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Speak-out condemns Nike, calls for action KRISTINA PERKINS/Daily
Jasmine Rand, civil rights attorney for the families of Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown, discusses the importance of collective activism in the Ross School of Business Monday.
Trayvon Martin’s attorney explores U.S. race relations Jasmine Rand delivers remarks for Diversity and Inclusion Week
Rice, spoke at the University of Michigan Monday, discussing her work work on racial relations in the United States and human rights activism. Rand, a professor at University of Miami School of Law, is also active in civil rights movements and was recognized by the National Bar Association as one of the top 40 lawyers under 40 in the nation in 2013. The event is one of several this week sponsored by the
By MADELEINE GERSON Daily Staff Repoter
Jasmine Rand, the attorney for the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Tamir
Greek Life Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, Central Student Government and the Black Business Undergraduate Society as part of a campus-wide Diversity and Inclusion Week. During her remarks, Rand emphasized how her personal background and experiences led her to discover her passion for law and commitment to advocating for underrepresented communities. “I am a first generation high
school graduate,” Rand said. “I was born to a teenage mother. Do not judge me by my successes. Judge me by the number of times I fell down and stood back up again. Do not judge me by the number of times I have appeared on CNN.” Rand told the audience that she believes social justice is an issue relevant to all careers and fields of study. “It doesn’t matter what See RAND, Page 3
Former factory worker emphasizes importance of monitoring By CAMY METWALLY Daily Staff Reporter
At a speak-out Monday, Noi Supalai, former union president and garment worker from Bangkok, Thailand, addressed a group of students to share her experience as an employee at a Thai factory where she produced Nike apparel. The event was hosted by the campus chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops to raise awareness about proper oversight of apparel factories overseas, In November 2015, Nike announced it would stop allowing independent inspectors, such as the Worker Rights Consortium, to monitor work conditions in Nike apparel factories. Instead, the company said it would internally self-monitor its own activities — a decision that groups like USAS have
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Activists share experiences of curbed speech Lauren Southern and Cathy Young condemn First Amendment abuse By ALEXA ST. JOHN Daily Staff Reporter
Cathy Young, Reason Magazine contributing editor, and Lauren Southern, Canadian journalist and activist, came to the Michigan League Monday night to present a joint lecture on free speech on college campuses. Both Young and Southern ultimately defended the importance of what they characterized as the often abused First Amendment right. Hosted by the Michigan Review, Young and Southern gave a talk titled “Fighting the Speech Police.” The event was attended by about 60 people, including students and community members. Young spoke first at the event, discussing her experience coming of age in the Soviet Union and the ways Russia restricts radical and controversial free speech. She connected the country to college cmpuses, saying the necessity to conform to dominant ideology is prevalent and reminds her of the strict conditions for free speech in the Soviet Union. In particular, Young cited recent incidents such as a recent occurrence at Yale University.
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Former Yale official Erica Christakis sent out an e-mail to students saying warnings on showing appropriate cultural sensitivity in the selection of Halloween costumes were too restrictive, sparking backlash that ultimately led to her resigning from her position. “We are not talking simply about disagreement; we’re talking about punishing people who voice their own kind of speech,” Young said. “When they restrict speech based on its ideological content, as I think has been documented, there’s a blatant use of double standards with regard to left-wing and right-wing inflammatory comments. This certainly promotes the view that these ideas are not legitimate speech.” Young said she thinks certain forms of expression should be excluded as free speech, especially viewpoints that are generally considered unacceptable in society. However, she warned these selective restrictions could cause problems later on. “When we make the decision to stigmatize certain ideas, we should be very, very careful to draw the circle of ideas which are considered beyond the pale very, very narrowly, so that we don’t end up stigmatizing legitimate ideas,” Young said. Southern, in contrast outlined a more radical approach to free speech. She said there should be no restrictions for speech, even See SPEECH, Page 3
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said they fear will lead to potential worker abuse. Morgan Currier, USAS International Campaigns Coordinator, began the speak-out with an interactive exercise, asking the attendees to think critically about the role students play in perpetuating the abuse of foreign laborers and ways in which they can improve worker conditions. She said institutions such as the University of Michigan, by signing contracts with brands like Nike, indirectly allow such practices to continue to exist. The University’s Athletic Department signed an apparel deal with Nike in 2015 that does not expire until 2027. “We believe that we should only be doing business with brands who respect the rights of their workers,” Currier said. “What we do in USAS is we support the organizing efforts of workers around the world. We don’t believe in charity; we believe in solidarity.” Students listened to her remarks as they read one another’s clothing tags — tags that read made in Honduras, Indonesia, Cambodia, See NIKE, Page 3
Faculty still questioning ‘U’ release of course evals SACUA says ART 2.0 could perpetuate poor faculty relations By ISOBEL FUTTER Daily Staff Reporter
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LSA junior Eman Hijab, president of Michigan Pakistanis, takes a moment of silence, along with other members at Michigan Pakistanis, at a vigil for the Lahore, Pakistan bombing victims in the Diag Monday.
Vigil remembers victims of park bombing in Pakistan Students emphasize need for religious tolerance at gathering on Diag By TIM COHN Daily Staff Reporter
Monday night, more than 70 students attended a vigil held by Michigan Pakistanis after a suicide bombing Sunday in Lahore, Pakistan, left at least 72 civilians killed and more than 300 injured. The vigil attendees included students affiliated with
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Michigan Pakistanis as well as other University of Michigan students. LSA junior Shahrooz Ali, who was not a Michigan Pakistanis member, noted the event was an opportunity for students to come together to mourn in solidarity. “What happened on Sunday was an unnecessary act that left those innocent lives murdered,” Ali said. “Those people were just at the park, celebrating a day of God with their families. As a Muslim, I do not understand the reason why the bombers felt it necessary to commit this crime. Islam preaches a message of peace, for all people to come together,
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and love each other.” During the vigil, student members of Michigan Pakistanis spoke about the impact of the suicide bombing. President of Michigan Pakistanis Eman Hijab, an LSA junior, told the crowd it was important to not be desensitized to senseless acts of violence like Sunday’s bombing. “At a time when hope has diminished, faith in humanity weakened and overwhelming grief pervades, we stand in unity with one another.” Hijab said. “We must remind ourselves to never become complacent See VIGIL, Page 2
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The University of Michigan’s release of course evaluation data continued to be a topic of controversial discussion among faculty at Monday’s Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs meeting. On Friday, the University relaunched a tool initially only available to faculty, ART 2.0, which now allows students to see select data from course evaluations for University classes. The launch came after months of dispute following the University’s initial announcement that they were exploring releasing the data, which drew significant pushback from faculty over concerns of bias and misuse. Joint committees of SACUA members and Central Student Government representatives have been working over the past few months in an effort to mitigate the concerns, and recommended the release of the data with several stipulations in February. How many of those stipulations will be followed with the University’s tool wasn’t clear Monday. At the meeting, Physics Prof. Gus Evrard, team leader for ART 2.0, said the release of course evaluations with the tool aims See SACUA, Page 3
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all of that, so we’re hoping to have people make that connection.” Jayakar said she strongly involved in IGR to understand recommends getting involved in the various identities that exist on program or taking a course from campus. the organization due to her own “I think what we’re hoping is experiences. that more people get involved, and “Out of everything I’ve done in also that social identities become college, this is the most influential something that’s on peoples’ minds,” and most impactful thing,” she said. she said. The African Students Association IGR’s name, Jayakar added, also tabled Monday to sell tickets to may contribute to students’ lack of and advertise for “Afrolution,” their awareness about the program. 18th annual cultural show on Friday. “Our title is ‘The Program on The show will feature music, dance, Intergroup Relations,’ which doesn’t fashion and spoken word poetry to specifically tell you it’s linked to display culture from the African social justice; we’re trying to make continent. that connection so that people ASA Vice President Ashley know,” she said. “When you just hear Ogwo, an LSA senior, said the show the name, it doesn’t really tell you aims to give the campus community
From organizations focusing on social justice to students who like boxing, Mason Hall was filled with students aiming to raise awareness about what their groups offer the campus community on Monday. LSA senior Elise Jayakar was tabling for Intergroup Relations, an organization within the University of Michigan that works to involve students and faculty in discussions about gender, sexuality, socioeconomic background and race. Jayakar, who is pursuing an IGR minor, said the group hopes to engage interest from students. She said she believes it is important for students to get
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Goergia Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed House Bill 757, dubbed a “religious liberty” bill, CNN reported. Deal said the bill did not reflect the state or the tolerance and character of its people. Many businesses and groups had pressured the state to reject the bill in the past few days.
VIGIL From Page 1 with acts of terrorism and not allow ourselves to become desensitized to happenings in Pakistan or around the world.” For many in attendance, the vigil also offered an opportunity for students to share their connections to Lahore. Hijab said her family are natives to Lahore, and that some of her fondest memories were from the trips that she took to see her grandparents who are still there. “Sunday’s tragedy really hit close to home for me because all of my family is in Lahore,” Hijab said. “Going through the agony of not knowing whether my family was OK or not was absolutely terrorizing, and to think that so many citizens of Pakistan go through this on a daily basis is very disheartening. The targeting of religious Sudoku Syndication minorities in Pakistan was addressed candidly by several of the other speakers at the
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The Malaysian Students Association hosts Malaysian Cultural Night, an event celebrating traditional and contemporary Malaysian culture, in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater Monday.
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Monday night, the Malaysian Students Association hosted Malaysian Culture Night, during which MSA members showcased various aspects of their heritage through a stage performance featuring traditional Malaysian songs and dances. The performance took place in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater in front of approximately 500 people, featuring a play that focused on dreams and their significance in the Malaysian © sudokusolver.com. For community. personal use only. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com LSA sophomore Zaryff Razali, who directed the play,
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The U.S. Justice Department will withdraw a case against Apple because they have successfully accessed the data on the iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook, The New York Times reported. Had Apple lost the case, they may have been forced to create a loophole in their security.
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vigil. LSA sophomore Babu Zia spoke about his experiences as a Lahore resident, saying he has seen significant changes in Pakistan from when he was younger to the summer he spent in the city as an intern last year. “Ten years ago, when I moved to Lahore with my family, it was completely different,” Zia said. “When I returned last year, it was a very different place. The democracy in Pakistan that we cherish gives equal rights to Christians, to people of all religions, but what these terrorists are doing is trying to break the country. And what we are seeing now in Pakistan is that the once united country is broken.” Hijab said she thought overall, the vigil played an important role on campus because it brought people of all faiths and ethnicities together to talk openly about religious pluralism and tolerance. “It is important that at times like this we all come together to talk and work to create a more positive campus environment for all students,” Hijab said.
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Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, an offshoot group of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing at a children’s park in Lahore, Pakistan, BBC News reported. More than 300 civilians were injured in the attack, with officals delcaring a period of mourning Monday for those lost in the attack.
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more exposure to the continent and highlight the positive aspects of various African cultures. “We use it as an opportunity to educate our audience and also give them a night of fun entertainment,” she said. “We show a variety of what the continent has to offer in terms of entertainment and also in terms of people and culture.” Another group tabling in Mason, the UM Boxing Club, is sending one of its members, Social Work graduate student Wendy Cortes, to the National Boxing Championship in Los Angeles. However, while the team and the University compensate most of Cortes’ costs, she is still expected to contribute to some of the expenses of traveling and lodging. —TANYA MADHANI
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Former factory worker Noi Suparli speaks at the United Students Against Sweatshops meeting in Mason Hall Monday.
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said perceptions surrounding his concentration in history at the University of Michigan was the motivation for the show’s theme. “I’m a history major, and in Malaysia, that’s something that people often look down upon. I wanted to show people, especially Malaysians, that there was a part of our history that we were ignoring,” he said. “A lot of it was my own historical introspection. I’m looking at all these facts that I just found out and how much I want to show it to everyone else as well.” The play, written by students, focused on what happens when traditional values and modern society clash through the perspective of a typical Malaysian family. Event organizers said it aimed to highlight how characters’ thoughts, aspirations and goals in life are shaped by circumstances
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around them, using dream scenes as contrasting elements throughout the performance. Dances performed during the event included the Lion Dance, which symbolizes the arrival of good fortune and the expulsion of darker forces and spirits. Another dance, The Bamboo “Buluh” Dance, is traditionally used to celebrate success in battle, but currently performed during festivities. It was adapted for the play to symbolize conflict and struggle. LSA senior Muhammad Farqani Mohd Noor, who acted as an emcee for the event and performed in one of the dances during the play, said after the event that MSA plays an important part in his life. “While we’re studying abroad, we’re also ambassadors of our country in a way, and in that sense we’re trying to showcase our culture,” he said. “I think this event helps to
make sure that I’m not detached from my Malaysian society, and I’m not forgetting my culture and my roots. It makes U of M feel like home, and I have a Malaysian family that I can rely on.” LSA senior Yu Jun Soh, who also danced in the performance, said she thought the show has a positive impact on the Malaysian students on campus. “We’re showing Malaysian culture, and showing the campus what our community is about,” Soh said. “I think that’s really important because we do have a significant Malaysian community, so this is the one time we can really share our culture and share our background with everyone on campus.” The event also featured a mini-banquet with various Malaysian foods, including Mee Goreng, a spicy fried noodle See MALAYSIA, Page 3
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Former football player receives probation in sex video case Former University football player Logan Tuley-Tillman received a sentence of two years probation from the Washtenaw County courts on Monday, the Detroit Free Press reported. In February, Tuley-Tillman pleaded guilty to two felonies, and in exchange the court dropped one count and allowed him to be sentenced under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, which allows guilty pleas to be removed from an individual’s record after the probation period for individuals between ages 17 and 24. Tuley -Tillman plead guilty to one charge of illegally capturing or distributing an image of an unclothed person and one of committing a crime with a computer. The second original charge of capturing or distributing an image of an unclothed person was dropped as part of his deal. On Sept. 7, after discovering two short videos of herself, a 19-year-old woman went to the University of Michigan’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center to file a complaint about Tuley-Tillman, which resulted in the case. One day after first meeting with police detectives on Sept. 9, TuleyTillman was dismissed from the University football team where he played as an offensive lineman.
DTE plans to create 10-acre solar panel field in Detroit DTE Energy has announced plans to develop a large field of solar energy panels, spanning 10 acres, in Detroit, the Detroit Free Press reported. The projects aims to help stabilize a particular Westside neighborhood and to utilize public property which currently lies vacant. DTE plans to build the solar array on a city-owned site south of the I-96 freeway at Greenfield Road. The area is currently known as O’Shea Playground, but was decomissioned by the city’s recreation department in 2011. Since that time, the lot has been stripped and has experienced fire damage. The neighborhood surrounding the area has suffered population loss and effects from neglected homes over the past several years. City officials partnering with DTE on the project said they hope the solar array will act as a catalyst to improve the neighborhood. The city also plans on using federal funds for the demolition of nearby blighted homes and to train residents for environmentally friendly jobs focused on reusing the area. The Detroit City Council still has to approve the deal before any work can begin.
Engineering prof. chosen to lead ADVANCE program Jennifer Linderman, associate dean for graduate education in the College of Engineering, was named the new director of ADVANCE, a University program aimed at promoting diversity and faculty success. Linderman will take over the position starting Sept. 1, replacing the founding director Abigail Stewart. Stewart will return to her role as a faculty member. In a press release, Linderman said she was excited to lead a program she had been involved in as a faculty member. “I am deeply honored to be selected to lead this program that is so important to the recruitment, retention and development of faculty leaders,” she said. —LYDIA MURRAY
RAND From Page 1 profession you enter into,” she said. “It’s a global effort to be able to take whatever skill you have and be a part of the movement. It doesn’t have to be rallying in the streets.” Her remarks largely centered on her experiences with the prominent national cases she’d been involved in — the deaths of Martin, Rice and Brown. In February 2012, video footage showed George Zimmerman shooting 17-year-old African-American high school student, Trayvon Martin, while he was walking, unarmed, in his neighborhood in Florida. Martin died as a result of the wound. At the time, Zimmerman claimed that he shot Trayvon out of selfdefense, despite being instructed by a 911 operator he called about Martin to not engage. Rand said she learned about the case before it garnered national attention and informed her students at the University of Miami, which ultimately led to the start of the now national movement, “I am Trayvon Martin.” “My students went home after class that night, and the next morning my students sent me a video they had shot of them saying, ‘I am Trayvon Martin,’ and teaching the public of what happened to Trayvon Martin through the lens of themselves,” Rand said. “I got goosebumps. I realized the lesson my students learned was they understood that the most powerful thing you can do in any movement is to make them see themselves as part of the greater whole.” Rand said the video soon went viral, and eventually the local “I am Trayvon Martin” movement became a national movement and then an international one. “I invited them to meet with the prosecutors and we created posters,” Rand said. “Each of my students addressed the press, which was the launch of what became the national movement. It was amazing because within a week, President Obama said ‘I am Trayvon Martin.’ ” Almost two months after the shooting, Zimmerman was charged with the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin. Rand counseled the Martin family during criminal court proceedings, which resulted in a not guilty verdict for Zimmerman. Rand said the news of the not guilty verdict was a devastation.
NIKE From Page 1 China and Vietnam. Currier pointed to an example of the positive impact students have made on monitoring in countries such as Honduras to inspire student activism on campus and around the country. In 2008, Currier said, Russell Athletic had a factory in Honduras, but chose to source elsewhere after native workers formed a union. She alleged that workers found themselves blacklisted, uncompensated and unemployable as a result of the move. USAS mobilized a delegation of students in response to the changes to help workers protest, with the aim of having campus groups pressure their universities to hold Russell accountable while workers organized in Honduras. Ultimately, Currier said students led to contracts being cut at 110 universities over a two-year period, costing the brand over $50 million. “The workers won because our campaign was so effective,” Currier said. “Student pressure is so important, they not only reopened the factory and allowed workers to have their union, but they signed a binding union agreement to allow seven other factories in Honduras to form unions.” During the event, Supalai shared her own personal experience with worker abuse and unsafe working conditions. At the Thai factory Eagle Speed, she served as the president of the labor union that formed when the factory exploited its employees. She charged that workers were subject to dangerous conditions and poor hours from 8 a.m. to midnight after Nike threatened to pull its business from Eagle Speed if they failed to meet a stricter deadline at a lesser cost.
News “That night, I kept waiting for the next announcement,” she said. “I was so exhausted that I couldn’t turn the TV off. I fell asleep with the news on and all I heard all night long was, ‘not guilty, not guilty, not guilty.’ I remember thinking I did not want to get out of my bed. I did not want that to be the reality of my nation.” However, she said she was inspired to continue her work after receiving a phone call from Martin’s mother, who reminded her of her duty to serve as a civic leader to fight for equality. Though Zimmerman wasn’t sentenced, Rand said she thought the case will have a lasting impact on the nation. “Even though there was not a guilty verdict, we gained the momentum of the people,” Rand said. “It opened national discussions on race relations, gun control and stand your ground laws. It pulled the United Nations in to look at our criminal system.” BBUS member Lauren Ward, a Business freshman, said she thought Rand is a positive role model with a valuable perspective to offer students at the University. “BBUS collaborated with the Office of Greek Life this week because the speaker of this week, Jasmine Rand,” Ward said. “She is a good example of someone to look at, as a woman in business and in a role of such power, who can influence students into thinking that they can take on such high profile cases and influence headlines.” LSA senior Caira Cronin said Rand’s speech was beneficial to the audience and spread a positive message that the Greek community should reflect on during diversity and inclusion week. “I think it’s extremely important to bring this to our campus because we have had negative media about Greek life and privilege,” Cronin said. “It’s important to bring speakers to campus that are exposing issues that impact everyone.” As an attorney, professor and activist, Rand said she continues to take on large numbers of cases to fight for the protection of the rights of young African-American men, saying she was positive her efforts would ultimately make a difference. “I am in a revolutionary state of mind — politically correct is for politicians,” Rand said. “I bit my tongue with Trayvon. I bit my tongue with Michael Brown. Change will come.”
As well, she said when employees were unable to fulfill these expectations, Nike failed to pay the factory and, in turn, workers did not receive wages for more than two months. Any sign of protest was met with threats of termination. Supalai noted that in her case, several Thai organizations and the government all failed to intervene on their behalf, and it wasn’t until an external inspector got involved that they began to see results. Ultimately, 23 strikers who were detained were released and the factory apologized to the employees, providing them with a choice to resign with compensation or to continue working with Eagle Speed. Supalai emphasized the need for independent monitoring organizations, saying she was concerned about Nike’s current policy that allows the company to monitor its own operations. “I would like to call for you to put effort in this campaign to call for the possibility of WRC to be able to monitor Nike,” Supalai said. “There’s a need for a middle organization like WRC to monitor Nike because Nike doesn’t care about working conditions. In my opinion, they’re forming their own organization to do this job just because they want to hide behind this organization.” Currier pointed to action taken at other universities, such as the University of Washington and Cornell University, that have begun to demand various factories allow independent inspections of work conditions. “The goal is that more students know about this problem with Nike and take action to force the University to force Nike to be accountable to independent monitors,” Currier said. “And if Nike doesn’t reverse this policy, they shouldn’t be able to make Michigan apparel in the fall.”
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 — 3
HALEY MCLAUGHIN/Daily Physics Prof. Gus Evrard discusses the launching of Art 2.0, an online tool offering data about course enrollment, at the SACUA meeting in the Fleming Building Monday.
SACUA From Page 1 to be an alternative to sites like RateMyProfessor.com. “Despite what you may think of ratemyprofessor.com, every time I ask my class if they use it, all the hands go up,” Evrard said. The course evaluation tool does not currently use facultyspecific data, but starting in fall 2016, instructor-focused data is set to be released. The goal, Evrard said, is to offer in-house data to students who want to know more about the classes they are signing up for. “ART 2.0 is a reboot,” Evrard said. “It’s a reboot that comes in under the direction of the Digital Innovation Greenhouse and partly is motivated by the desire to go beyond the 20th-century experience.” SACUA Chair Silke-Maria Weineck said she was concerned with the tool providing extensive course evaluation material,
noting earlier faculty concerns. “We’ve just spent about a year hashing out data and creating committees to see how to do this,” Weineck said. Kinesiology Prof. Stefan Szymanski said he is worried about faculty information being made available to other fellow faculty members because he fears that not every faculty member at the University has their colleagues’ best interests at heart. “Among people of goodwill, there are never problems really,” Szymanski said. “But sadly, we are not 100 percent goodwill.” SACUA proposed several modifications for ART 2.0 to Evrard, including making data only available to faculty for the courses they teach. SACUA also suggested that only questions recommended by the body for the course evaluations be included on the tool. Along with evaluations, the committee also discussed the new sexual misconduct policy for students, announced last
week and slated to be publically released on April 6. Weineck said though the new policy featured an appeals committee for students who want to appeal the charge against them, this same benefit has not been provided to faculty. Over the past year, SACUA has expressed multiple concerns about the process by which faculty are investigated for sexual misconduct issues, releasing a report last year that charged the University’s procedures lacked due process. In the fall, the University said it would make several changes to the policy for faculty in response to the concerns. “Faculty should be able to appeal the report and not just the sanctions,” Weineck said. The addition of an appeals committee for faculty violations is set to be discussed more in-depth at the upcoming Faculty Senate meeting — a gathering of the entirety of faculty governance — April 18.
HALEY MCLAUGHIN/Daily Newsday columnist Cathy Young discusses her opinions regarding free speech restriction in the League Monday.
SPEECH From Page 1 with terms generally considered offensive or ones that groups like racial minorities, women and transgender people. Southern has often received scrutiny and criticism due to her radical opinions on many controversial topics, such as a Youtube video “Why I am Not a Feminist” she uploaded in April 2015, which has nearly 882,000 views. She began her remarks by discussing her experience at a march to combat rape culture, called a Slut Walk. After holding a sign that read, “There is no rape culture in the West,” she said she was harassed, yelled at and had her sign taken away, which she said was indicative of the way free speech is restricted, both in the United States and Canada. “It’s just so unfortunate that we actually have to do this speech in general, that free speech actually has to be
MALAYSIA From Page 2 dish, and Kuih Bingka, mini tapioca cakes. Organizers also prepared Milo Ais, an iced chocolate and malt powder drink. LSA sophomore Mariam Hjaige said she attended the show to gain insight on a new culture and learn more about what diversity means on
defended, that it’s something that we can’t just take for granted,” she said. Southern also discussed the role social media plays with regard to free speech, noting the countless times she has been banned from Twitter for her comments about gender and sexuality. She recently created the hashtag #TheTriggering to deliberately post offensive comments to Twitter in the name of free speech, accordingto Reason magazine. “Our generation has a complete and total disregard for speech rights, and it is destroying our freedoms,” Southern said. “Our education systems have simply no room for diversity of opinion … Having ideas is not dangerous, being offensive is not harmful, and it should never be declared illegal, ever.” LSA sophomore John Pillinger said he attended the event to support the importance of having free speech. Pillinger said he encountered issues with free speech before
on campus when he advertised a lecture featuring Milo Yiannopoulos, a controversial British journalist, at the University of Michigan to his residence hall. Pillinger said other students in his hall scrutinized and reacted negatively to his support of Yiannopoulos. “We’re here at a liberal arts university and our whole experience is about being exposed to new ideas and not having to shut up,” Pillinger said. LSA senior Alfred Cerrone, a member of Young Americans for Liberty, said he attended the event due to having witnessed aggressions against free speech on campus. “Free speech is the most important right that we’re guaranteed in this country,” Cerrone said. “It’s very hypocritical when people label things as hateful and they don’t get you a chance to explain their opinion, especially when their opinion differs from theirs.”
campus. “There are a lot of culture shows that happen on campus, and I try to go to as many as I can,” she said. “We live on such a diverse campus that I feel like it would be wrong if I didn’t go to these events because I have this opportunity to learn about these different cultures.” MSA president Ili Anuar, an LSA junior, said she hoped the event inspired other students to learn more about Malaysian
heritage and history. “We’ve been thinking about opening up more — we’ve never promoted our organization in Festifall or anything, so we feel like it’s really important to put ourselves out there and make it easier for Malaysians to find us,” she said. “I think the Malaysian Culture Night is really important because it helps us bond, and it helps promote our culture to the community.”
Opinion
4 — Tuesday, March 29, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
REBECCA GOTT | OP-ED 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.
I
Be awkward
am not a fan of socially awkward situations. I turn away from people breaking up in public to avoid any semblance of confrontation. Telling a student government candidate I don’t want to vote for them on the Diag makes my skin crawl. Waving at somebody that I had class with freshman year only to have them not remember ELLIOTT me is my real-life RAINS manifestation of hell. One of the first things I learned when I arrived at the University of Michigan was that headphones block out most of these socially awkward situations. Headphones, as a social signaling device, tell passing individuals that I don’t want to talk to them (and couldn’t hear them if they tried to ignore this sign). So far, the efficacy of this method is pretty solid; it is rare for somebody to come up to me in public while I’m blaring Justin Bieber’s new single through my massive SOL Republic headphones. Headphone use in public, it seems, is one of the most impactful habits I have developed in my time at the University. Back in high school, when I didn’t have the freedom to use my phone or other devices in school, I used to talk to pretty much anybody I walked past. I prided myself on knowing almost all of my peers by name, though my school’s relatively miniscule population helped. This trend seemed to be indicative of the social situation put forth by the school environment: Nobody had phones or headphones, so our social interaction was more public and interconnected. As a result of my social fluidity, my distaste for socially awkward situations seemed to mellow. Like how lifting weights makes a person stronger, engaging with people made me less socially apprehensive. Over time, I developed a social strength that made me feel confident, happy and, most importantly, engaged with the world around me. This derivation of the social learning theory allowed me to grow with my everyday social interactions. Though the social dynamics of a huge public institution like the University — and, consequently, a bustling Midwestern city like Ann Arbor — are notably different than those of my rural high school, translating my high school sociability doesn’t seem impossible to me. Over the past few months, I have made a concerted effort to not wear headphones while walking to class all the time. Though I don’t talk to every person I pass, I feel that my social anxiety has lessened with each passing awkward-esque interaction. Talking to solicitors while waiting for a crosswalk to open doesn’t make me want to sprint in the
opposite direction. I can make eye contact with a fellow human being without wanting to curl up in a ball and hide me forever. In essence, I am regaining the strength I once had in high school. There are still days when I wear headphones in public. Sometimes I just need to get hyped up for an exam (that I know, deep down, I’m doomed to fail). Other times, it is nice to just have a soundtrack for a beautiful Michigan spring afternoon. Finally, there are just some days when I don’t want to talk to anybody while walking to my 8 a.m. discussion section. There is nothing wrong with these desires and my intent is not to demonize headphones, cell phones or any individual that displays social myopia. However, these instances cannot overtake our lives. With the advent of new technologies like the Internet, smartphones and other devices, some have envisioned future societies that simply do not interact with one another in public. The 2013 movie “Her” featured a man falling in love with the computer that lived in his wireless earbud. “WALL-E,” the futuristic animated movie, showed the world as a mass of screenconnected amorphous blobs that didn’t look at one another, let alone talk to one another. These are worse-case scenarios facilitated by new technologies. With the mass introduction of “Her”-esque Bragi Dash earbuds that rest wirelessly in our ear canals (with similar moves by companies like Apple), it is easy to get cynical. However, these new technologies do nothing to force people into sound bubbles. Nothing about new headphones, or even our existing corded earbuds, force us into avoiding social interaction. It is human nature to avoid things that make us uncomfortable. New technologies do facilitate our ability to focus on things that make us feel comfortable. But, as any college professor can tell you, comfortable isn’t always the best state of being, nor one that will be infinitely achievable. We will not be able to ignore breakups in public when we are involved, so maybe we should learn how to deal with them when we’re not involved. It’s inevitable that we will have to greet somebody that maybe doesn’t remember our names, so maybe we should practice the awkward task sooner rather than later. By practicing with the trials of everyday public social interaction, we can better prepare ourselves for the instances in which we care to interact, as even these voluntary situations can be awkward. It is human nature for awkward situations to arise. But maybe instead of running away from these situations or enclosing ourselves in our headphones, we should just be awkward sometimes. We just might learn how to be less awkward in the future. — Elliott Rains can be reached at erains@umich.edu
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
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NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Congress, which has refused to invest sufficiently in the nation’s public works and has been antagonistic to environmental protection, must also learn from the crisis. — The New York Times Editorial Board, on the Flint water crisis.
W
Discovering what matters
hen I look back on my past three years of college, I have a lot of mixed feelings. I grew up in Ann Arbor and was inevitably a Birkenstockwearing tomboy who wasn’t too excited about life in college because this was already my home. The Big House was just “the stadium,” and I hated the drunken college students who would yell at us when we would drive by like they owned the town, when it was actually mine. I bought my first pair of heels about two weeks into college because I was told that I should have a pair of wedges for sorority recruitment. I looked like a chicken walking uncomfortably in thick tan heels from house to house and had no desire to pretend I was anything but an Ann Arbor girl who really just wanted to find a new place within my home. I went to mixers, date parties and late nights and had a blast. I had a really fun time doing fun things, mindless things. I had a really fun time until I realized I had no idea who I had become or what I wanted. I was in a place, unaware of how I’d gotten there, and at a loss as to how to move forward. I thought I was the only one in this school who was scared shitless about the future. However, I soon realized that I was actually in the majority of students on this campus who have no idea what they really want and are just finding their way one step at a time. I relied on people more than I wanted to, but soon learned that it was OK and normal to do so. I hated the fact that I wasn’t perfect and couldn’t control everything. No one told me that college isn’t all just one big party, late-night study session, exam or paper; it’s just four years of your life. I had this idea that I needed to be a certain person, make regular appearances at Skeeps or Rick’s and prioritize my wardrobe, and it took me three years to finally ignore those and just do what I wanted. It took me
S
three years to prioritize myself. I tried to talk myself out of my major for two years. People told me that English was just a lot of reading and talking. Well, it is. It’s a lot of reading and even more writing. But it’s also a lot of work. I’ve gotten to write about the perspective of flowers, the female perspective of dominant male figures in Greek mythology, the relationship between magical realism and surrealism and the character development in Charles Dickens novels. I really couldn’t be happier. I’ll graduate with a double major in English and political science on April 30.
“I had a really fun time until I had no idea who I had become or what I wanted.” This school is huge. I’ve had my fair share of challenges navigating it even though I grew up here. I’ve had to sacrifice friendships, make hard decisions and push through some really challenging times. But the thing that no one tells you is that so does everyone. I’ve realized that more people on this campus fight battles every day than anyone ever tells you. Yes, we can all go to Skeeps and Rick’s and pretend like we’re fine even if we aren’t. We can hug and complement each other’s lipstick color or necklace, vineyard vines shirt or Bean boots. Or we can start having real conversations about the hard things. I’ve done both, and I’ll probably continue to do both. I’ve just realized that I care a lot more about the hard stuff, because it’s usually the most important and eventually can lead to some of the
best stuff. I’ve had more tear-filled conversations, stomach-churning anxiety and tense walks than some people on this campus, but I’m fine with that. If I could go back in time, I’d have a lot to tell myself. To my freshman self, relax. It’s OK to care. To my sophomore self, it’s OK to have hard times. You can’t fix everyone else’s problems, but you can take care of yourself, in fact you should. Junior me, take a deep breath. You’re human. And now, I hope those of you who have some time left at this school will take the time to grow as an individual. Learn what you like, what you value, what you want, what you have, and enjoy it. Be kind to yourself and trust that you’re not the only one who has felt what you feel. Voice your opinions and concerns, your insecurities, your fears, your values, and learn. Learn a lot. Be respectful and appreciative. College has been a humbling experience in many ways, hardly easy, never boring, always weird — and getting weirder. I’ve made a family and a new home within my home of Ann Arbor. I’ve made best friends, a lot of mistakes and memories that will last me forever. Ann Arbor will always be my home. I will probably always honk at drunk students on Saturday mornings, get frustrated when they walk in front of my car for five minutes without looking up from their cellphones and shake my head when I see sorority girls chanting out of windows. But I get it now. I’ve found a new appreciation for my home and feel so lucky to have been able to spend four years with some of the most amazing professors, GSIs, peers and administrators in the country. In April, I’ll be graduating college. I’m terrified, but at least I can admit it. — Rebecca Gott is an LSA senior.
Going beyond “Je suis Bruxelles”
hining vividly against the darkening night sky and bathed in the colors KAELA of the Belgian THEUT flag, the Eiffel Tower stood tall Tuesday night as a remarkable symbol of European brotherhood — resiliency in the face of terror and shared democratic values. Yet, the support for Belgium after this week’s horrific terrorist attacks in the very heart of Western Europe did not stop there. Scrolling through various social media feeds and websites, I was overwhelmed by the statements and beautiful drawings of “Je Suis Bruxelles” by people of all nationalities, echoing the cries of “Je Suis Charlie” that became viral after the attacks in Paris this past November. If one thing is for sure, our world certainly knows how to come together in times of tragedy, and I will proudly retweet any image supporting the survivors of the bombings in Brussels or change my Facebook profile picture to match the colors of the French flag. However, when six gunmen, members of Al-Qaeda’s North African branch, opened fire at an Ivory Coast beach resort on March 14 and left 16 dead bloodied bodies on the beach, where were our proclamations of “Je Suis Côte d’Ivoire?” Though Brussels certainly saw the most violent acts of terrorism since the attacks in Paris, there have still been dozens of terrorist attacks, most widely unreported, since Nov. 13. In just the past month, bombings in Ankara and Istanbul have killed more than 40 people and left another 162 injured. Many of the injured were foreign tourists and civilians — the same type of victims in the various terrorist attacks on African countries in the past year. In relation to countries such as the Ivory Coast and Turkey, media coverage can portray the United States as existing in an entirely different world. Yet, when Paris, the very bastion of liberty and equality, was attacked, it terrified us so much because it showed how easily such a tragedy could have happened here in our own country. We are reminded of Boston on April 15, 2013; we are
reminded of New York on Sept. 11, 2001. We see pieces of ourselves in the frightened faces of Belgians fleeing through darkened subway tunnels and hear our own voices in the cries of a little French child crying outside the bombed soccer stadium. The world is a rapidly changing place, full of horrible people and events that we can only hope will never be repeated again, and we are scared. Thus, whenever one of our fellow democratic nations is attacked by forces that seem so different from us, we speak out to everyone that will listen, often in the form of social media, to assure both ourselves and our country that freedom, democracy and love will ultimately overcome all.
“In terms of mass murder, how can one life be deemed more important than another?” However, this method of thinking also contributes to the dangerous divide that still exists between wealthy Western countries and the rest of the world, or, in the example of what happened in the Ivory Coast, Muslim and non-Muslim countries. We must work to expand the media coverage of the tragedies that occur across all continents, as they are committed by the same kinds of terrorist groups that the United States is working toward exterminating. Rather than presenting all acts of terrorism, all horrible tragedies, on equal footing, the media sensationalizes any terrorist attack committed against a Western nation by a Muslim group because it fits into the narrative it wants to use to gain viewers and garner an extreme emotional response. The same week Paris was attacked, stories about Boko Haram militants marching into the village of Baga, Nigeria, slaughtering more than 2,000 civilians and seizing control of the nation-
state resurfaced because they hadn’t gotten the same amount of attention previously. Here in the United States, Africa is portrayed as a land where these types of killings are common, yet that aspect alone should amass even more scrutiny from the Western world. In terms of mass murder, how can one life be deemed more important than another? In order to strengthen our understanding of groups such as Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and ISIS, we must realize that the Westerndominated media only present a miniscule number of the atrocities they commit. Yet, the human heart has no limit on the amount of love it can express. We don’t have to choose which tragedies to mourn, we can show solidarity with people of all countries. Because when there is a terrorist group slaughtering innocent civilians, choosing to uphold our stereotypical distinctions between Western countries and the rest of the world is harmful to both our duties as human beings and our national security. We must not only show support for countries far away, but to our fellow citizens inside U.S. borders as well. The manner in which Western media covers terrorism only augments ignorance. Today, only 27 percent of Americans have a positive view of Muslim Americans, which is absolutely terrifying — seeing as Muslim Americans have absolutely nothing to do with the attacks committed by radical groups such as ISIS. Ignorance such as this leads to hatred and violence, which, judging by the state of the world right now, we don’t need any more of. I wholeheartedly support “Je Suis Bruxelles” and “Je Suis Charlie,” but I also call for the inclusion of support for terrorism-torn countries that are cut off from the rest of the world due to lack of resources and corrupt governments. By educating ourselves on the horrible acts being committed beyond our bubble of Western capitalism, we can better aid and raise awareness for nations that are under risk of being completely taken over by dangerous radical groups. — Kaela Theut can be reached at ktheut@umich.edu
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION
Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
LITERATURE COLUMN
The rarity of readability
A
few months ago, in my other life as the film beat editor for The Michigan Daily, I was looking over a Daily Arts application. After giving the application a once-over and more thoroughly reading the writing samples, I put an enthusiastic YES in the voting Google Doc. Almost instantaneously, I got REBECCA a text from a fellow editor, LERNER reading “did you see what [they] said about your lit column tho.” I went back to the application and, sure enough, I saw the phrase: “the literary columns are often pretentious and seem uninviting to those who are not extremely well versed in literature.” I’d like to take this opportunity to say that this person is now on my beat and is a great writer and contributor to the Daily. When I bring this incident up, I’m not trying to call anyone out — but this comment made me consider the way I write, in terms of readability. Readability, the ease with which a reader can understand a given text, hasn’t always been at the forefront of my mind in my writing. Before college, when beginning to consider myself a “writer,” I would meticulously look through the thesaurus, trying to improve my vocabulary and find big words to annoyingly throw into casual conversation. Even last year, I had a list of
pretentious words next to my bed that I would put into my film reviews (at which my editor would raise his eyebrows). But after reading that fairly innocuous comment in the Arts application, I began to consider language as a barrier. In Langston Hughes’s anthology of African short stories, “An African Treasury,” he explicitly says he chose “those pieces which I enjoyed most and which I hope others will find entertaining, moving, possibly instructive, but above all readable. For me, creative writing’s first function is readability.” When I first read this passage in the introduction to Hughes’s anthology, I was in total agreement. It seems reasonable that authors in general would want as large a potential audience as possible, but especially for Hughes, who witnessed incredible inequality throughout his life. After seeing the effects of segregation, Hughes wanted to break down the barriers between people, including those in literature. Still, with the enormous disparities in wealth and education in this country, these obstacles to learning and reading exist even today. But when looking at both past and present literary celebrities, there’s no question that not all authors share Hughes’s approach. Some authors want to make you work hard to understand their work, and since the start of literature there have been people like this. They’re often the same authors who want to exclude minorities and women from literature, using both their status and their words to keep
others from the literary world. And yet there’s a sort of pride in getting through an unwelcoming text, one that the author clearly wants to make difficult for you. By engaging with texts specifically designed for an elite reader, are we constructing the very economies that create this exclusivity? In reading authors like Jonathan Franzen and Laurence Stern, are we playing right into their literary gatekeeping? Should we never read again? Probably not. As both readers and writers, it’s important to be conscious of who the audience is meant to be — and what structures we’re reinforcing with that work. But even if that work is emphasizing a point that we disagree with, it’s still substantive to look at critically. When we were discussing balancing these concepts in one of my classes, a peer aptly stated, “Some of the most important work in the world makes you feel like an inadequate slug.” I’ll admit, literature has made me feel slug-like on many occasions: when people hate my work, when someone uses a word I don’t know and even when I struggle through some of the reading in my harder literature classes that combines difficult vocabulary with convoluted concepts. In both reading and writing, there’s a necessity to be cognizant of what words can do. While it can feel easier to hide behind big words, the benefits of literature come from its big ideas. Lerner is not pretentious, nor uninviting. To find out for yourself, e-mail her at rebler@umich.edu.
FILM REVIEW
‘Dawn of’ a letdown By RACHEL RICHARDSON Daily Arts Writer
There’s a new mentality toward superheroes in Gotham City. Residents no longer welcome them into the city, but Cbanish them to its outskirts — Batman v. they’ve become completely fed Superman: up with these Dawn of cape-wearing creatures, and Justice by the end Rave & Quality 16 of “Batman Warner Bros. v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” we are, too. Basically, there’s a lot of tension between Batman (Ben Affleck, “Argo”) and Superman (Henry Cavill, “Man of Steel”), and the public hates both of them, thanks to Lex Luthor’s (Jesse Eisenberg, “American Ultra”) manipulative tactics. Luthor wants both of them dead, so their feud allows him to get what he wants with minimal effort on his part (although he does go to great lengths to create a backup plan). On the sidelines is Lois Lane (Amy Adams, “Man of Steel”), who desperately tries to repair Superman’s broken image. Sadly, no one vouches for Batman’s greatness, making him look like a ruthless killer lacking any morals whatsoever. Even more depressing is the romance between Lois and Clark; its destructive power can only be matched by kryptonite. Producing one coherent plot proves to be a difficult task for screenwriters Chris Terrio (“Argo”) and David S. Goyer (“The Dark Knight”). Even if you’re not a DC Comics fanatic, you’ll most likely predict 90 percent of the film’s events at least 10 minutes before they happen because of the excessive foreshadowing. And while we’re given far too many hints about what’s going to happen next, we don’t get enough backstory. Then there’s the issue of new characters suddenly being introduced, only to be killed off a few scenes later.
Nothing is inherently wrong with big-budget superhero movies produced by production companies like Warner Bros., and many are remarkable. But when the companies churn out a movie with the sole purpose of creating hype for the sequel, the movie at hand inevitably suffers a tragic fate. “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” suffers from this unfortunate mistake; annoyingly obvious promotional inserts further deteriorate the already loose narrative storyline. Performance-wise, the portrayal of Batman wins, hands down. Affleck delivers his lines with just enough emotion to nicely humanize Bruce Wayne’s character without seeming melodramatic. But the feats of a hero are only impressive if he defeats a formidable adversary. Luckily for Affleck, Eisenberg perfectly portrays the infamous Lex Luthor. The ever-present but only slightly detectable quiver in Eisenberg’s voice emphasizes Luthor’s insecurities, which fuel his malicious desires. His freakishly high intelligence alone, demonstrated by his well-written, almost prophetic lines, is enough to make both opponents and audience members feel like hiding. But this is Jesse Eisenberg we’re talking about — he already brings a fantastically versatile awkwardness to every character he portrays, which can make us see him as anything from insanely adorable to totally evil. He also provides us with the only moments of comic relief that are actually humorous. As for their female counterparts, Adams’s talent is taken for granted, as she is quickly reduced from a keen, independent woman to a damsel in distress. On the other hand, Gal Gadot (“Furious 7”), who plays Wonder Woman, is only allowed to demonstrate her badass combat skills for a few scenes, most of which are spoiled in the trailer anyway. It’s pretty obvious from the opening sequence how this film cost nearly $250 million — the cinematography is astounding. The shots of young Bruce Wayne falling down a hole, running through what seems to be a graveyard and
experiencing the death of his parents are extremely aesthetically pleasing. There’s a beautiful color contrast between the vibrant blue sky above Bruce as he falls and the darkness surrounding him as he runs through the graveyard. Another remarkable scene is the car chase that happens after Batman/Bruce Wayne realizes the true identity of the White Portuguese. Somehow his armored car, which looks like a Batmobile designed in the year 2020, can withstand explosives, machine gun bullets and everything else Lex Luthor’s henchmen throw at it. Cinematographer Larry Fong’s special effects are a perfect visual spectacle here: they’re quite unbelievable, but not entirely unrealistic. The captivating powers of this scene are further enhanced by the constantly shifting camera angles from which the viewers witness the event. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is riddled with cheesiness. This isn’t your barely tolerable level of corniness either — it’s an exasperated sigh, a facepalminducing level of awfulness. Slow motion is used far too often, turning what should be glorious moments into comedic ones. Another unfortunate trope is the superhero stare — the close-up shots that emphasize his gaze, then, ideally, quickly cut to what he was looking at. In the film, these shots are held far too long, making us feel incredibly uncomfortable as we watch. Essentially, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” suffers from an identity crisis. It falters trying to assert its belonging in the superhero genre by overemphasizing numerous clichés. Furthermore, the amped-up romantic subplot between Lois and Clark attempts to inject romantic drama into a superhero adaptation, but it only results in dryness. Luckily, Eisenberg and Affleck’s performances are superb enough to provide us with a sense of stability. Despite the chaos that the script generates, they understand that the essence of this story is the same as every other superhero flick: the battle between good and evil.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 — 5
ALBUM REVIEW
COLUMBIA RECORDS
“Oh, Rover, the way that you flip your tail gets me overwhelmed.”
Zayn’s solo start puts the lust in lackluster By DANIELLE IMMERMAN Daily Arts Writer
Allow me to introduce you to the new and improved Justin Timberlake. A year after escaping One B Direction, Zayn Malik — Mind of the most talented member Mine of the British Zayn boy band, former 12-year- Columbia Records old girls’ obsession and Gigi Hadid’s best accessory — just put out his first solo album. Sick of the tight pop parameters placed on One Direction, Zayn quit the band real quick in pursuit of creative freedom, and that’s exactly what Mind of Mine is. It’s Zayn being Zayn. What does that mean? It means the virginal boy band image is tarnished with 18 songs packed with references to sex, alcohol and sex. It means basic pop ballads are ripped apart and shredded with R&B flare. It means One Direction homogeneity is replaced with a diverse set of club bangers, seductive R&B soothers and stripped down ballads. Let’s start with the club bangers. These are the Justin Bieber “What Do You Mean?”
frat party hits: “Tio,” “Pillowtalk” and “Like I Would” are rated R One Direction hits with sexy lyrics and techno beats. They won’t matter in five years, but for now, look forward to hearing them at the bars. Where things get interesting are with the seductive R&B soothers: “Wrong,” “Truth” and “Rear View” are pretty solid but “Befour” is the essence of Zayn. Slow, steady beats are layered with subtle instrumentals to let ears catch every marvelous note Zayn hits, because at 2:15 he belts that falsetto like no other contemporary artist can. His voice just keeps soaring and seducing and working. Yes, the lyrics may be basic, but with a voice like that, dull diction can be overlooked.
The new and improved Justin Timberlake. But just when you thought you were listening to a former boybander, the intermission hits and it hits hard. “Flower,” lasting for just a minute and 44 seconds, is a minute and 44 seconds of artistic genius. As legend has it,
Zayn completely improvised this Pakistani ghazal interlude. Sung in Urdu, “Flower” is probably the most notable track on Mind of Mine. It effectively turns just another R&B/pop album into something more. Nodding to his Pakistani Muslim heritage, this folky “let me practice some yoga poses” interlude is not only meaningful to Zayn, but lovely for the rest of us to listen to. However, between “Befour” and this stand-out intermission, it’s hard to really appreciate the rest of the album. Zayn attempts to pull at our heartstrings with stripped down ballads like “It’s You,” “Fool For You” and “Blue,” but from the lack of powerful instrumentals to the absence of his entrancing vocals, they all fall short of anything but average. Though at first listen Mind of Mine positions Zayn as the next Justin Timberlake, there’s no doubt that something is lurking behind his music that would say he’s something — someone — more. Once you get past some of the essential club hits he had to produce to stay relevant, “Truth” and “Flower” prove that Zayn has more to offer than just a few club hits and R&B jams. Whatever Zayn does next will be interesting, but for now respect the existence of “Flower” and add those R&B tracks to your sex playlist.
TV REVIEW
‘Heartbeat’ doesn’t have any sign of life By MEGAN MITCHELL Daily Arts Writer
“Heartbeat” is the melting pot of the medical daytime drama. It’s like the network dropped Dr. Mahoney (Eliza Coupe, D+ “Quantico”) from the last season of Heartbeat “Scrubs” onto Pilot (First the set of “Red two episodes Band Socireviewed) ety” with the cast of “Grey’s NBC Anatomy.” Tuesdays But instead at 9 p.m. of the super cool mash-up it sounds like, “Heartbeat” falls short of expectations, becoming a Viagra infomercial that never ends. Actress Melissa George (“The Good Wife”) leads this soap as Dr. Alex Panttiere, a brilliant and outspoken heart transplant surgeon whose role is loosely inspired by the work of Dr. Kathy Magliato, one of the few female cardiothoracic surgeons in the world. However, “loosely” is an understatement. Even though the show reports to be completely based off of Dr. Magliato’s personal experiences, the delivery is artificial. Where Dr. Magliato is a professional and leader in her career, Dr. Alex displays overly reckless actions and insulting behavior towards both her colleagues and patients. She blatantly disregards a midair medical crisis to finish
preparing a speech and knocks impatiently on the glass window during an important legal meeting. Although Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie, “Tomorrowland”) also displayed these uncomfortable qualities, at least House took the time to learn the names of his colleagues and interns. Alex knows them by nicknames like “spray tan” and “glasses.” The dynamic of “Heartbeat” is uncomfortable, at best. Although her family is broken and her job runs her life, the writers managed to jam in a love triangle between Panttiere, Australian McDreamy doppelganger (Don Hany, “Offspring”) and her internal surgeon boyfriend (Dave Annable, “Brothers & Sisters”). The only real romantic relationship in her life is with her ex-husband and famous rocker, Max Elliot (Joshua Leonard, “If I Stay”) who is, unfortunately for her, gay. But he’s a good father to their children, who show up about one time per episode to remind us of their existence. At work, the nurses throw racist comments at one another and doctors tease with sex jokes that are more uncomfortable than funny. The only slightly funny joke is when the interns seem to pop out of thin air, crowding the M.D.’s with notepads a few inches in front of their faces. Otherwise, this is not a hospital where you would want to be a patient. However, jokes aside, the human aspect of “Heartbeat” is compelling, pulling at our heart-
strings with the intense situations Dr. Alex’s patients seem to find themselves in on daily basis. In the second episode, a pair of conjoined twins face the emotionally taxing decision of permanent separation when one sister is diagnosed with cancer and cannot undergo chemotherapy without harming her twin. After a 24-hour operation that showcases Alex’s command over both the operating room and her male colleagues, the sisters wake up to fully see each other for the first time as the staff huddles anxiously in the cramped room. It’s a touching moment that showcases the best of medicine and the payoff that comes with the high-risk, high-reward lifestyle of the hospital’s staff. Then it’s back to the drama for Dr. Alex, who stares into Aussie McDreamy’s eyes as her boyfriend looks on jealously during an operation. I’m not a doctor, but even I know that she should probably focus on the open chest in front of her over those gorgeous eyes. “Heartbeat” seems to be NBC’s delayed response to ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” They try and try to showcase the role of women in a man’s profession, but ultimately end up showcasing an uncaring, troublemaker doctor who cares more about getting blood on her outfit than helping a dying patient. Unfortunately, “Grey’s Anatomy” might just be better than this glorified soap opera, which, unlike its namesake, doesn’t seem to have a pulse.
Arts
6 — Tuesday, March 29, 2016
ALBUM REVIEW
Thugga saunters along on ‘Slime 3’ Young Thug stays consistent but loses his novelty By MATT GALLATIN Daily Arts Writer
With the rapid musical output of Young Thug comes the inevitable fall of his novelty. And it’s about time, for it’s seemed like an eternity of B responses to Thug being Slime almost unani- Season 3 mously selfrighteous and Young Thug intensely vis- 300 Enterceral, negative tainment or positive. Modern Atlanta rap as a general movement calls for these immediate reactions more than anywhere, thanks to its consistently weird and conventional-bashing artists. Still, Thugger remains an anomaly with his melodic highpitched squeaks and screams. Now removed from his remarkably publicized 2015, it finally feels possible to approach Thug with a clear head, with novelty aside and music at the forefront. Slime Season 3 is a solid entryway to do just that. It’s Young Thug’s least cluttered, most streamlined and approachable tape so far, and it solidifies him as a clear staple of the rap scene, your personal feelings aside.
All of the elements of a classic Young Thug release are here. There’s the undeniable banger, “With Them,” which is the more labored and paced cousin of “F Cancer.” “Worth It” is a lavish love song, and perhaps his most heart-on-the-sleeve dedication to fiancé Jerrika Karlae yet. The tape is a tasting board of sorts, with the most obvious signatures of Thug stretched out and applied to an entire release. Absent, though, are the far left field experiments that appear on his less linear works. This newfound focus acts as a double-edged sword. The majority of criticism weighted against Thug’s earlier releases revolved around a lack of project cohesion. The two previous tapes in the Slime Season trilogy sprawled for over an hour each, and alternated between greatness and filler, like a gold mine that needed to be hacked away at. With his last release, I’m Up (billed as a “retail mixtape”), we saw Thug taking heed of that criticism, offering just nine songs and cutting his normal release output in half. The result was an improved project, but an underwhelming collection of tracks. There were no clear stand-outs, and the replay value was minimal. Slime Season 3 sees Thug applying that same reductive hand to a more successful result. There are no serious lulls, which can mostly be attributed to the hack-job that was done here — the tape clocks in at just 28 minutes. But there are also, unsurprisingly, far less gems than
the earlier Slime Season tapes. That’s not to say Slime Season 3 doesn’t have highlights. “Digits,” the best here, is a nihilistic shrug that still manages to achieve anthem status. “Why not risk life when it’s gon’ keep going? / When you die somebody else was born,” Thug asserts, demonstrating deeper lyricism than his non-sequiturs (“I’mma pull out screaming hokey pokey okey”) lead on. Opener banger “With Them” is an exercise in word acrobatics, weaving double and triple entendres together with deceptive ease. But, like I’m Up, the best moments here don’t reach the level that Thug’s 2015 standouts did. Nothing here is as oddly cathartic as “Calling Your Name,” as arresting as “Just Might Be” or as irresistible as “Best Friend.” In many ways this is the commercial release that debut album Barter 6 was expected to be (but wasn’t): less experimental, more straightforward and easier for the masses to consume. But that’s dangerous territory for the Atlanta rapper, who thrives on the unpredictable. Where Barter 6 succeeded in eschewing typical notions of who, or what, “Young Thug” could be, Slime Season 3 leans on the safer side. Thus we get the first release by the artist that could have actually been anticipated. For now, this doesn’t take away from the artist’s work — Slime Season 3 is a solid tape front to back. But consistency has a tendency to dull, and we can only hope that where he goes next, no one knows.
Classifieds
RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Gobbled down 6 IRS enforcer 10 Galaxy Tab rival 14 Memory slip 15 Lifeboat movers 16 Indian bridal dress 17 Hard-to-please diva 19 Money for the pot 20 Beast of burden 21 TriCLEAN gasoline brand 22 Skin ink, casually 23 Holder of odds and ends 25 “Bless you!” trigger 28 Penne __ vodka: pasta dish 29 Hider in a haystack 31 Former “Tonight Show” announcer Hall 32 Religious offshoot 34 Like pages worth bookmarking 36 Pueblo-dwelling tribe 39 Tart taste 40 Pesto thickeners 44 Short race 47 Hubbub 48 Full of pluck 51 Bring up 53 Spot to enjoy oysters and clams 55 Way back when 57 Have 58 Origami bird 59 Windy City superstation 60 Bear whose bed was too hard 62 Dine together, and a hint to this puzzle’s circles 64 Deadlocked 65 In __: with all judges present 66 Diciembre follower 67 Granny 68 Help, as a fugitive 69 Cheryl and Diane DOWN 1 Llama cousin 2 Ankle bones
3 New Testament letter 4 Branch of the mil. 5 Cobbler fruit 6 Play the flute 7 Botched up 8 River under the Ponte Vecchio 9 Federal hushhush org. 10 Sci-fi writer Asimov 11 Cat with black fur 12 Statues and sculptures 13 Conk out 18 Gorilla expert Fossey 22 Famous last words? 24 Hidden store 25 Pond plant 26 Poem of tribute 27 Like 2015 30 Point 33 Polynesian archipelago native 35 Lab gelatins 37 Contented kitty sound 38 “Lord, is __?” 40 Target score in “Mario Golf”
41 Mrs. McKinley 42 Sign on a new store 43 Synthetic rubber compound 45 Kelp, e.g. 46 Gaunt from exertion 49 Law that incited a 1773 Boston revolt 50 Pull hard 52 Sonata movements
54 Master, in Swahili 56 One resisting authority 58 Chesapeake Bay crustacean 60 Cattle holder 61 “Selma” director DuVernay 62 Marketing major’s deg. 63 “Messenger” molecule
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
03/29/16
In praise of the music on ‘Girls’
“
You’re in fucking outer space.” These are the words that “Girls”’s Shoshanna hears on last week’s episode right before she ditches her boyfriend and walks ADAM home alone through the THEISEN Tokyo streets at night. As the camera stays motionless and Shoshanna’s isolated back becomes smaller and smaller, one of the most devastatingly beautiful cover songs I’ve ever heard plays and the credits
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begin to roll. 19-year-old Norwegian singer Aurora’s version of David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” soundtracks an out of place and uncertain Shoshanna, and it’s artistic perfection. Sparsely arranged — just a keyboard and a young voice — and stunningly delicate, “Life on Mars” was on constant repeat for me in the days following its airing. I’ve never heard anything like it. The idea that someone could actually record a superior version of a David Bowie classic is something I’ve struggled to come to terms with in the past week, but Aurora does it. It’s crushing to me how restrained she stays, how she uses nothing but her voice to keep you engaged. She drags out every phrase of Bowie’s surreal poetry, moaning to stick words together, making her voice high-jump to reach the first notes of the choruses, pronouncing “fighting in the dancehall” like her mouth isn’t quite under control. It’s impossible not to be enthralled. In this particular scene, with the added subtext of David Bowie’s mortality, “Life on Mars” places Shoshanna as this tiny, tiny dot in an unknowably large universe, walking through what might as well be a dream for all its frustrating, confusing twists. She’s looking for life; she’s looking for a spark, trying to find herself in a world that too often feels cold and airless. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get that episode’s closing sequence out of my head. But if you regularly watch Lena Dunham’s “Girls,” the fact that the show uses music in the most incredible ways is not new news. My introduction to the show was Lee Moses, this old soul guy with a voice like the devil and a thrilling, obscure set of recordings. A friend played his song “Bad Girl,” and its white-hot sound blew me away so much I needed to know where it came from. “ ‘Girls,’ ” she said. “That’s where I get all my music from.” I spent the next weeks playing Lee Moses for every single person I hung out with, imploring them to understand just how shockingly, historically, mind-blowing “Bad Girl” was. A year later, I’ve burned through four seasons of “Girls” and now get really excited every Sunday night, because each episode always ends up inspiring me. And “Bad Girl” remains one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard. And these amazing songs are all over “Girls.” One episode ends with this unbelievably fucked-up bedroom scene that I can’t describe because my mom reads this column, but as the credits start they’re soundtracked by Belle & Sebastian’s “I Don’t Love Anyone,” which taken together is one of the most audacious things I’ve ever seen on TV. In another, Ray argues with a DJ for switching his Smashing Pumpkins to LMFAO, hilariously yammering on about a “breach of contract.” New Order’s “Age of Consent” plays at a party, and that made me totally reevaluate “Age of Consent,” because I always thought of it as this
secretly incredible song that could only be passed on by one person playing it for another. Marnie breaks my heart for singing this awful, embarrassing a capella version of Kanye West’s “Stronger” in front of a room full of strangers. Adam punches a car stereo to turn off Maroon 5 and ends up inadvertently quoting The Rolling Stones. So I’ve been going back over all these great musical moments in the show and trying to figure out what makes them so great. And okay, like 90 percent of it is just Lena Dunham (or whoever makes the musical choices) having incredible taste. But at the same time, “Girls” is the perfect show for maximizing the potential of music to complement characters and scenes. I see this ability best all the way back in the first season, when Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” closes out an early episode. Hannah is moping and turns on it, proceeding to dance out her feelings. Marnie walks in, they share a laugh about Hannah’s ex being gay and Marnie starts to dances along as the camera pans out. And sure, these characters are not good people, and it’s impossible to truly love them like you would a lot of TV protagonists. But there’s a strange beauty in how music affects our emotions, how it can turn some shitty feelings into an unforgettable moment with a friend, and observing that on a weekly basis is a treat. “Girls” is, at its core, a celebration of being alone (or, if you want to be more charitable, call it independence). None of its characters are good people, and every relationship over the course of its four-plus seasons has ended up trashed. It’s a little exaggerated, and it’s often a certain brand of flawed, straight whiteness that can be difficult to identify with, but it’s not crazy different from the real world, at least compared to most TV shows. People who think they’re in love sometimes push each other apart, we occasionally act like assholes to our friends and we go through lengthy stretches where we don’t know who the fuck we are. And that’s when music is there for us. When we want confidence, support, reassurance and fun, we can always turn on a song. Music is there to make us dance with hot strangers or cry in our rooms by ourselves or scream along to with our friends at 2 a.m. Songs are there to start conversations and arguments, to melt away stress or disappointment. Music exists to mend severed connections, and when they’re unmendable, it’s there to make it OK. And whoever the genius is behind soundtrack of “Girls,” whether it’s Lena Dunham or some unknown hero, she gets it. We can be all the way off in outer space, away from our friends or away from ourselves, but as long as we have music, we’re never totally gone. Theisen can’t always get what he wants, but if he tries sometimes, you’ll e-mail him at ajtheis@umich.edu.
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 — 7
Nieves, Selman sign pro deals By MINH DOAN Daily Sports Editor
Just two days after the Michigan hockey team’s season ended after it was bounced from the NCAA Tournament, two Wolverines signed professional contracts to play in the National Hockey League. These contracts were expected. Early Monday, it was reported that senior forward Boo Nieves signed a contract with the New York Rangers. Later in the day, fellow senior forward Justin Selman followed suit, signing with the St. Louis Blues. “It’s just special for us,” Selman said. “It’s a close group of three guys, and we’re kind of living the dream right now.” The two alternate captains finish their Michigan careers as two of just three seniors in a class that once also included players such as Jacob Trouba and Andrew Copp, who left the Wolverines early for the NHL. The duo played on the same line with junior forward Alex Kile for a majority of the season. The Rangers originally drafted Nieves with their second-round pick (59th overall) in 2012. A Baldwinsville, N.Y., native, Nieves will immediately report to the Rangers’ top affiliate, the American Hockey League’s Hartford Wolf Pack, where he will be on an amateur tryout contract before his two-year deal kicks in next season. Nieves will finish out his academic career at Michigan this summer. “It only took only a few hours (of negotiation on Sunday), pretty hassle-free,” Nieves said. “It shows how much they believe in me. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet. So far I’ve only signed a few papers. I’m definitely really excited, but I don’t think it’s going to sink in until I’m out there in Hartford.”
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Senior forwards Boo Nieves and Justin Selman have signed professional contracts with the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues, respectively.
Nieves totaled 110 points (28 goals, 82 assists) in his Michigan career, with his best season coming this year, when he hit a double-digit goal tally (10) for the first time while donning the maize and blue. Known as one of the faster players on the team, Nieves’ speed and big build (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) should bode well for his chances of NHL success. “Michigan’s done a lot for me,” Nieves said. “On the ice, I’ve matured physically. In particular, I’ve gotten a lot better at faceoffs and D-zone coverage. Off the ice, it’s more just growing up as a person and learning to use my time. It’s easy to (get) distracted with school and everything else going on, but it’s really taught me
to manage my time. I’m really excited to take the next step.” An Upper Saddle River, N.J., native, Selman will begin his pro career with the Blues’ top affiliate, the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Like Nieves, Selman will also be on an amateur tryout contract before his twoyear entry-level contract takes effect next season. “Luckily there is another Michigan guy, Scooter Vaughan,” Selman said. “So hopefully, he’ll take me under his wing.”
Selman was invited to and attended a development camp with the Blues this past summer, and the St. Louis club has kept an eye on him throughout the season. “It was a great learning experience, and I thought I had a good chance,” Selman said. “The meetings with the coaches and staff went really well.” He was undrafted when he arrived at Michigan, but carved out a niche for himself with his strong puck handling ability and
“It’s just special for us ... we’re kind of living the dream right now.”
developed as one the Wolverines’ better two-way players. He finishes his career at Michigan with 66 points (29 goals, 37 assists), and also had his best scoring output this past season with 13 goals and 17 assists. “Just playing with the best players in the country and in the world — like Jacob Trouba a couple of years ago,” Selman said. “Day in and day out, you develop without even realizing it.” Selman will also finish out his academic career at Michigan this summer. “This is all really icing on the cake,” Selman said. “Ultimately, a Michigan education is really important to me and my family.” Daily Sports Writer Justin Meyer contributed reporting.
Wolverines continue homestand Tuesday By NATHANIEL CLARK Daily Sports Writer
After 17 consecutive road games, the Michigan baseball team swept the University of IllinoisChicago in its Central home-opening Michigan at series. Now, the Michigan 20th-ranked Matchup: Wolverines Central (16-5) will take Michigan 5-19; on Central Michigan 16-5 Michigan (1-2 Mid-American, When: Tuesday 5-19 overall) 4 P.M. Tuesday afternoon at Where: Ray Fisher Stadium Ray Fisher Stadium. Michigan defeated the Chippewas in the two games the teams played against each other last year, 5-3 and 6-5, respectively. On paper, Central Michigan does not appear to be a formidable challenge for the Wolverines. The Chippewas have won only one road game this season, have a team batting average of .237 and an earned-run average of 6.94. Contrastingly, Michigan is hitting .303 and has a team ERA of 2.39. But Central Michigan does have two clear playmakers in its batting lineup. Shortstop Zach McKinstry is currently hitting .351, with 34 hits and nine RBI while left fielder Daniel Jipping is batting .282, with three home runs and 15 RBI. “We’re just going to keep focusing one pitch at a time, one inning at a time,” said junior first baseman and right-handed
Loss shows Michigan’s uneven play
J
BASEBALL
Fresh off four-game sweep of IllinoisChicago, ‘M’ hosts Central Michigan
SOFTBALL
pitcher Carmen Benedetti. “I have full faith in the guys that we’re going to play well, play hard and the results will take care of themselves.” While Michigan’s offense scored more than six runs just three times prior to the series against IllinoisChicago, the Wolverines accomplished the feat twice against the Flames, scoring 10 runs in two of their games. And Central Michigan will face Benedetti and senior catcher Harrison Wenson at the worst possible time, as both are hot at the plate. Wenson was particularly impressive against the Flames. He recorded eight hits in 15 at-bats and drove in nine runs. Wenson’s biggest moment came in Friday’s contest, when he blasted a two-run home run to put Michigan ahead 4-2 en route to a 10-2 victory. Wenson is now hitting .417 on the season. Benedetti shined for the Wolverines as well. He went 8-for-13 against Illinois-Chicago and scored the game-winning run off a single by senior centerfielder Cody Bruder in the bottom of the ninth inning in Michigan’s 5-4 win Sunday. Benedetti’s batting average increased from .298 to .357 over the weekend. “Just sliding into home plate (on Bruder’s single) was a pretty fun feeling,” Benedetti said. “I had full intentions of scoring. (Bruder) hit the ball really hard up the middle, and I knew there was going to be a play at the plate. So I just had to run hard and do my best to score.” Sophomore designated hitter Drew Lugbauer didn’t hold back
in his praise for his teammates. “Harrison Wenson and Carmen Benedetti have quality at-bats all of the time,” Lugbauer said on Sunday. As if all of that weren’t enough, Benedetti pitched 2.2 shutout innings of relief Sunday and struck out four batters. Against the Flames, the Wolverines’ starting pitching anchored them once again. Sophomore left-hander Oliver Jaskie, junior left-hander Brett Adcock and sophomore righthander Ryan Nutof each pitched at least six innings, gave up fewer than three runs and earned a victory. However, since Michigan will be playing on only one day’s rest, Michigan coach Erik Bakich said to expect a starter outside of the main rotation. “You can’t start a guy on that short (a period) of rest,” Bakich said. “So we’ll have a new starter.” But he didn’t offer any specifics as to whom that might be. “(The starter) will either be a lefty or a righty,” Bakich said with a grin. “I’ll have to talk to (pitching coach Sean) Kenny about it.” While a new starter will present an unknown for the Wolverines, the fact that Michigan’s bats have been hot and teams are hitting .303 off of the Chippewas might just propel the Wolverines to victory anyway.
“I have full faith in the guys that we’re going to play well.”
For coverage of the game Check MichiganDaily.com’s sports page Tuesday night
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Zach Werenski could sign an NHL contract as soon as Tuesday.
Werenski in talks with Blue Jackets By JASON RUBINSTEIN Daily Sports Writer
With the talent the Michigan hockey team brings in each year, early NHL defections are inevitable. And this year is no different. As early as Tuesday, sophomore defenseman Zach Werenski is expected to sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets. As of Monday night, Werenski has been in contract talks with the Blue Jackets, according to sources close to the team. Werenski, the Big Ten Defenseman of the Year, was drafted eighth overall in the 2015 NHL Draft. The 18-yearold had a breakout sophomore season. He tallied 11 goals and 24 assists during the season, and his 35 points ranked fourth on the team. He also anchored the Wolverines’ nation-leading power-play unit. Werenski came back to Michigan for his sophomore season after a strong freshman year, which he said was a difficult decision.
“I wanted to come back here to learn as a player, just grow my game in all three zones,” Werenski told the Daily earlier this year. “The main thing is learning and becoming a better player. I think I did a good job of that in the first half (of the season). I think that really showed at World Juniors — how good of a job Michigan has done developing their players.” He added that he most wanted to improve his physical play. “I came in with that as one of my goals — to play harder, play more physical,” Werenski said. Werenski, a Grosse Pointe, Mich., native, also captained Team USA to a bronze medal at the 2015 World Junior Championships. Where Werenski will play this season is still uncertain — he may report to Columbus, or he could play for the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie Monsters.
This is a developing story Check MichiganDaily.com throughout Tuesday for updates
unior right-hander Megan Betsa jogged out into the circle to replace Sara Driesenga. Northwestern had come out strong in the fifth inning Friday ORION against the fifth-year SANG senior rightOn Softball hander, and Sabrina Rabin’s RBI single had just cut the Wolverines’ lead to 7-3. Betsa needed to record only one more out to stop the bleeding. But she couldn’t get it. She hit the first Northwestern batter and allowed two runs to score with wild pitches and three walks — the last of which came with the bases loaded. The Wolverines ended up losing, 13-12, to Northwestern after blowing an early lead and failing to complete a late comeback attempt. The loss displayed Michigan’s biggest problem: inconsistency. “I want my team to not be afraid of whatever the hell they’re afraid of,” said Michigan coach Carol Hutchins after the loss Friday. “Right now, they’re caught up in their status, and their status is they are last in the Big Ten right now. So hopefully you’ll see a fighting, attacking team on all ends — pitchers, hitters and fielders.” Though the Wolverines have started out the season with a 23-3 record, there have been bumps along the way: an 8-0 run-rule loss to No. 1 Florida, a 6-5 loss to No. 10 Washington and close calls against No. 16 UCLA and Illinois State. Against the Gators, both the pitching and the offense lacked, while defensive miscues cost Michigan against the Huskies. And if the Wolverines hope to reach the Women’s College World Series again, they have to avoid performances like Friday’s. Their troubles start with the pitching staff, which consists of junior right-hander Megan Betsa, fifth-year senior righthander Sara Driesenga and sophomore right-hander Tera Blanco. It isn’t as if Betsa, Driesenga and Blanco aren’t talented or experienced enough — it’s more that they haven’t pitched like they’re capable of. Hutchins has said before that she wants her pitchers to have more confidence in their defense and offense and that they don’t need to be perfect. It certainly seemed, though, that they were trying too hard to be perfect in the loss Friday afternoon. The three pitchers threw a combined eight walks and also hit two batters, trying too hard to paint the corners when they should’ve thrown more strikes. Considering all the selfinduced damage, it appears that the staff needs to remember that they are backed by a competent defense and one of the best — if not the best — offensive lineups in the country. But even that potent batting order initially failed to respond to Northwestern’s offensive outburst until the final frame. The offense, which had been listless in the fifth and sixth innings even as the deficit grew, awoke in the bottom of the seventh and scored five runs — but it was too little, too late. “I told them, ‘You fought like hell in one inning,’ ” Hutchins said. “But that’s not acceptable, because there are seven innings in the game.” On Saturday and Sunday, the Wolverines fought like hell for the entirety of the game, bludgeoning the Wildcats on their way to two run-rule victories. With a long road back to Oklahoma City, Michigan will need to heed its coach’s advice every game if it hopes to be in the same position later this year. Sang can be reached at otsang@umich.edu and on Twitter @orion_sang.
Sports
8 — Tuesday, March 29, 2016
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Albrecht to play next year as grad transfer By SIMON KAUFMAN and LEV FACHER Daily Sports Editor and Daily Sports Writer
Spike Albrecht has been granted his release to transfer and will play out his final season of eligibility elsewhere. ESPN first reported the news Tuesday night, and Albrecht confirmed it with the Daily shortly thereafter over the phone. Albrecht announced in December that he was prematurely ending his season due to a longer-than-expected rehabilitation process following a pair of hip surgeries he underwent over the summer.
Soon after the announcement, however, Michigan coach John Beilein raised the possibility of a fifth year for the fan favorite, and Albrecht later indicated that his status for the 2016-17 season would be determined as much by his health as by the Wolverines’ scholarship situation. While Albrecht apparently expects to be healthy enough to play next November, Michigan’s roster outlook seems to have been less forgiving. The Wolverines are already one scholarship over their limit for next year, with one open spot carrying over from the current season, two graduating seniors and an incoming recruiting class of four members.
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Michigan wins thriller Wolverines take the lead with 7.8 seconds left, then hold off Temple By TED JANES Daily Sports Writer
Twelve lead changes — all in the fourth quarter — did little justice in capturing the excitement witnessed at Crisler Center on Monday night. It was pure joy for the Michigan women’s basketball TEMPLE 76 MICHIGAN 77 team (2113), which advanced to the WNIT semifinals for the second straight year after a down-to-the-wire battle with Temple. The Wolverines won, 77-76, and will advance to play Florida Gulf Coast on the road Thursday night. Temple (23-12) led by 15 in the first quarter, but Michigan’s furious third-quarter rally tied the game at 60 heading into the final stretch. On the Wolverines’ final offensive possession, they needed four consecutive offensive rebounds before freshman center Hallie Thome scored the go-ahead layup with 7.8 seconds to go. Chance after chance, each shot bounced off the rim, but Thome — treading dangerously with four personal fouls — banked in the much-needed last attempt. “We knew we needed a basket and kept fighting after the ball and giving ourselves second and third and fourth opportunities,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “It was a great finish by (Thome), but then we had to get two stops to seal it, and that was even more impressive.” Temple nearly stole back the lead on the ensuing play. Guard Feyonda Fitzgerald drove to the basket for a layup but was met in
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Senior guard Madison Ristovski’s second-quarter outburst helped Michigan overcome a double-digit first-quarter deficit.
the paint by Michigan’s Danielle Williams. The ball rolled around the rim three times before falling out, but it was of little importance, as Williams had already drawn a charge. “Honestly, it was a ‘I happened to be in the right place, right time’ kind of thing,” Williams said. “I was really excited, but there was five seconds left on the clock, so I was like, ‘We still need to win, we still need to win.’ ” A turnover on the inbounds play gave the Owls one last chance, but that shot bounced off the rim, and the Wolverines could finally breathe. A series of clutch performances culminated in the dramatic ending. There was a third-quarter buzzer beater from sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty, relentless drives from senior guard Madison Ristovski
and lights-out shooting from junior guard Siera Thompson. And those were just a few of the contributions that led to Thome’s final shot and Williams’ drawn charge. “I’m just happy that (Thome) stuck with it,” Flaherty said of the last play. “It’s been a big battle all year for her, to stay with plays and keep rebounding. She was tough and won the whole game for us.” As Flaherty mentioned, Thome’s big moment stands out during a season in which stronger opponents have knocked the freshman around. She is 6-foot-5, but Temple had a match for her with 6-foot-3 center Ugo Nwaigwe. Nonetheless, Thome had two of the four offensive rebounds on the last play, a testament to her continuous growth.
“(Thome) was tough and won the whole game for us.”
Flaherty ended the night with a team-high 23 points, with 18 of those coming in the second half. Temple built a 17-2 lead as the Wolverines committed six turnovers in the first quarter, but Flaherty, Ristovski and Thompson were all scoreless at that point. Once they got going and started to hit shots, it was a whole new ballgame. The Wolverines’ secondquarter outing was far better than their first, but their 10-point deficit at halftime meant they still had a ways to go. They held Temple scoreless for the first five minutes of the second quarter, though, and Michigan went on a 9-0 run to cut a 15-point deficit down to five. All nine points came from Ristovski, who scored 13 of the Wolverines’ 23 in the second quarter, helping cut the Owls’ lead to five. That set the stage for pandemonium at Crisler, and the impossible comeback sent Michigan onward and upward to the WNIT semifinals.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Wolverines make plays down the stretch in win Williams’ charge sets up Michigan’s game-winning shot in final seconds By CHRIS CROWDER Daily Sports Writer
Madison Ristovski had the ball in her hands on the inbounds pass with 4.6 seconds left and her Wolverines up by one. Temple players scurried right and left in her line of vision, doing their best to deny Michigan the ball. The Owls succeeded in their effort to get the ball back, as Ristovski threw the ball out of bounds. Though the Wolverines lost possession, they stifled Temple from scoring on the next possession when the last-second attempt rimmed out. That was the case for most of the game — Michigan was closer to losing than in any other matchup of the WNIT, but it made plays when it needed to. “I think throughout the whole year, I’ve always made the right pass, and I messed up,” Ristovski said. “I threw it out of bounds, (sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty) got pushed, whatever happened. With five seconds left, with that timeout, (Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico) really said, ‘You saw that opportunity to win the game, all you have to do is get a stop.’ ” Even before the final result was set in stone, it was evident from the first minute of play that Temple was different from other opponents the Michigan women’s basketball team had encountered in the WNIT. The Owls had to guard Michigan’s 6-foot-5 freshman center Hallie Thome, but initially, instead of guarding Thome with one of her tallest players, Temple coach Tonya Cardoza elected to use 5-foot-9 guard Tanaya Atkinson. Despite the height
disadvantage, the plan worked in the first quarter, as the Owls were able to intercept passes while the Wolverines focused on getting the ball into the post. Thome managed just two points in the first quarter and Michigan coughed up six turnovers, all occurring within the first five minutes of the contest. With the unorthodox approach to defense, Temple held the Wolverines to just nine points in the first quarter to take a 23-9 lead. The Owls didn’t score their next basket until five minutes were left in the second quarter, while Michigan started the quarter on a 9-0 run. Temple recovered to take a 10-point lead into halftime, capped off by a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the scrappy first half that included five jump-ball calls. “We knew, Coach Arico told us, that they were a really good first-quarter team,” said junior guard Danielle Williams. “We needed to play harder, honestly. A lot of it was just effort at the beginning, and we had to leave it all out there. It could’ve been our last game, and it almost was. (We needed to) just leave it all out there, play really hard, play smart and see what they’re giving you to play as a team.” In the first half, the Wolverines went 13-for-37 from the floor to shoot 35 percent. Though the Owls held Thome and Flaherty to a combined 10 points in the first 20 minutes of action, the Wolverines stayed close with the help of Ristovski, who led Michigan with 13 points. With her leading the way, the Wolverines committed only one turnover in the second quarter to give them momentum heading into the third.
The Owls stalled Flaherty in the first half, but had no success containing her in the third quarter. Flaherty found an offensive spark, knocking down two 3-pointers before the final minute of the quarter. Then the fireworks really started. Senior guard Siera Thompson followed Flaherty with a 3-pointer of her own, only to be followed by another basket by Flaherty at the buzzer to tie the game at 60 with the crowd on its feet to start the fourth quarter. “We executed well down the stretch and kind of relaxed more and took our time,” Flaherty said. “In the beginning, we were kind of throwing up some shots and not being patient.” With Flaherty driving to the basket within the last minute of the game, the Owls blocked her attempt, but the Wolverines kept possession after the rejection went out of bounds with 33 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Temple halted Michigan three times with hard-nosed defense, but Thome hauled down a rebound and put in a layup to give the Wolverines a lead. Then the Wolverines closed out the game for good. Michigan was put to the test Monday night, but intangibles made the difference in the toughest matchup it has faced in the WNIT. The Wolverines fought through poor shooting and an aggressive defensive effort by their opponent, but wouldn’t be denied when a play needed to be made. “We needed a total team effort to be successful,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico, “and everyone that came in really contributed to that and bought into that mentality.”
“It could’ve been our last game, and it almost was.”