us
be able to score.” The Wolverines’ defense was shining, and that helped spark good things on the offensive end. But in the second quarter, Michigan went on a 3:41 scoring drought and the Terrapins’ 10-0 run brought the game to within only one point. Ristovski didn’t let the lead slip, scoring two baskets before the drought and two to end it, and allowed her team to stay up at the half despite four lead changes in one minute. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, Maryland figured out how to fight past Michigan’s defensive pressure, which prevented the Wolverines from making the stops they needed to. This then translated into a hurried Michigan offense that went cold at the wrong times. The Wolverines went on three-and-a-half-minute scoring droughts in the third and fourth quarters, both ended by Ristovski — who finished the game with 15 points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty led the team with 17 points and scored seven of Michigan’s last 10 points. But her late-game push couldn’t chip away enough of the deficit created by a big and physical Maryland squad. “We came out (in the first half ), and we were scrapping and clawing,” Barnes Arico said. “We had a ton of hustle plays, and then we kind of got worn down. That’s kind of attributed to a bunch of things, but one is definitely Maryland. They really wore us down.” One of those other things that contributed to the Wolverines running out of gas was their eight-hour flight delay yesterday, which put the team in bed at 3:30 a.m. According to Barnes Arico, it made her “a little bit nervous” coming into the game. But she gave credit where credit was due in saying Maryland was the better team. “We want to get to (Maryland’s) level,” Barnes Arico said. “In the first half, we proved that we could hang around. Now our next step has gotta be putting together a complete game.”
Sports
Thursday, February 18, 2016 — 5A
Sophomores seek next step Wolverines return three freshman AllAmericans to power lineup in 2016 By COLE ZINGAS Daily Sports Writer
If the past is any indication, it won’t be long before we start hearing the names of Michigan baseball’s incoming freshman class in the news. Over the last three seasons — under fourth-year coach Erik Bakich — the 15th-ranked Wolverines have led the country in freshman All-Americans. Last year, Michigan’s first Big Ten Tournament-winning team since 2008 featured upperclassman leaders like pitcher Jacob Cronenworth and outfielder Jackson Glines, both now with professional organizations. But freshmen were also an integral part of the team’s success down the stretch. Bakich didn’t hesitate to use sophomore third baseman Jake Bivens right away last season, and Bivens exceeded everyone’s expectations. En route to being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Bivens started 62 out of the Wolverines’ 63 games in his first year. With the exception of Grant Reuss, a lefty who redshirted last year, every freshman played a large role on the team in 2015. Right-handed pitchers Ryan Nutof and Bryan Pall joined Bivens on the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team, and the other freshman pitchers — right-handers Jayce Vancena and left-handers Oliver Jaskie
and Michael Hendrickson — all appeared in 19 or more games and combined for a 4.57 ERA. Infielder/catcher Drew Lugbauer also stepped up as a freshman, seeing action in 42 games. His batting average was just .211, but that was in part due to many hard-hit outs and balls that didn’t quite carry in deep parks. Bakich spoke positively of how Lugbauer handled the adversity, and said despite what the stat line showed, Lugbauer put in many quality at-bats for the Wolverines. “There was a time when he was trying to do too much, and was overly aggressive at some pitches he should’ve laid off,” Bakich said. “But that was because he wanted it so bad.” The freshmen last year are now sophomores looking to make even bigger contributions. Having contributed so heavily to Michigan’s run into the NCAA regional, the class is now ready to move into bigger roles to help this year’s squad achieve even more. “Being able to experience that as a freshman adds some fuel to the fire,” said Lugbauer. “We got that under our belt, and now there is so much more to accomplish.” Bakich says Lugbauer will be a regular part of the middle of the lineup this year and will rotate positions between catcher, first base and third base. Bivens, meanwhile, will move into the leadoff spot in the batting order, and Reuss has worked on his command and will take on a sizable role in the pitching staff. Not only has the class of 2018 improved its game on the field
By ORION SANG Daily Sports Writer
Adjusting to college and life away from home is difficult for all students — even athletes. Even freshman Mackenzie Nemitz, whose sister Nikki was an All-American pitcher at Michigan, felt intimidated. But the No. 2 Michigan softball team has something in place to combat those feelings of loneliness and homesickness. It’s called the “backside” program, and it has been around for years. The program involves an upperclassman taking a freshman teammate under her wing. Michigan coach Carol Hutchins likens it to having an older or younger sister. “We want to make sure (freshmen) have a big sister to mentor them and to help them through,” Hutchins said. “We named it the ‘backside’ at one point because it’s somebody who always has your back, and makes sure that you’re pushing yourself when you need to. “When you’re having a tough time, they’re there to encourage you. More than anything, its largest intent was to make sure the young kids have somebody that’s looking over their shoulder.” At the annual team picnic, the older players are assigned an incoming freshman as their mentee. From that point on, it’s up to the older player to introduce herself to the freshman when they arrive on campus and form a friendship. Players will check in with their “backsides” every so often, hang out and generally bond with each other. It’s a surefire way to develop
team chemistry and create lasting relationships. Nemitz’s backside is senior outfielder and captain Olivia Richvalsky. “When I got here, having a backside that was an upperclassman made me feel like someone (had) my back even though I (had) no idea what was going on,” Richvalsky said. “Now I feel accountable for one of the younger girls on our team and that’s really cool.” The two formed a connection quickly, hanging out as soon as Nemitz arrived in Ann Arbor, and have maintained that friendship throughout the year. “She immediately became my older sister,” Nemitz said. “She took me to her house. We made cookies, did sisterly things and she made me really feel welcome on the team, especially coming in as a freshman. I felt like a part of the team very quickly. “She checks in on me almost every day. Like a text, ‘Hey, hope you had a good day, see you at practice later.’ She’s really someone that I can go to whenever I’m feeling down or have a question about anything. It’s continued.” Establishing team chemistry is important for a team that has seven freshmen, including four who played during Michigan’s first tournament of the year, and the Wolverines appear to have done just that with the backside program. “Backsides are the people you call when you need something quick, you don’t know what to do or want someone to hang out with,” Richvalsky said before laughing. “They have to. They’re your backside.”
this offseason, but they have also established chemistry off the field that will help them as they kick off the season in Florida this weekend. “We have a really close, close class,” Bivens said. “I’m grateful that (the other sophomores) are my best friends.” Added Bakich: “The chemistry on this team is the best I’ve seen. The talent that we have in the locker room is better than what we have on the field. And we’ve got some pretty talented guys on the field.” A tight-knit Michigan will hope to bring this year’s
Classifieds
SOFTBALL
‘Backside’ program helps ‘M’ freshmen
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Drew Lugbauer played in 42 games last season and returns as a sophomore.
RELEASE DATE– Thursday, February 18, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 “Pay attention!” (Ford) 6 Time for new growth: Abbr. 9 Minute Maid Park player (Chevy) 14 Select group 15 Eastern ideal 16 Absolute 17 Summer Olympics competitor 18 Symmetrically placed Monopoly sqs. 19 Bambino’s parent 20 Musical narrated by Che 21 Squeeze (out) 22 Cosmetician Adrien 23 Info-gathering mission 24 Entanglement 25 Guffaw evokers 26 Way up the mountain 29 Slowpokes 33 1945 battle setting, familiarly 34 “Macbeth” witches, e.g. 38 Car mishaps that occur at this puzzle’s four circles 41 Jabbers 42 Lip-reading alternative: Abbr. 43 Subtlety 44 Writer who used his actual middle name as a pen name 46 Venomous snake (Dodge) 50 Place for a key: Abbr. 51 Atlas, for one (Nissan) 56 Pianist known for his Beethoven interpretations 57 Most preferred, in texts 58 RollerCoaster Tycoon World publisher 59 Pope after John X 60 Seine sight 61 Can’t be beaten
62 Not yet up 63 Yalie 64 Calf-roping loop 65 Monopoly stack 66 67-Acr. has one 67 Show contempt
32 Connections 34 Familia member 35 Harry’s Hogwarts cohort 36 Firm ending? 37 Verb ending 39 Hardens into bone 40 Keeps up 44 Ancient Celtic priests 45 Present to the public
46 Well-founded 47 Adler of Sherlock Holmes lore 48 Space explorer (Ford) 49 Like many roofs 52 “Challenge accepted!” 53 Western skiing mecca (Chevy) 54 Got up 55 Gunpowder ingredient
DOWN 1 Sound mixing control 2 Bar staple 3 Type of pride (Honda) 4 Be of __: help 5 Suppress ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 6 Scattered 7 Subject to ticketing 8 NCAA’s “Granddaddy of them all” 9 Capital of Eritrea 10 Lewis with Lamb Chop 11 Beat (Ford) 12 Convened again 13 Educational hurdles 27 Prize for a picture 28 Beef cuts 29 Rooting place 30 Larry O’Brien Trophy org. 31 “Fine with me!” 02/18/16 xwordeditor@aol.com
freshman class into the mix on a team with 19 returning letterwinners, hoping they can have the same kind of impact first-year players have had in previous years. Freshman Ako Thomas will be starting at second base Friday against Canisius. Freshman infielder Jimmy Kerr and freshman outfielder Jonathon Engelmann are expected to make early-season contributions as well. For this class, there are high expectations, and they will be hoping to replicate the success of their predecessors.
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Sports
6A — Thursday, February 18, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Marody on the way back from illness By KEVIN SANTO Daily Sports Writer
As the Michigan hockey team left the rink at the conclusion of its practice Wednesday, another team took the ice — Ann Arbor Skyline High School. The Eagles had a game that afternoon, but before they suited up, some players and coaches took pictures on the edge of the rink. Little did they know that they would get a short speech from Michigan freshman forward Cooper Marody. “I asked them if they’re JV or varsity,” Marody said. “And I told them I played JV my freshman year, so don’t feel like you’re not going to be able to make it.” Earlier this year, it was clear Marody had made it himself. He wasn’t just another player on the roster. He was centering the third line and had a hot start to the season that landed him first on the team in points. Though he cooled off, Marody’s 14 points are still good for 10th on the team, and he is just eight points short of jumping to fourth — behind the line of freshman forward Kyle Connor and junior forwards Tyler Motte and JT Compher — in that ranking. And to the freshman forward, much of his early success stems from his own ice back home in Brighton, Mich. Roughly six years ago, Marody’s father built a rink in the family’s backyard at home. Now that Marody is in Ann Arbor, the ice time has been passed down to his little brother. But that doesn’t mean he has forgotten the days of skating alone in his own backyard arena. “That (rink) is what took me to a new level ... being out there every day, gaining the confidence,” Marody said. “I worked on my hands a lot there, worked on a lot of skills. That’s how I’ve been able to be
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Freshman forward Cooper Marody was off to a blazing start to the season before mononucleosis sidelined him. He could return to game action this weekend.
successful at the higher levels.” But in the middle of January, Marody’s success was quickly put on hold when he was diagnosed with mononucleosis. The freshman has been forced to sit every game since the Wolverines’ 8-6 win against Ohio State on Jan. 17. Naturally, the nearly monthlong waiting period to get back on the ice was frustrating for Marody. As if being sidelined wasn’t disappointing enough, missing out on Michigan’s stellar performances in trademark venues made the experience even worse. In back-to-back weekends, Marody was forced to watch from home as the Wolverines played Penn State in Madison Square Garden and Michigan State in Joe Louis Arena in the
“Duel in the D.” Those aren’t experiences that come around very often. He was stuck on the outside looking in, as Michigan continued to build a case for being one of the most historic offenses in the past decade of college hockey — scoring 32 goals in the seven games he missed. Despite his frustration, the time away from the ice may have been a blessing in disguise for Marody. “Everything happens for a reason — nothing you can do about it besides coming back
“When you do something every day, you lose ... how special it is.”
Fouls lead to trouble By KELLY HALL Daily Sports Editor
Just 12:50 into the first half Tuesday at Ohio State, Michigan sophomore guard MuhammadAli Abdur-Rahkman committed his second foul on guard JaQuan Lyle, who drove to the net for a layup. As Lyle sank his free throw — one of Ohio State’s 17 during the game — junior guard Andrew Dakich replaced AbdurRahkman, who headed to the bench for the rest of the half. Abdur-Rahkman has proven to be a sparkplug on the road in senior guard Caris LeVert’s absence, scoring 15 and 16 points against Penn State and Minnesota, respectively, in the two away games leading up to the matchup with the Buckeyes. Though Michigan was trailing by eight points, Beilein benched him. Ohio State (9-5 Big Ten, 17-10 overall) headed into the locker room at halftime with an eight-point lead and never relinquished its lead thereafter. The second half didn’t get any better for the Wolverines (9-5, 19-8), and the Buckeyes cruised to a 76-66 victory. After the game, Beilein said he was very tempted to break his two-foul benching rule, but he stuck by it. “But again, (the margin) was like two or three points with two minutes to go,” Beilein said. “There’s no reason to say, ‘OK, the sky is falling.’ And then they scored the last five points to make it an eight-point game. “So you’re not going to put a guy in there with a minute left to go with two fouls on him. I don’t think that was a big difference. I’ll do it if I think the game is getting out of control. I didn’t think it was with two minutes to go (until halftime). I thought we were right there, and they scored the last two times, and we didn’t.” Michigan continued to make detrimental mistakes, committing 14 fouls in the second half. For a team that gives 15.7 fouls per game — the eighthfewest in the country — 14 in one half is unusual.
stronger,” Marody said. “When you do something every day, you kind of lose how cool it is and how special it is. I think I gained that back, and that’s what has allowed me to be so successful in the past, to put that extra passion (into my game).” Then there’s the music — another area into which he has put extra passion during his time away. For most people, being sick with mononucleosis gives you a whole lot of time to sit around doing nothing. While there was some of that
BASEBALL
Bakich focuses on gratitude for Michigan’s support staff Fourth-year coach has success with staff he brought from Maryland By SYLVANNA GROSS Daily Sports Writer
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman found himself in foul trouble on Tuesday.
Three Wolverines, including Abdur-Rahkman, ended the night with four fouls each, and they barely escaped the game without a player fouling out. Michigan is the only team left in the country that hasn’t lost a player to disqualification. Junior forward Mark Donnal, who flirted with the mark against Purdue and Minnesota, avoided the bug against Ohio State and ended up leading Michigan with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting. When asked about defending down low, where the Buckeyes outscored the Wolverines, 38-28, Donnal said Michigan needs to improve on getting into position. “A few times, we got too low, and when the offense gets into position like that, it’s tough to stop the run to the basket,” Donnal said. “We just have to do a better job of staying locked in defensively.” Ohio State shared the ball well, leading to a balanced offense with five players scoring in double digits, partially because Michigan couldn’t find
an effective defense. Man-toman defense seemed to lead to the most problems, allowing the Buckeyes to draw fouls. Michigan committed six fouls in the first five minutes of the second half, including two from sophomore forward Aubrey Dawkins in a four-second span. More fouls often equate to more playing time for the bench, and in this case, the substitutions didn’t help Michigan much. The Buckeyes outscored the Wolverines in bench points, 20-9. The largest deficit was 14 points with 12:08 remaining in the second half, just moments after Ohio State reached the bonus with its seventh foul. Michigan seemed to chalk up the loss to a mix of fatigue and an emotional rollercoaster of a week, with a win at Minnesota and a victory over then-No. 18 Purdue at home. Regardless, the Wolverines were out of sorts, and it was noticeable. “We just gotta bring it every game,” Donnal said. “We had a chip on our shoulder for the game at Purdue, and unfortunately, we just didn’t bring it tonight.”
for Marody, he also put a lot of time into schoolwork and playing the guitar, something he taught himself to do. And Sunday, he took it to the next level by starting to write his own song. By Marody’s estimation, it took him just 30 minutes to write, and yesterday, he produced the final product — tweeting the YouTube link to the acoustic song. Now, his Michigan teammates are just wondering which one of them will get a role in the next performance. “A lot of the guys have made jokes about getting featured, doing a little bit of background singing,” Marody said. “I think Boo would be good to incorporate a little bit of drumming in there, because he’s a big-time drummer. I don’t know about any background
singing, but I think Boo would be good for drums.” Coming down with mononucleosis also gave Marody a unique opportunity to take an extended period of time to learn from watching his teammates — specifically JT Compher. Compher is about as close as Marody can get to a perfect example on the Wolverines’ roster. The junior captain centers the first line, as Marody did on the third, and is second on the team in points with 43, good for third in the country. That’s without mentioning that Compher is ranked second nationally in assists, trailing leader Tyler Kelleher by just two. But despite all of Compher’s eye-popping numbers that are largely a product of his finesse game, that’s not what stands out the most to Marody. “He’s just a really smart player in the first place,” Marody said. “I think what really separates him is his grittiness and ability to stay on guys, win the little battles in the corners, all the things like that around the zone. He’s just relentless all around the ice, and I think I really want to implement that in my game.” With Marody set to return to game action soon, potentially the non-conference game against Ferris State on Friday, taking what he has learned and translating it into results is a likely possibility. Even with an illness, Marody has made the most of every minute off the ice as he did on it. And while he missed the celebrity-like thrill of playing in the Joe or the “World’s Most Famous Arena,” maybe that will bode well for Michigan. Because the next time Marody steps in front of crowd at Yost Ice Arena, don’t be surprised if you see someone playing with the passion of a kid in his ice rink back home.
At the Michigan baseball team’s banquet Friday, Michigan head coach Erik Bakich spent 45 minutes introducing his entire staff. Everyone, from the groundskeepers to the nutritionist to the parents to the student managers, was personally thanked. Bakich is in his fourth season at the helm of the program, aided by assistant coaches Sean Kenny and Nick Schnabel and volunteer assistant coach Aaron Etchison. “(The coaches) made it a precedent to make a structural foundation for a new program at Michigan,” said senior lefthander Evan Hill. “One that doesn’t only look at the aspects of baseball, but it looks at the aspects of life and for us as men. One thing that I appreciate in my time here is that I’ve become a better man. I’ve developed a lot. And, more specifically, I’m excited about the relationships I’ve built and know that they’ll be lasting ones.” Sophomore infielder Jake Bivens, who received several preseason accolades after his impressive freshman year, also felt the coaching staff was helpful — especially by relieving pressure that preseason expectations brought on. “We have a really talented team,” Bivens said. “So that takes the pressure off of (individual players) and allows us to not play out of our comfort zone and our abilities. The team and coaching staff prepared us well for any accolades. We know any individual accolade is a team accolade.” In 2014, Bakich’s first year, the team had a total of 29 wins and
a 14-10 record in the Big Ten — good enough to tie for fifth place. The second year of Bakich’s reign saw the team win 30 games, finishing in a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten. In the 2015 season, the Wolverines continued their upward trend and then some, finishing with 39 wins and placed second in the NCAA Louisville Regional after winning the Big Ten Tournament. Bakich is also the youngest head baseball coach in the conference. “We live in a gratitude zone,” Bakich said. “(The players) say simple ‘thank yous’ all the time, just like they should. (The staffers) sometimes have a job that could be thankless, but our team — this team — is very appreciative.” Adding on to the lengthy speech, Bakich then spent another 10 minutes on his coaching staff. He, along with Etchison and pitching coach Kenny, came to Michigan from the University of Maryland. Etchison was a former catcher and Kenny served as the pitching coach. “(Etchison) is an outstanding player, and now has become an outstanding leader,” Bakich said. “He’s destined for greatness.” Kenny, an Ann Arbor native, followed Bakich’s trend of improving the team significantly each year. In 2014, the pitching staff finished third in the league, but in 2015, Kenny led the team to second in the Big Ten with 513 strikeouts. “He’s the best at coaching (pitchers) in the country,” Bakich said. “That’s not just my biased opinion. There’s a lot of people who think he’s in an elite group of pitching. Other programs around the country have tried to steal this guy, but
Michigan — so he’s said — is the big leagues. We’re so lucky to have his talents and to have the type of person he is on our staff.” The final coach, Schnabel, might not have traveled to Ann Arbor from College Park, but he was a teammate of Bakich at East Carolina in the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Schnabel, like the others, contributes to the team’s success. In his first year as recruiting coordinator, he was credited with the 20th-best recruiting class in the nation. But it was 32 Michigan players who won the 2015 Big Ten Tournament. It was the athletes who walked out of the bullpen and onto the diamond. It was thensophomore left-hander Brett Adcock who struck out four batters and allowed two hits and a run in five innings. It was his classmate, infielder Johnny Slater, who had two hits, out of the team’s four total, against Maryland. And it was then-junior Jacob Cronenworth who closed out his fourth straight game, pushing the Wolverines to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008. But nobody, especially the players, forgot the coaching staff that got them there. When the players walk onto the field Friday for their season opener, all eyes will be on them. But the athletes’ eyes, when they’re not staring down a 90-mph fastball, will be on their coaches.
“(The players) say simple ‘thank yous’ all the time.”
The Michigan baseball season starts Friday Check MichiganDaily.com throughout the season
the b-side B
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | Thursday, February 18, 2016
THE COFFEE ISSUE By Caroline Filips Senior Arts Editor
MAZIE HYNES/Daily
“The voodoo priest and all his powders were as nothing compared to espresso, cappuccino, and mocha, which are stronger than all the religions of the world combined, and perhaps stronger than the human soul itself.” — Mark Helprin, “Memoir from Antproof Case” (1995) Thanks be to coffee, the sweet life-sustaining stimulant. Wherever the coffee lover falls on the spectrum — addict, health-freak or simply in it for the cat cafés — from cold brews to cortados, there is no beverage more ubiquitous or more versatile. The cornerstone of cafés elevates spirits and tiramisu, enables the nocturnal writer, electrifies the early bird and even gives the fidgeter something to do with their hands on a first date. If there’s anything Ann Arborites love more than a Zingerman’s sandwich or football Saturdays, it’s coffee. Yet attempting to navigate the murky waters of Tree Town’s coffee culture is no easy feat. There’s a corporate chain lurking around most major street corners, a few hometown hotspots and plenty of studentridden dives; and then there’s Mighty Good Coffee, with three locations scattered throughout the city. Thanks be to coffee, but first, thanks be to goats. 850 C.E.: Legend has it that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia by a goat herder named Kaldi. Following a berry bush snack break, his herd was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as ever and he wanted in on the bliss. After sampling some berries, Kaldi, too, took a turn for the chipper. He then prescribed his energizing remedy to a narcoleptic monk who often dozed off during services. The monk got creative, brewing the berries into liquid form and soon swore by their pious properties. Word travelled fast, and the caffeinated creation quickly became a staple for the devout and pagan alike … and so it remains. 2006: Commercial photogra-
pher David Myers is searching for a break from his day-to-day life. After brainstorming a new career path and rekindling with a friend who had failed in his coffee venture, Myers finally decides to pursue the business of beans and brews. He purchases all of his friend’s equipment and begins roasting part time, eventually constructing a small starter café on Main Street in 2009. They soon outgrow the compact coffeehouse and decide to relocate to an open space just down the street. Fast forward a year, and Mighty Good Coffee is born. Last week I strolled into the eclectic café’s Main Street location to talk all things really good and caffeinated with Myers. As current co-owner, a title he shares with longtime friend Jim Levinsohn, Myers spends most of his days focused on the coffee itself — where to buy and from whom. The Mighty Good philosophy is simple: sourcing quality coffee from people they’ve met and farms they’ve stood on. “The cool thing about coffee is that I can talk to the person who’s growing the coffee,” Myers said. “I can talk to the person who’s drinking that same coffee, and everyone in between. It’s about the chain of people connected in the coffee industry, and that’s a worldwide connection of people.” During his most recent business trip, Myers and a barista travelled to Columbia and visited 11 farms over a few days. The duo toured farms by Jeep, foot and even horseback for an inside look at coffee production. “We go walk on farms and see how they’re producing and what their coffee tastes like,” Myers said. “We rely on trust when we buy our coffee.” All of Mighty Good’s Columbian coffee is purchased from a partnership mill — an alliance between a U.S. company and a Columbian family — in the city of Hardin. According to Myers, the mill buys the best coffee from surrounding farms in the area.
Along with the ever-popular Columbian brews, the café sources a majority of the beans from Guatemala and Sumatra. “I spend a lot of time interacting and meeting with people from the broader coffee community around the U.S. and internationally because that’s what coffee does, and it’s more unique than a lot of other industries,” Myers said. Two to three times per year, Myers attends events hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) where he educates newbies and connoisseurs alike on the craft. This April he’s set to teach roasting classes at the Atlanta, Ga. convention. Myers also routinely attends Barista Camps — events hosted four times per year, during which baristas from around the country exchange tricks of the trade. “It’s just a collection of people driven to improve their craft,” Myers said. “Everyone from beginners driven to open coffee shops, or those sent by their companies.” Along with fostering national and international relationships within the coffee community, the café also maintains a focus on local involvement. Mighty Good was approached by both Blank Slate Creamery and the Ann Arbor Distillery, which are now its current collaborators — their brew gives Blank Slate’s coffee ice cream its essential flavor and their cold brew is crucial to the distillery’s coffee liqueur. Special collaborations within the city are Myers’s preferred projects. “We focus on what we do and the law of attraction seems to work in our favor,” Myers said. “You can get a great cup of coffee in a lot of places in Ann Arbor and a lot of places around the country, but it’s about what kind of community we build and how we interact with our community that I think really drives what we are about.” See COFFEE, Page 2B
the b-side
2B — Thursday, February 18, 2016
COFFEE From Page 1B Though Myers refrains from any sort of push-marketing, assuring me he’ll never “be out on Ann Arbor street-corners blowing the Mighty Good horn,” the coffee shop is wildly popular — particularly for its brown sugar sea salt latte, an original creation. “We came up with it four or five years ago,” Myers said. “It’s probably the most successful drink we’ve ever come up with. We make that all from scratch; everything we make here is from scratch.” Among their scratch creations are slow jams, butters and apple compote. Other gourmet innovations include their unique adaptations of nitro cold brew and continually trending toast bars — my personal recommendation is the brie and apple compote toast; upon first bite I was weak, in love, crying, etc. “I’d been looking at toast bars for a long time, ever since I started reading about them in San Francisco,” Myers said. “We started it here maybe a year or two ago and it was slow to pick up, but it’s really popular now.” Mighty Good aims to provide as many local ingredients as possible. Bread and Sunday pastries come from Detroit’s Avalon Bakery, Tasty Bakery provides gluten-free treats and the Pastry Peddler supplies their beloved baked goods. Despite offering a diverse food menu, Myers regards the noms as secondary to the coffee.
“We’re careful not to dilute that we’re a coffee shop and that food has to complement that, not be who we become,” he said. During the coffee shop’s infancy and original menu development, they offered only brewed coffee and flavorless lattes. Myers refers to the sparse drink menu days as the cafe’s “purist track.” Eventually, a barista mixed flavors from scratch on her own time and assembled a book of her creations. She presented her ideas to Myers, the staff chose five of them to sample and eventually narrowed it down to a few, which remain behind the bar. “Any development is the work of collective intelligence,” Myers said. “It’s a way better way to work when everyone’s involved.” The team-inclusive menu amendments typically occur with the changing of the seasons. The honey lavender latte, for example, was a springtime addition. “At the end of the day, we’re coffee snobs to ourselves, but not to our customers,” Myers said. Besides the fueling function of caffeine, Myers stays motivated by the creativity of the coffee industry, one that harkens back his memories of art school. He missed the artistic craftsmanship that once seemed a relic of a bygone era, but rediscovered it through the medium of coffee. “When I was in art school I was doing hands-on craftwork,” Myers said. “Computers took over and digital art took
over. The pace of everything compressed, so your output was more important than the craft of what you were doing and I missed that. This is more like what I went to art school for — it’s a craft business.” But when he was plotting a career shift 10 years ago, Myers couldn’t foresee Mighty Good’s trajectory. What were once spreadsheet business goals as part of a 10-year plan quickly became realities within a few years. “Ten years ago I wasn’t thinking about any of this, I was just figuring out how to start a business that could turn into something,” he said. “Now that I have an opportunity to do something for the people who work here and people in the community. Now it’s, like, how can I create stable jobs for people? How can I maintain our core business and not screw that up? How can I do more community involvement?” When he’s not pondering Mighty Good’s progress or future projects, Myers makes a point to stop in the Main Street shop whenever he can — occasionally making himself a specialty drink or sipping black coffee, his drink of choice. During my visit on Valentine’s Day, he was waiting on a heartetched latte to Instagram. Maybe it was his passion for the work talking, or the fact that his wife was working alongside him that day, but Myers divulged the best way to take your coffee. “Just sharing it with someone. That’s a fantastic way to drink coffee every day.”
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
Up and coming Evan Blum worth a listen By CATHERINE BAKER Daily Arts Writer
For me, 2016 is the year of the singer/songwriters. After spending most of the last few months listening to “Hamilton” on repeat (allowing for a small break to learn all the words to Adele’s 25, of course), I have missed many of the major musical movements. (Try saying that five times fast.) Now that I am emerging from my Lin-Manuel Miranda-induced haze, I finally have ears for something other than “Satisfied” and “Aaron Burr, Sir.” At the forefront of this new movement in my life is Evan Blum. While there’s very little available information on Blum himself, I know he has very few Spotify followers, no website other than his YouTube homepage and no active Twitter to speak of. His musical style ranges from acoustic to electronica, yet remains extremely self-reflective and lyric-based without sounding overdone. Blum’s debut album, Cloudy Head, was released in 2015 and contains seven songs, each of which utilize their own style and genre to create a diverse, yet cohesive lineup. Opening with “Everyone’s Got a Story,” Blum channels his inner-Mat Kearney with echoing vocals and a rap
verse that criticizes society’s perceptions of people. Blum is aware of other’s struggles and notes that, “I cannot judge when I know so little.” It is a reminder that even in a divisive and judgmental culture, it is important to be cognizant of everyone’s difficulties. “Two Girls” is a steady, guitarbased song with a heavy bass. No major swells make it either boring or soothing depending on your perspective, but the searching and questioning lyrics, “What about all the plans we made together?” hope to find a lost love. Switching gears, “See Where It Goes” starts with featured artist Katherine Eva ethereally vocalizing before bringing in elements of light electronica such as synthetically produced sounds. Eva and Blum’s harmonies are light and airy, asking again, “Is it too soon? / Is it too fast? / Is it too much? / Can we make it last?” “Growing Up” brings back the electronic vibes again and soothes the previous song’s questions, reassuring that as we grow older some things will change and some will not. Blum sings, “Baby, baby, tell me it’s alright / We’re gonna be okay.” Bringing out a heavier beat, Latin-flared guitar and quick syncopation, “Down to Your Street” is seductive and quick-witted with echo-
ing and smooth vocals crooning, “Baby, it’s simple / Roll down the window / Crank up the bass real loud.” The first song of Blum’s I listened to, and also my favorite from the album, was “Somebody.” Reminiscent of Andy Grammer, the recurring, simple piano tune and internal rhymes only serve to emphasize Blum’s talent as a songwriter. It brings the story Cloudy Head has been telling to a close, urging someone to “Tell her that I love her / Tell her that I need her tonight.” The closing song, “Someone for Sam” describes a man named Sam by listing his characteristics, but in doing so, creates a persona that we can all relate to. The final lyrics are poignant and intrinsically reflective, musing, “I heard there’s a fish in the sea for everyone / Just swimming around feeling sad and blue / But if those fish only knew / Sam feels lonely too.” Evan Blum may be an unknown singer/songwriter, but the universality of emotions and situations described throughout Cloudy Head allow everyone to take a piece of the music with them. Jam-packed in just seven songs, Blum does what many struggle to do in half the time — he connects with his listeners and sends them away changed.
EPISODE REVIEW Now in season 41, “Saturday Night Live” is like your cool old grandpa: sometimes cringeworthy, but ultimately still kicking and keeping up A with the kids. On this SNL week’s Season 41, episode, Episode 13 hosted by Melissa Saturdays at McCarthy 11:30 p.m. (promoting her new NBC movie, “The Boss”) and rapper Kanye West, the highlight of the show was the spoof movie trailer called “The Day Beyoncé Turned Black.” Created in response to last week’s media uproar about Beyoncé’s music
video for “Formation” — the video hints at police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement — the “SNL” trailer mocks “the day white people never saw coming,” as if Beyoncé’s race revelation is a disaster movie. There’s fire in the streets, cubicles collapsing and an office worker crying in agony, “I got a hot sauce in my bag, swag ... What does that mean?” (It means that everyone should seriously settle down about Queen Bey’s artistic choices.) Keeping up the theme of music superstars, another pitch-perfect skit was “Kyle v. Kanye,” where Kyle Mooney of “SNL” challenges Kanye to a rap battle. Mooney is serious about it, too — he tells a dramatic backstory of his dream to be the best rapper alive, rather
than just a “heartthrob on the rise” — and if he can out-rap Kanye, his dreams will come true. Unfortunately, Mooney’s best rhyme is “Kanye West, you need a mint for your Kanye breath,” and Kanye crushes him. But like most “SNL” skits, the humor’s in miscommunication: after their showdown, Mooney confesses, “That was the biggest mistake of my life ... I just destroyed Kanye in a rap battle and now he’s probably really sad.” Onstage, McCarthy’s monologue was forgettable, but Leslie Jones slayed Weekend Update by describing her perfect valentine, giving hope to picky singles everywhere. Cheers to love, rap and Queen Bey. - HAILEY MIDDLEBROOK
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW
Flournoy at UMMA By MERIN MCDIVITT Daily Arts Writer
Angela Flournoy writes about topics ranging from haunted houses and real estate prices to the Great Angela Migration and notFlournoy so-great Reads “The marriages. While not Turner everything House” in her novel, “The Turner Thurs. Feb. 18 House,” may at 5:30 p.m. be familiar UMMA Helmut to readers at Stern Audithe University of Mich- torium igan, most of Free it probably should be. After all, it takes place just down the freeway, weaving in and out of Detroit and its suburbs and finding a home on the fictional Yarrow Street. The up-and-coming young writer will read from her debut novel at 5:30 p.m. Thursday as part of the Zell Writers Series at UMMA’s Helmut Stern Auditorium. Following her talk, she will be available to sign copies of the book, which emerged as an instant classic in 2015. Heralded by major literary and news sources as one of the most promising new novelists of her day, Flournoy tells the story of 20th-century Detroit through the lens of the Turner family and their ups and downs — mirroring the city’s convulsions, shifts and changes. As the state of Detroit has become more of a national issue, the facts and figures of urban decay in the city have
become familiar, cited in everything from documentary films to political debates. “There’s value in ‘macro’ kind of analysis because that’s how you find about trends and how things are happening on a large scale,” Flournoy said in a recent interview with The Michigan Daily. But this singular focus left the human element out of the narrative completely. “Most of it was non-fiction,” she said. “So it was like, ‘This is how many people lived here in 1947, how many people were here in 1978, etc.’ ” Putting faces and relatable stories to the city’s decline was something Flournoy hoped would bring Detroit home for her readers. “I read those books, and it was useful. But what was more useful was to imagine, ‘What does it actually feel like?’ ” she said. “The value of fiction is that it can make numbers come to life, because if you focus on the very, very particular of individual people, you really look at something from the inside out.” Flournoy’s extensive research and intuitive understanding of the city’s varied perspectives enriches her writing. But so did her point of view as an outsider. She grew up in Los Angeles, a city with some of the same strengths and problems, but also a very different atmosphere than the Motor City. “For me, it was actually really exciting to write about a place that I had not lived, but that I had some experience with,” she said. “I think that for writers sometimes, the thing that is closest to your own experience is the thing that you don’t really have the right perspective to
write about because you want to be loyal to what really happened. You have to figure out something that you’re familiar with, that you have an understanding of, but where there’s room to still explore and discover new things.” As Flournoy’s work spans decades of American history, her life now zigzags the country as book tours, family and work pull her in different directions. The LA native teaches in New York City at Columbia University and The New School, when she’s not meeting fans of “The Turner House” all over the United States. What little free time she has is devoted to writing, a schedule that she finds challenging and inspiring at the same time. “I actually think that the busier I am, the more excited I am to write,” Flournoy said. “Then the next part of that puzzle, though, is actually finding the time. But I am slowly putting together the ideas, and some early, early pages of something new.” New work and research will undoubtedly pull her into yet another community, capturing its sense of place and individual details with razor-sharp insight. But Flournoy will always keep a little space for Detroit, the inspiration for the novel that launched her career. Some Detroiters seem to think she’ll keep that inspiration, too. “The most rewarding part of the process is, especially when I’m in Detroit, and I hear people say, ‘This is a book that feels like Detroit,’” she said. “That’s really your goal as a fiction writer ... that’s what you’re trying to do.”
KANYE WEEK
GOOD MUSIC
“Worst bar mitzvah ever.”
Kanye at my mitzvah By JOEY SCHUMAN For the Daily
It’s not that ridiculous to label Kanye West as the best musician ever. His creative potential knows no boundaries, his flow knows no hesitation and his ego knows no flaws. His status seems bulletproof. But in honor of the release of The Life of Pablo, his seventh solo studio album, it seems appropriate to take a look at a crucial, uninvestigated issue: just how playable is Kanye at bar/bat mitzvahs? We know Kanye can hold the summer down, but can he hold down the basement of the local Doubletree hotel on Saturday nights from 6:30-10:30? Let’s speculate. Any bar mitzvah vet knows the night starts off with some speeches from friends. No doubt the spotlight is on the bar mitzvee during this time, but at least a little background music is needed to distract from the revolving panel of pre-pubescent hypes. Enter “Runaway,” off Kanye’s 2010 masterpiece, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Now’s the time to forget all those bro fights over the Xbox — all douchebags, assholes and scumbags are forgiven here. Introspective, apologetic and triumphant, the record perfectly encapsulates the emotions of the made-for-Insta moment. After a routine game of “Coke & Pepsi,” it’s time for the grand entrance. And is there any better soundtrack for the moment than “Touch the Sky?” The schmoozing is over, the Torah has been read
and the challah has been blessed. This moment calls for self-admiration, and ’Ye’s 2005 hit serves as the ultimate mazel tov. Now it’s time for the real party to start, which is where it gets tricky. Kanye has bonafide bangers, there’s no doubt about that, but what the party needs most are kid-friendly bangers, the type of banger you’d feel comfortable playing with your Rabbi in attendance. This methodology eliminates “Blood on the Leaves” (lots of Molly references) and “N****s in Paris” (self-explanatory), thus spurring a fallback to more appropriate classics such as “Stronger” and “Gold Digger.” In a room with such a broad range of personality, time-tested jams prove both versatile and nostalgic. The adults want to turn up as well, and during the kids’ dinner break “Slow Jamz” seems like the perfect answer to that. The song, with its soulful tone and references to Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross and Anita Baker, is most likely to resonate most with the 40-and-over crowd. It’s really just a desperate grasp to play classic-sounding shit in the hopes that old people like it. Soon, everyone realizes that old people can’t really dance, the catered chicken nuggets are way too rubbery, the seating arrangement is pretty awkward and the seventh graders are way too hormonal to be dealing with any of this. Besides, is anyone feeling the love? It’s time for the Snowball, and one overly-Old Spiced
bar mitzvah boy is ready to make his first pick, something that he totally hasn’t been thinking about for weeks. Cue up “Devil in a New Dress” to set the mood. For everything the dude is too awkward to say, Kanye is there: “Put your hands to the constellations / the way you look should be a sin, you my sensation.” ’Ye inserts a bit of romanticism into a situation that clearly needs it. He plays matchmaker with his intimate bars. Who knows? If the lucky lady is Jewish, she could be a keeper. Enough with the young love, though. The first notes of “Hava Nagila” ring out, and that means it’s time for the Horah, a Jewish dance traditionally done during joyous times. When it’s time for bar mitzvah boy to be hoisted, “Celebration,” a fun jam off Late Registration (2005) takes over the speakers. Mr. West knows how to set the mood, and this one is of regality and commemoration. Grab a drink, grab a glass of Manischewitz. Everyone in attendance needs to know what this is. It’s a celebration, bitches. Following all of the mishigas, the giveaway is distributed and regular sweatpants appear to be the move over joggers. Such a disappointment is the most tangible evidence to all fuccbois in attendance that it’s time to go home. “I Am a God” plays on the way out. Rites of passage! Emotions! Yeezus! His divine influence transcends religion. His holy music defies traditional strictures. L’chaim, indeed.
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, February 18, 2016 — 3B
An ode to coffee An intriguing version COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW
The nectar of the gods is my life, and I’m fine with it By SELENA AGUILERA Daily Arts Writer
You know that feeling of excitement you get when the month of September strikes, and Pumpkin Spice everything finally comes out, and all you can do is sigh in sweet relief because that beautiful nectar of the gods is about to touch your lips? And then your taste buds wake up to the fact that school is starting again and the fact that another year of your life is coming to a close gets washed away because the only thought in your head at that specific moment is: “Hell frickin’ yes. I’ve waited so long. TYBG.” And the smooth warm coffee travels down your throat and almost gives you a sense of purpose for about .2 seconds? Well, that’s kind of how I feel about regular coffee. Which is why I have to drink it all of the time. Aside from the fact that I get caffeine withdrawal headaches because I’ve cultivated a dependency on this gnarly liquid, I drink coffee because I like the taste. It’s usually a hit or a miss for people, but when my mom let me taste a tiny sip of this stuff so I could feel like a “big girl” when I was about seven, it hit me like the smell of weed in East Quad. I just wanted to keep tasting it forever. And when I finally turned 14, I was allowed to drink it whenever I pleased. So I did what any rational teenage girl would do and I decided to drink it more or less whenever I was able to. I drank it when I woke up. I drank it during school (because let’s face it, I wouldn’t have survived that hell hole without something altering my perspective somehow). And I drank it when I would hang out with my friends. Coffee wasn’t always invited to hang out, but with a lack of things to do and its availability at anytime and anywhere, it found its way into the picture 10 times out of 10. It’s because coffee is so universal. It works as an alarm clock. It provides motivation to do homework, to study or to just be a human being. It’s an excuse for a first date. It’s a conversation starter. Drinking it can be an act of relaxation or stimulation. And you can drink it any way you want: black, with sugar and cream, cold, hot, in the form of a slurpee. Do you like chocolate, vanilla, and hazelnut? Throw that shit in there and I promise you it will work out. It will still taste wonderful. When I was in the primary stage of my addiction I liked my coffee sweetened with French Vanilla Coffee Mate *insert heart eyes emoji here* but as I’ve grown in to the better version of myself, I prefer it almost black. I don’t need anything extravagant.
I just need it simple, like my personality. And I don’t mean that in a boring way. I’m far from boring — or at least I would hope so — I mean it in an I-genuinely-enjoythe-smaller-things-in-life kind of way. But then there’s the absolute best cup of coffee you could ever gift yourself with: diner coffee. You know what I’m talking about. It’s 2 in the morning and under circumstances you can’t explain you’re sitting in that 24-hour rinky-dink diner that’s only known by its acronym. You’ve been here far too many times to count and across from you is a person who you don’t exactly mind sharing every piece of nonsense in your brain with. The walls are permanently stained yellow because they haven’t been re-painted since before smoking in a restaurant was banned in every state. The same waitress who you’ve seen each time you walk in is pouring you your cup of sanity. She was there before you could drive, before you went away to school, before you even became your own person. You ask her how her kids have been. “How’s your husband?” you say. She says “Oh you know, same as always.” You both share a laugh because you know exactly what she means. You’ve shared a few cups of the same coffee she pours for other people because you happened to be there on her a break a few times. You make sure that even though the coffee is only $1.06, you tip her 4 dollars or more because her kindness is genuine and she always refills your cup. She refills it so frequently that after two hours of being completely immersed in this conversation about how life has been changing with your friend, you notice your hand is shaking. You’ve probably had more than four cups now and you’re just now realizing it. But, you don’t mind. See, to even be in this circumstance you have to be on some sort of break from real life. Whether that be a holiday break, summer or even nothing more than a weekend, you’re just sitting on that pleather seat not worrying about anything else. The coffee aroma wraps you like a blanket and you’re living life how it was meant to be lived: leisurely. Enjoying every sip that prevents unnecessary meaningless word vomit while creating some sort of punctuality to every one of your syllables. Enjoying your friend’s company. Enjoying the familiarity of everything around you. And then the nostalgia hits you. And all of these events, all of these people I’ve encountered out of pure chance in my life are shoved into the front of brain just by one sip of that plain black diner coffee. It tastes bitter, reminding me of how I felt the night everything fell apart and I sat in my booth for hours. It feels hot, reminding me of the sticky summer nights I spent on the wire chairs outside.
It gives me tranquility, reminding me of the days I’ve witnessed the sunrise through the windows. It goes down smooth, reminding me of things that don’t and of the people who never were. The people who had sharp edges like the table at booth number 3. After countless conversations and after countless cups of boiling hot coffee, I watched their edges melt. And I melted too. I melted into that pleather seat. I melted into those people. I melted into my cup of sheer sanctuary. Maybe I am too fascinated with coffee. Maybe it’s just an utter coincidence that a lot of my favorite people have been poured out of a pot. Maybe I just sound crazy placing this much emphasis on a beverage. Maybe this is all because I haven’t had enough coffee today. Here’s the thing, I tend to get complacent without my fix of caffeine. Irritable. Tired. I start melting into the wrong places, and everything I do is slightly off. I can’t empathize with people who don’t drink it all of the time. It helps me function as a normal human being in society. It’s become a personality trait of mine. Hey, I’m Selena. I drink so much coffee that I have selfinduced insomnia now, but it’s fine because I can drink more coffee to help with that issue. If you don’t drink coffee, I don’t know what we’ll do together because one-hundred percent of the time I will want to be drinking coffee or doing something that involves getting coffee and talking about what molded you into the human being you have become. When I’m having a bad day, I can drink some coffee about it and it will instantly be better. Failed that test? Drank some coffee about it. Got three hours of sleep? Drank some coffee about it. The boy I’m in love with kissed my best friend? Drank a lot of coffee about it. Needed to finish a paper? Drank some coffee about it. Needed to finish this article? I am currently drinking coffee about it. Coffee is my ideal go-to for anything if you haven’t been able to tell. And I think that’s how it always will be. I will encounter more lovely humans through the steam that floats off a fresh cup. My future apartment will always smell like coffee. I will have the best coffee mug collection a person could ever lay their eyes on because besides wanting a dog, having a great coffee mug collection is my only goal in life. So if I’m ever mean to you, I haven’t had my coffee yet. If I’m ever sad, I haven’t had my coffee yet. If I’m annoyed, tired, quiet or dull, I haven’t had my coffee yet. If I have no interest in our conversation, it’s because I’m thinking about getting some more coffee. And I’m not trying to go to Starbucks for some venti soy macchiato fufu lame shit, I just need a cup of black coffee. And I need a lot of it.
SINGLE REVIEW OK, let’s talk about Gwen Stefani — because everyone should be. Her live A music video during the Make Me Grammys Love You (the first of its kind) was Gwen Stefani a brightly colored beaInterscope con of hope for continued experimentation in popular music — an idea the Grammys increasingly suffocate with each year’s ceremony. Stefani has always been a singular character in pop music; her vocals — equal parts growl and smooth pouting — have allowed her to successfully front No Doubt and embark on extremely successful pop solo projects as well. Her newest, “Make Me Like You,” is the song no one knew they needed. I once touched Gwen Stefani’s shoulder during her Sweet Escape tour in the fifth grade (was trampled by a vegan mom moments after), and this is just
INTERSCOPE
the track to prove we are forever connected. She’s got her new beau Blake and I have my first-ever real person date this week. She’s unapologetically and simultaneously confused, frustrated, excited and grateful. So am I, and I think most people experience a (hopefully) healthy mixture of the aforementioned. The track doesn’t bring any revelations or real solutions to the feelings, but the lyrics are
catchy without leaning towards the tepidity of much of today’s pop music; the individual beats and instruments blend to form well-oiled production over which Stefani frosts her laidback lyrics, completing this sweet, sweet pop tune. 2016 was first supposed to be about Rihanna, then about Beyoncé, and, now, Kanye, but Stefani Season may be just around the corner. - CHRISTIAN KENNEDY
of ‘Park’ by SMTD By BAILEY KADIAN Daily Arts Writer
This weekend, the School of Music, Theater & Dance presents Bruce Norris’ “Clybourne Park,” a spinoff to the wellClybourne known “A Raisin in the Park Sun” by Lor2/18 7:30 raine Hansp.m., 2/19 & berry. 2/20 8 p.m., This play 2/21 2 p.m. first appeared Off Broadway Lydia Menat Playwrights delssohn Horizons Theatre in February 2010. Fol$22/$28, $12 lowing its with Student ID opening, it premiered in the UK, at the Royal Court Theatre in August 2010. “Park” earned multiple awards, including a Pulitzer Prize in 2011 and a Tony in 2012 for Best Play. The play’s first act begins in 1959, as a Black family decides to move into a dominantly white Chicago neighborhood. Bev and Russ are the owners of the home in the white middle-class area. They are informed that the family trying to move in is Black and advised to get out of the deal for fear that property values will dwindle if it’s carried out. Neighbors suggest this in an effort to uphold the “community” of the neighborhood and preserve its value. The second act begins 50 years later and presents a reversal of circumstances, when a white couple
wants to buy into a predominantly Black residential area, as those living in the neighborhood are fighting against gentrification. The play’s events are set in a bungalow house that appears well cared for in the first act, and in complete disarray in the second. The same actors reappear in the second act, playing drastically different roles, under entirely different circumstances. “The house is actually a character in the play, the trophy around which the action and racial conflicts occur,” Director John Neville-Andrews wrote in an e-mail interview with The Michigan Daily. “The only overlap with ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ is the character, Karl Lindner, who in that play tries to persuade the Black Younger family, unsuccessfully, not to move to Clybourne Park,” Neville-Andrews wrote. “Otherwise ‘Clybourne Park’ stands entirely on it’s own merit and circumstances.” While discussing the major themes this work aims to communicate, Neville-Andrews notes that the cast has had multiple discussions surrounding this topic. These forums involved an analysis of every possible point of view from which the cast could imagine seeing the play. “We’ve all done a lot of research and had numerous discussions on racial tension, racism, gentrification, segregation and integration,” NevilleAndrews wrote. “The way these aspects of life affected people in
1959, 2009 and present day.” “Park” communicates this racial divide satirically, bringing a comedic touch to issues of race and gentrifying communities. “The underlying theme is, of course, how racial enmity frequently bubbles under the surface as the characters clumsily scramble to say the most politically correct thing,” NevilleAndrews wrote. “Eventually this ‘code speak’ crumbles and true feelings are expressed.” The play doesn’t force any conclusions or solutions to the societal problems the work communicates. The work allows for the audience to reflect on what they have seen onstage, and rely on their own observations as a “take away” from the events they witness. The cast of “Park” was also able to gain useful information from one who knows the play rather well. “We are fortunate that Bruce Norris, the playwright, came to visit us and he revealed to the cast and me various valuable insights to the characters and their motives in the play,” Neville-Andrews wrote. While discussing his experience directing the production, Neville-Andrews explained that the actors have aimed to make their roles truthful, engaging and dynamic for the audience, all of which has provided a rewarding experience. “It’s been a delight to work on such a complex, scintillating and extremely funny play. Everyone should see it, for a variety of reasons.”
COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK
The lost art of real, handwritten letters By ALLIE SCHOLTEN For the Daily
In this digital-savvy age, many of us are married to our technology; one can’t walk through campus without seeing someone glued to their smartphone. Yet despite its old-fashioned tendency, my heart belongs to the United States Postal Service, a system traced back to the founding fathers. USPS vows “neither snow nor rain nor heat” will keep them from their job, six days a week. Though a mailbox can be found in front of almost every residence, and one doesn’t have to look far to find a mail truck stationed on a street, letter writing has become an archaic form of communication in this digital age, so much so that the USPS faced an almost imminent collapse in 2011, threatening to shorten their work week and closing post offices to combat their deficit. Not even the eternal existence of junk mail could keep them in the ring, as this was quickly becoming electronic as well. “Snail mail” has become an endangered species since the uprising of email, awaiting its ultimate extinction at the hands of the digital age. Many of my relationships revolve around a mailbox, rooted in the United States Postal Service and the archaic forms of correspondence. Letters and physical documentation are vital in stringing together my life events. The letters I’ve received remain squirreled away in old shoeboxes and desk drawers, a sort of personal time capsule lacking a “to-be-opened” date. While they are not poured over and read continuously, the mere preservation of these thoughts proves enough for my sentimental heart. My string of
correspondences can seem laughable when compared to the convenience of text messages and emails. Rightly so, for who would choose to wait two to seven days when the option of instant delivery is available? I can expect a text from my friends regularly – sentiments sent within the confines of 140 characters or less. I’ll watch them flash to my screen, scrolling through them with the good intentions of storing them away in my phone to be revisited. Subsequently, I’ll end up deleting the record of correspondence during a debate over what I can part with to make room for the newest trending social media app. I crave the tangibility that comes with hard copy letters, creased within the envelopes. There is permanence in pen and ink, where digital communication can be lost at the first hint of water damage or inexplicable shutdown. For now, postmen around the country will fill mailboxes with bundles of envelopes, emptying their blue canvas bags. These envelopes carry the documentations of holidays, birthdays and small sentiments. Personally, they have become lifelines of correspondence between those I care for and myself. While a text or email could have done justice to my thoughts, the idea that another person took the time to sit down and compose a letter has yet to cease being flattering. We can hastily compose a text that will be delivered only seconds later, yet a letter takes time and consideration to compose. “Snail mail” hints at a sort of permanence; I have kept letters from a decade ago, yet I am slow to keep most emails for longer than a week – depositing them in their digital trashcan after I have gleaned all I could from
them. I remain nostalgic for the sending of handcrafted letters that surpass the emotional depths of a pre-printed Hallmark card. The sending of letters has become a dying art; even my grandparents have put away their stamps and envelopes, turning to social media to learn of my goings-on. Despite its impending end, I have found immeasurable comfort within the lines of handwriting sent by my long-distance friends and family. They are filled with advice, sentiments and stories. These words have been saved through the years. I find the letters carry both positive and negative memories interwoven between the lines, and I can trace my own history, as well as those of others, through their words. While the sending of letters may be a backwards step in our progressing society, technology has yet to match the warmth and sincerity I have found in mail.
POETRY By DAYTON HARE Daily Arts Writer
‘i carry your coffee with me:’ A poem in the style of e e cummings I love you dearly (mostbelovedbeverage) —you and your drug induced clarity of thought, sumptuous flavor and pretentious nutty undertones— even though you sometimes keep me awake at night (poor choices were made) and make me (eversoslightly) dyspeptic.
the b-side
4B — Thursday, February 18, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
On mimosas and my ARTIST political ladies GENDER & MEDIA COLUMN
By DAYTON HARE Daily Arts Writer
T
his past weekend, I went with my parents and siblings to visit extended family in Palm Springs, California. As we sat, mimosa in hand, around the pool, them blonde and shimmering, I beige as NATALIE February snow, talk GADBOIS turned, as it invariably does, to politics. Though I protested, a discussion between California libertarians and Michigan liberals began, running the gamut of ridiculous claims and irreconcilable biases. I took extra gulps of my mimosa, willing myself not to talk as wild assertions flew around me. “Kasich seems sturdy. He’s been a very successful governor.” If you consider defunding nearly all women’s health options successful, sure. “Jeb just needs to grow some balls to compete with Trump.” Because testicles are really the paragon of anatomical strength … “The first woman president — how sure are we that Hillary is actually a woman?” Jesus Christ. “Women like Bernie more than Hillary. They can’t trust her.” This word “trust,” how can you not admit it’s gendered and placing Hillary in an impossible bind between showing fortitude and showing care? And where are your statistics outside of Twitter and Fox News, please? And will someone just buy Bernie a goddamn comb already. As I was sitting by the pool, unsuccessfully ignoring the sexist remarks, I read Vanity Fair’s February cover story on Fox News pundit Megyn Kelly. As a liberal, I find Kelly to be a complicated enigma — on one hand, she seems unabashedly selfish and opportunistic, defending her individual right to maternity leave one moment and making searing statements against women’s health organizations the next. She is of the camp of people — specifically, of women — who scoff at feminism, asserting that their own chutzpah and perseverance got them to where they are, and that other women should stop complaining and just do the same. On the other hand, in an August Republican debate moderated by Kelly, her first question was directed at Donald Trump, directly calling him out for his past misogynistic statements, and questioning his ability to lead a country comprised of 51 percent women. (That he turned around and asserted that she was rude
because she “had blood coming out of her wherever” only seemed to reinforce the need for her initial question.) Emotionally, I don’t really know what to do with Kelly, as I’m morally against most of the opinions she holds most dear. But in terms of the public eye, and the political cycle, I know she’s important. In an election year in which the media matters more than anything else, there is unspeakable value in a female political pundit getting so much attention. There is so much to be said about female politician’s representations in the media. But the subtle digs and subconscious judgments on Hillary, on pundits like Megyn, are nothing new. As so many have written before me, female politicians, especially ones with illustrious histories like Clinton, are constantly battling expectations from all sides: “Show strength, but vulnerability. Be direct, but not a bitch. Be honest, but still prophetic. Never fuck up. Always say the right thing. Above all, be human.” Just like everyone, Hillary is imperfect. But when you compare media criticisms of her with those made of other candidates, the biases are glaring. She is judged for her clothing, she is parodied as robotic by even liberal organizations like Saturday Night Live. She is criticized for not being female enough (the pantsuits), while her 50 years of accomplishments are picked apart for every possible error. This is all stuff we’ve heard before. Being a woman in any public space, particularly one dominated by men, means that you are often held to a much higher standard than the men around you — Hillary has to do twice as much to be revered half as much as the men around her. What I find more enlightening is discovering biases in the reverse; picking apart male candidates’ histories and calculating how a woman in their position may have been treated. Many people don’t know that the mother of Bernie Sanders’ only biological son, Levi, was Bernie’s girlfriend at the time, Susan Mott. They weren’t married then, and they never got married. In years after Levi’s birth, Bernie ran for Vermont gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns, never winning but upending the political landscape of Vermont. Finally, in 1980, he became mayor of Burlington, beginning in earnest his public political career. I didn’t know any of this before embarking on a lengthy
Sanders research quest, and I find the lack of public knowledge about it notable. Imagine a female politician in his shoes; giving birth to a son “out of wedlock,” continuing to try to fight for political office. Would she have succeeded? Would she have to fight not only social and institutional battles (as an unwed mother) but media-driven ones as well? My belief is that she would have been ravaged by the media, her morals and judgment called into question. My belief is that she wouldn’t be running for president today. From the other side, we have a man like Ted Cruz. Known to be onerous by most who have met him — especially by his particularly vocal college roommate — Cruz is not considered to be warm or genuine. In fact, he is considered to be pretty slimy, by Republicans and Democrats alike. His (heinous) policies aside, interpersonally Cruz doesn’t bring much to the table. But voters are coming for him in droves. Would a woman with Cruz’s demeanor — dishonest, malicious, sometimes even vulgar — be winning like him? Would she even receive enough support to start a campaign to begin with? My belief is that she wouldn’t, because first and foremost women are supposed to be likeable. So this is why I struggle every time I hear someone say they don’t like Hillary because they can’t trust her, or because they don’t find her likeable, or because they don’t like her “vibes.” Not only do we need to be conscious of the institutional sexism that is constantly working against female candidates; we need to think about what isn’t being said about the male ones. This is not a tacit endorsement of Clinton, nor a tirade against the male candidates. I understand the legitimate reasons for and against each of them. But I think many people, even liberal, intellectual voters, forget to look in between the lines when it comes to the public gendering of an election season. Male candidates are where they are because of their privileges, their successes, their intelligence and persistence and their adversities. Female candidates are up against the same — their adversities are just much greater, and much more insidious. Gadbois seems sturdy. She’s been a very successful columnist. To cast your vote for her, email gadbnat@umich.edu.
MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW
The American Medical Association confirms it: given a generally healthy lifestyle, moderate coffee intake likely has no negative effect on health. Which is really a good thing, if you think about it, because according to the National Coffee Association 54 percent of Americans over age 18 consume an average of 3.1 cups of it daily. I’m certainly a culprit in this, as consuming the elixir of life (read: coffee) is part of my daily routine — without it the rest of my day always feels vaguely dulled, as if it were being regarded from a moderate distance. (I even once kept track of how many cups of elixir I drank in year 2014. Final tally: 1,183 — a copious amount of consumption, I realize, but in my defense, it started as an innocent question posed between myself and a friend before quickly falling into a downward spiral of competition fueled by a playfully adversarial spirit and our mutual dependence on the world’s most prevalent and commercially available psychoactive stimulant. So it’s only half my fault.) Given that, you can imagine my delight upon meeting someone whose love affair with elixir was even more passionate than my own — Ben Foster, an LSA senior. “My aunt started this coffee catering business when I was about 13,” Foster told me over a steaming beverage last Thursday. “So as soon as we (Foster and his similarly aged relatives) were old enough — probably before we were old enough — we would all be piling in the car … working for this company.” While many people indulge in recurring recreational activities of a relatively niche nature, Foster has one that is rarer than most. As a coffee roaster, he is a connoisseur of sorts who took his love a step further into the act of creation. Foster and I met at an establishment called Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room, which is a charming little store about a 15-minute walk northwest of Central Campus. When you enter the bookstore, the first thing you notice is the potent layer of incense in the air. The second thing is probably the sort of new age-y music playing quietly in the background, the kind that has gentle synth strings playing blurry chords at long duration and optionally includes some sort of Asian instrument in a soloistic
As the song progresses, the duality of the abused woman’s life is made ever clearer. The camera continually cuts between the woman’s private dealings with the severity of her situation and the seemingly happy, loving moments she has with her partner. At one point, a double-paned mirror shows the woman both bruised and fresh-faced, solidifying the reality that a battered individual is unable to be whole while trapped in a toxic relationship.
The colors and lighting of the video are muted, reflecting the piece’s somber message — no actions depicted are overtly violent or coercive. Prompting further thought, the video wraps with a black screen dawning “#faceuptodomesticviolence” and Hozier’s voice, seeming to speak to his own experience, ringing “Open hand or closed fist would be fine / Blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine.” - CARLY SNIDER
capacity, with the intent of making a more meditative atmosphere but the effect of being only a rather surface level imitation (this sort of music may also be vaguely described as “zen”). If you look around at the books stocked, you’ll see various volumes of literature on numerous schools of Eastern philosophy, some translations of original texts and others more obviously composed with Western disposable-incometypes in mind. Upstairs is a small cafe area, which is filled with amicable chatter and the delicious aroma of assorted teas, as well as that of nectar of the gods from Ann Arbor’s own Mighty Good Coffee. “This is my third interview at Crazy Wisdom, actually, but two of them were job interviews,” Foster said, laughing. “I love this place.” Foster didn’t become extremely interested in coffee until he started studying at the University of Michigan, where he is pursuing a degree in computer science and is in the process of adding a minor in Russian.
I can dig that. “I started going to Mighty Good down the street and starting making it a regular thing with my friend — we’d go every single Friday because our classes worked out that way. We’d make the trek, and it was a good way to unwind after the week,” Foster said of the real beginning of his affair with elixir. “Their (Mighty Good’s) thing is they have a lot of single-origin coffees, which is just coffee that’s sourced from usually one estate in a certain region, so you can just sort of fall back and call them by their country of origin,” Foster said. “I remember one time I had this one coffee; it was a Guatemalan Huehuetenango … I looked at the tasting notes, and I actually tasted hints of peanut butter in that coffee. I thought tasting notes were ridiculous before that, I just sort of brushed them off, and never thought of coffee as something that could be really complex.” Not long after Foster made a habit of tasting all of Mighty Good’s coffee selection, exploring the various single origin brews and gradually trying his hand at more nuanced
home brewing methods. “I bought an AeroPress, which is basically a tube with a plunger — it’s like a French press, but with a paper filter,” Foster said. “I bought a hand crank grinder, so I’d grind all my beans … so I just started acquiring all this brewing equipment.” Foster now buys raw green coffee and roasts his own beans. Over the last few years, he’s experimented with various creative roasting methods, with varying success. “I started doing it with an aluminum popcorn popping stove top thing, like where you crank the thing — it makes the most disgusting noises ever, just screeching noises — so that was short-lived because it was really obnoxious,” Foster said. “Then I started putting a colander full of coffee beans into the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and then shaking them every minute.” Partly due to the inconsistencies of the resulting roast from these methods, and partly due to the slow accumulation of mild burns, Foster now uses an air popcorn popper (plus a long cardboard tube) for his elixir production, which he says allows a more consistent roast because of the agitation and airflow resulting in a constant temperature. “What I think is so cool about it is that anyone can go out and get an air roaster and order coffee online — green coffee is so cheap, it’s great,” Foster said as he pulled out a bag of green coffee to show me. “I guess I probably look a bit like a drug lord with this,” he said, laughing (though referring to him in that manner wouldn’t actually be excessively inaccurate. After all, caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world). “My big thing is fresh coffee. Pre-ground coffee is always stale. Once you crush the bean down you’ve just exposed all those little pieces of coffee to air, so it just oxygenates,” Foster said. “The thing that I do differently, I think … is fresh, consistent grind, and a better ratio of water to coffee.” When asked about his goals for and general ideas about coffee, Foster had a simple explanation for his love, one that is certainly relatable to most of our society. “My perfect state of mind is listening to some music, not having anything to do, and sipping a cup of coffee,” Foster said. I can dig that.
Bad Gal RiRi debuts Fenty x Puma in NY Online Arts Editor
COLUMBIA RECORDS
PROFILE
STYLE RECAP
By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY Breaking the instrumentation with, “Her eyes and words are so icy / Oh but she A burns,” Hozier’s “Cherry Cherry Wine” is heavy. The Wine Irishman’s Hozier delivery of haunting lyrColumbia ics is delicate Records yet powerful, as is the accompanying music video. The video opens on a woman adjusting a dainty bracelet upon her wrist, drawing the viewers’ focus to faint bruises on her forearm. There’s a sudden switch to a scene of the woman intimately greeting a man — presumably her significant other. The contrast between the broken woman with the bruised limb and the same woman, now warm, greeting her man is stomach-churning. It becomes clear that the video is making a statement about a painfully reoccuring issue — domestic violence.
IN
Fenty x Puma, Rihanna’s collaboration with the activewear brand, debuted last Friday on the opening day of NYFW. The collection, almost exclusively black and white, displays extreme diversity and calculated, inspired risk. Most importantly, it shows a real knack for designing by the Barbadian superstar. A diverse group of models rocked pieces, from thighhigh white leather boots to a refreshingly loose-fitted sport short — highlighting Riri’s own fashion taste. Opting for grandiose, unapologetic comfort, lots of skin or a combination of both, the designer’s first runway show was cohesive and fresh, offering a high fashion line while remaining conscious of the brand’s activewear roots. Tracksuits, sweatshirts, sweatpants and shorts comprise the collection’s most universally wearable pieces, but it’s the boundary-pushing looks that leave the biggest
impression. The women’s mesh PUMA long-sleeve tops pay direct homage to Rihanna’s personal tastes and boldness. Men’s high-waisted sweatpants and one-piece sweat suits are hopefully predictors of the next wave of men’s fashion. A skin-tight, floor-length dress featuring criss-crossed snaking from cleavage to knee is a standout among the women’s looks. Unzipped zippers are ubiquitous throughout the collection, emphasizing a laid-back feel — something consistently missing amid the often straight-faced, tightlipped persona of the fashion world. That’s not to say, of course, that Rihanna’s first runway of her own wasn’t a serious endeavor — the line showcased her personal style and attitude, while giving fans and customers both bold outfits for the brave and enough broad-reaching pieces to maintain Puma’s brand and the artist’s effortlessly cool aura. The show’s third act twist broke out furs. Unisex gray
hoodies and long black coats, modeled on men and women, add one final touch of fuckit chicness to the collection with their over-the-top, yet undeniably cozy look. It-girl of the moment, Gigi Hadid, closed the show in white sneaker-heel hybrids, black mid-calves, a kneelength and the aforementioned unzipped loose fur coat, summarizing the contrasting ideals of high-fashion and activewear. Hadid and many of her fellow models donned white, slicked back hair and black lipstick. Yes, Rihanna’s fashion week debut is another notch on the bedpost of celebrityturned-designer shows. But the collection’s range from fashionable activewear to sport-inspired statement pieces and everything in between combined with discernible authenticity proves that Fenty x Puma’s first runway show certainly shouldn’t be the last.