2017-01-19

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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ACADEMICS

LSA courses focus on ‘U’ history for bicentennial ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily

Author Junot Diaz speaks about his writing an work as an activist at Rackham Auditorium on Wednesday.

Diaz promotes solidarity against racism through activism, writing

300 attendees gather for MLK symposium lecture by best-selling author in Rackham COLIN BERESFORD Daily Staff Reporter

Author and activist Junot Díaz delivered a speech Wednesday afternoon on white supremacy, racialized immigrants and solidarity to about 300 people in Rackham Auditorium as a part

of the University of Michigan’s annual symposium in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Díaz began by discussing racial neoliberalism and its function in derailing how people talk about race. Racial neoliberalism, he argued, prevents people from addressing problems of racism and

questioning if anyone can racist. “One of the things that has become very clear to me is … the evolving derangement of race and racial politics in this country has been exceptionally problematic,” Díaz said. “Racial neoliberalism (is) perhaps best understood as an almost global racial gaslight, derailing

our ability to speak about the way white supremacy works at a political and global level while permitting hegemony to practice white supremacy full blast.” Díaz further explored how the United States is organized along white supremacist lines, See AUTHOR, Page 3A

Over 20 classes across departments centered around “Making Michigan” MAYA GOLDMAN Daily Staff Reporter

This semester, in honor of the University of Michigan’s bicentennial, LSA is carrying on its tradition of a themed semester by offering over 20 classes centered around the 200th anniversary of the University. The classes, offered in several different LSA departments with an overarching theme of Making Michigan, focus on the school’s place in important events of the past 200 years and where it lies in the current social landscape. Many also emphasize the

future of higher education and the issues it faces today. Terrence McDonald, the former dean of LSA and now a history professor as well as director of the Bentley Historical Library, is teaching a class called “22 Ways to Think About the History of the University of Michigan.” The class will offer many different perspectives on the school’s past. It is also cross-listed with the Applied Liberal Arts department, which houses classes that have extensive extracurricular opportunities and a multi-disciplinary focus. “(In the class) we think of the University as a place, as a See BICENTENNIAL, Page 3A

Panelists advocate recognition of MPowered Schafer hosts 2-day Black women’s history and narratives promises

CAMPUS LIFE

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

music, film contest

University professors discuss recent publications, highlight minority hardships

Art, entrepreneurship projects from all ‘U’ disciplines rewarded

About 50 professors, students, faculty members and members of the Ann Arbor community gathered Wednesday afternoon in the Hatcher Graduate Library to listen to three University of Michigan faculty members discuss the recent publication of “Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women,” a collection of essays on the experiences and roles of Black women in the history of intellectuals. Law Prof. Martha Jones, English Prof. Megan Sweeney and Tiya Miles professor of African Studies all spoke on the panel, who used the book as a platform to address the importance of uncovering the stories of Black women, and women in general, that often go untold. “We want to unearth lies, ideas, narratives and analyze and interpret them,” Miles said to the audience. Jones, one of the editors of the book, further encouraged the audience to strive for uncovering unknown narratives. “Recovery is at the core of what we do, and there is still so much more we need to do,” she said. Jones also recognized the importance of making the history more accessible to people outside of academia. “I think many of the challenges that are attuned to doing Black women history will

MATT HARMON Daily Staff Reporter

Celebrating the art of student music and film, 50 students and faculty attended the first Spotlight music and filmmaking competition closing ceremony Wednesday night at Stamps Auditorium. Sponsored by MPowered, a student entrepreneurship organization on campus, awards were given to teams of up to four producers for their projects. The 50-hour competition featured student works from every school at the University of Michigan. Participants filmed all footage on smartphones, and winners of the competition were awarded Cakewalk’s Sonar Platinum audio software. The two winning projects will be shown Thursday night at the competition’s showcase at Necto Nightclub featuring Quinn XCII and Ayokay. Matthew Altruda, an Ann Arbor radio host, delivered the keynote address at the ceremony, emphasizing the See SPOTLIGHT, Page 3A

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ERIN DOHERTY Daily Staff Reporter

continue, and the burden will be on many of us, including those of us who are intellectuals, to take the work out of the academy and into the public sphere to be sure that the histories, as well as the perspectives that come, are available to everybody,” she said. Miles provided evidence of the success of the book in expanding people’s views, despite occasional negative comments on the work. “These are little steps forward,” she said. Rackham student Michelle May-Curry, a member of the predominantly graduate student audience, said she admired every

woman on the panel for their surprising conclusions. “It’s astonishing how Black women’s history has been relegated to the cracks,” MayCurry said. “If we’re going to talk about Black women, we have to piece it together and we have to know that many people will not take us seriously in starting those conversations.” May-Curry also echoed panelists’ sentiments regarding the importance of uncovering and highlighting the history of Black women in academic settings. “Our histories are being devalued in the classrooms and

the archives, and this work is essential to uncovering that,” she said. Jones mentioned after the event that she will be attending a Women’s March in Baltimore this Saturday. “When I go to a women’s march on the 21st, wouldn’t it be cool to carry a sack of these books and books like it?” Jones said. “It feels like there are going to be thousands of women and fellow travelers for whom this kind of knowledge and understanding is more pertinent perhaps than ever … maybe I will take a stack of books to the march.”

EMMA RICHTER/Daily

LSA professors Tiya Miles and Martha S. Jones discuss the book Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women at the Gender: New Works New Questions series at Hatcher Gallery on Wednesday.

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INDEX

Vol. CXXVII, No. 11 ©2016 The Michigan Daily

to partner with ESG

ESG requests more representation, discusses new minor program ALEXIS RANKIN Daily Staff Reporter

Engineering Student Government started its meeting Wednesday night with community input from David Schafer, president of Central Student Government and an LSA senior, regarding the potential for a more collaborative future between the two respective student governments. Schafer addressed concerns regarding CSG representation of Engineering students and reaffirmed his commitment to more effectively representing students’ interests. Schafer cited CSG’s role on North Campus — including a condom distribution event and improvement in access to mental health resources — but recognized that there may be questions about what else CSG is doing to benefit students there. Schafer also promised to encourage the 11 Engineering representatives who sit on the CSG Assembly to start attending the ESG meetings in order to do better and more See ESG, Page 3A

NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ART S . . . . . . . . . . . . B -SEC T I O N

SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7

News

2A — Thursday, January 19, 2017

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ON THE DAILY: SNYDER TO DEFEND HEALTH PLAN IN SENATE It is expected that Gov. Rick Snyder will support the state’s Healthy Michigan Plan on Thursday in a U.S. Senate committee discussion. The roundtable in Washington D.C. will be discussing the future of Medicaid in the country. Healthy Michigan, the state’s brand of Medicaid for low-income residents, is funded through the Affordable Care Act. Recently, the Republican-majority Congress, fueled by President-elect Trump, have taken steps to repeal the ACA. In his State of the State address on Tuesday, Snyder expressed his support for Healthy Michigan, stressing the program is a crucial part of Michigan’s health care plan and a good example for the nation. “The important thing is we need to let them know that Healthy Michigan is a model that can work for the rest of the country,” Snyder said in his speech. “We should be speaking out, and I look forward to working with my federal partners to talk about the value of this

program and how it can even be enhanced.” The meeting was organized by Republicans on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee after a letter from the Republican Governors Association requested more input in health care discussions. Though Snyder did not publicly endorse Trump during the election, reports expect him to stay in town for the inauguration on Friday. Healthy Michigan has enrolled about 640,000 Michigan residents and has decreased hospital costs for uncompensated care by 40 percent from 2013 to 2015, Snyder said. Snyder also underscored his high hopes for the Senate meeting and the results he expects afterward. “I look forward to working with my federal partners to talk about the value of this program, how it may even be enhanced as we go through these difficult and challenging questions,” Snyder said. - MATT HARMON

M ESSAG E OF PE ACE

Kandi @Kandis_Terry Why does this campus smell like Miami seaquarium

sarah @sarbubxo who wants to come with me to the women’s march in ann arbor!!!!! CAROLYN GEARIG/Daily Bob Krzewinski speaks at a Martin Luther King Jr. symposium event hosted by Veterans for Peace in the Michigan Union on Monday.

jallicia @jallicia

CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Sweetland Writing break

Queer Manga lecture

Piano Jazz trio

WHAT: Students are welcome to the Sweetland Peer Writing Center for free coffee, donuts and help with writing assignments. WHO: Sweetland Center for Writing WHEN: 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. WHERE: Angell Hall, Room G219

WHAT: Manga expert Erica Friedman discusses the sociopolitical contexts that influence the popularity of queer manga literature. WHO: Center for Japanese Studies WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: School of Social Work, Room 1636

WHAT: The Bob Sweet Trio will play jazz standards and original pieces for a fresh, dynamic sound drawing from traditional Detroit jazz. WHO: Gifts of Art WHEN: 12:10 p.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: University Hospital Main Lobby, Floor 1

Social Justice and Comics

Econ Jobs Panel

A conversation with Kelly Prague Philharmonia WHAT: Violinist Sarah Chang Link

WHAT: Renowned graphic novelist Joe Sacco will detail how he uses his work in graphic novels to promote global struggles for human rights. WHO: International Institute WHEN: 5:00 p.m. to 7 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Theater

WHAT: The panel will feature employers recruiting LSA students who successfully navigate the process. WHO: LSA Opportunity Hub WHEN: 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. WHERE: Lorch Hall, Foster Library

WHAT: Kelly Link, the author of acclaimed short story collections, will be speaking as a part of the Zell Visiting Writers Series. WHO: Helen Zell Writers’ Program WHEN: 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. WHERE: Museum of Art

International Service Learning

Why can’t we imagine ourselves as the center of the gigantic universe where we are the protagonists? #umich #umichmlkday2017 @JunotDiazDaily

WHAT: Willy Oppenheim, founder of Omprakash, will present on the politics of servicelearning. WHO: Barger Leadership Institute WHEN: 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. WHERE: UMMA Multipurpose Room

Dave Askins @chronicallydave

has recieved critical acclaim for her technical skill and emotional playing style. Chang will play one of classical music’s most famous scores. WHO: University Musical Society WHEN: 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. WHERE: Hill Auditorium

I wonder how long it will take for NextDoor to kick me out of my Ann Arbor neighborhood.

DeVos confirmation hearings raise concern on Sec. of Edu. nominee

420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com

Senators question Michigan native’s proficiency in sexual assault and gun policy ERIN DOHERTY Daily Staff Reporter

Betsy DeVos, the nominee for secretary of the U.S. Department of Education under Presidentelect Donald Trump, participated in a contentious confirmation hearing on Tuesday evening. The confirmation hearing was initially scheduled for Jan. 11, but the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions postponed the hearing to Tuesday due to Devos’ incomplete financial disclosures and unfinished ethics reviews. Michigan native DeVos has received flak for her support of school choice, a controversial issue in the national education debate. Even before the hearing, her appointment received criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Federation of

MANNEQUIN CHALLENGE.

Teachers. The Devos’ were also large donors to the Trump campaign. Despite the previously expressed concerns, it was Devos’ answers to other questions posed by Democratic senators regarding Title IX measures on sexual assault and the extent of gun regulation in schools which raised the most eyebrows. The University of Michigan is currently under Title IX investigation. The Title IX guidance, created in 2011, requires schools to respond to sexual assault complaints promptly and effectively. It also requires school employees who respond to sexual assault complaints to have adequate training. When Sen. Bob Casey (D–Pa.) questioned DeVos on whether she would preserve the Title IX guidance, she was unable to give an affirmative response.

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“If confirmed, I look forward to understanding the past actions and current situation better, and to ensuring that the intent of the law is actually carried out in a way that recognizes both the victim … as well as those who are accused,” DeVos said. Casey, who called campus sexual assault “an epidemic,” continued to press DeVos for a definitive answer on whether she would preserve the guidance. “It would be premature for me to do that today,” DeVos said. As DeVos struggled to answer questions regarding the Title IX guideline, senators raised questions regarding her stance on gun regulation in schools. Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator from Connecticut — the site of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in where over 20 were killed — brought up the issue, asking: “Do you think guns have any place in or around schools?” “I think that’s best left to locales and states to decide,” DeVos said. She then went on to cite the presence of guns in a school in Wyoming. “I think probably there, I would imagine there is probably a gun in a school to protect from potential grizzlies,” she said. DeVos also said she would support President-elect Trump if he moves forward with his plan to ban gun-free school zones. DeVos, who has been a controversial nominee, has drawn more criticism after her confirmation hearing. Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, said DeVos is unqualified to be the secretary of education. “The United States Senate should reject her appointment and send a clear message that our public-school system is not for sale to the highest bidder,” Scott said in an MLive report.

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BICENTENNIAL From Page 1A built form, as a kind of generator of records,” McDonald said. “We’re going to spend some time at the Bentley Library, attend a special tour of the show at UMMA on the history of the Union and the League, and we’re having a variety of guests come in and speak about other topics.” McDonald, who has been teaching at the University since 1980, believes that studying the school’s past will help students understand its significance on a global scale. “If you spend time studying the history of the University, one fact about it is that it was one of the most important universities in American history,” McDonald said. “I think we have a vague sense of the current rankings, but really from the 1950s on, the University of Michigan has been one of the most important universities in the country and in the world. I think it’s important to know that.” American Culture Prof. Kristin Hass is also taking a hands-on approach to the bicentennial in her class, titled “University of Michigan Time Capsule.” In Hass’s class, students create work that will be included in the bicentennial time capsule, which will be launched into space this year and brought down for the tricentennial in 2117. While preparing for the class, Hass discovered that very few time capsules have been successful in revealing

SPOTLIGHT From Page 1A importance of recognizing dreams and approaching new challenges. Altruda relayed stories of attempting to establish himself as a promoter in the Ann Arbor music scene, including his failures and how he learned to better market himself as a music entrepreneur in the 21st century. In his final words, Altruda said since most students at the ceremony are going to be graduating in the near future and keeping one’s vision in mind and doing what makes one happy is crucial after leaving the University. “You’re young right now,” Altruda said. “It’s really time to start thinking about your vision and your career and your life. Earn it. Life is so short … so whatever you do, earn it. If that means drop out of school, go to Costa Rica and live on the beach for the rest of your life, if that’s gonna make you happy, then you heard it from me. You should do it.” The first place winner for the Film category was a short film named “Roll Call” produced by students LSA junior Dylan Hancook, LSA senior Kelsey Comeau and LSA sophomore

ESG From Page 1A sustained outreach with ESG. “I pledge to all of you tonight that I’m going to be working with my commissions, asking them and encouraging them, to hold more events on North Campus, because for every event that we do on Central Campus I deeply believe we should have an event on North Campus as well,” Schafer said. Following his presentation, ESG members asked followup questions and offered suggestions to create a more collaborative relationship between the two governments. Engineering senior Neha Chopra asked Schafer to differentiate between the roles of members of ESG and Engineering representatives on CSG, aiming to ensure that the two student government bodies are not duplicating efforts. Schafer suggested an addition be made to CSG bylaws that would require

novel information about the past. She wants her students to use the class to create pieces that will actually affect future views of the last century at the University. “In 100 years, people will have so much more information about us,” Hass said. “The challenge is producing something that will cut through that avalanche of data.” Hass describes the 16-person class as much more fun than most of her other courses.

Having classes that really engage students for a whole semester celebrates the University by doing what we do best

It’s an important one though, she said, because it hones in on the true purpose of the bicentennial. “Having classes that really engage students for a whole semester celebrates the University by doing what we do best: teaching,” Hass said. Other classes honor the landmark year in more abstract

Dylan Lange. Inspired by the pedantic spiel of professors on the first day of classes taking roll, Hancook, wrote a comedic short featuring characters such as Marie Antoinette, Big Bird on his day off, a Grandfather’s urn and others on the first day of an American cultures lecture. While filming, Hancook said he was glad he had plenty of friends willing to be extras in the project. Since the time crunch for the competition is tight, a large ground of friends gave Hancook the extra support he needed. “My project in particular is a great example of why you need friends to make things,” he said. “I think we had about 30 different characters. It’s so important to have friends that are interested and available.” For the Music category, the song “Have to Go (Hope You Don’t)” by SMTD senior Steven Ciasullo, LSA junior Tim Everett, SMTD senior Cedric Lee and LSA senior Jin Kim took home first place. An R&B track about friends going through similar experiences throughout their time at the University, LSA senior Sarah Shelby contributed to the songwriting on the project. Shelby said the song attempts to draw together the experiences of her and her other friends

CSG members to attend their respective school or college student government meeting once a month or once a semester. “I think a lot of it is really strengthening and institutionalizing linkages of communication between each governing body, Schafer

I think a lot of it is really strengthening and institutionalizing linkages

said “and I think that that is something that all of us should aim to do.” The meeting continued to cover new business, in which the development of a biomedical engineering minor

Thursday, January 19, 2017 — 3A

ways. Heather Thompson, also a professor of history, is teaching a themed class called “The History of Detroit in the 20th Century.” The class grapples with both historical and modern issues faced by the city and examines its relationship with the University. “I think it’s really important that students know the history of the largest metropolitan area around,” Thompson said. “Over the decades, there’s been a sense that the University of Michigan and Detroit are really disconnected, and we’ve been trying to reconnect the two.” Thompson’s class aligns with the bicentennial theme of challenging society, and she hopes her class will give students an insight into what she sees as a notorious gap between Ann Arbor and Detroit. “I think it’s really important that Michigan students question why they are so disconnected from this major metropolitan region and actually engage,” Thompson said. “I hope they see it as a place that’s incredibly interesting, and … I hope they learn to listen to Detroiters, and what they have to say — what they feel needs to happen to their city, rather than treating it like a laboratory.” There are also many bicentennial research projects focused on the solely University’s internal affairs. LSA Senior Katie Zoller, participated in a study, conducted by German studies prof. Dr. Kerstin Barndt, on the University’s museums.

The experience, she said, broadened both her view and her appreciation of the school.

AUTHOR From Page 1A

“(The research) tells us how we got started, how our university developed, and also shows us how the tradition of excellence that we see today has been here since the University started,” Zoller said. “There are lots of discoveries we made that have impacted the history of the University.” The project ended in April, but Zoller is continuing her involvement with the bicentennial by taking “Michigan in the Era of Industrialization.” The class involves more research than Zoller’s other classes, and allows her to explore a more specific topic. “It looks like we’ll have a lot more time to go to the Bentley library and do primary research,” Zoller said. “It seems really interesting to talk about the University at the University, as opposed to going to the University and learning about a lot of different topics.” Aside from historical classes, bicentennial courses includes topics from the physical sciences to the social sciences. The theme is intended to involve all aspects of this institution this semester, and Professor McDonald says this is his favorite part about it. “People from a variety of different disciplines are using the University as their case study for this semester,” McDonald said. “It’s a phenomenal banquet of intellectual interest that cuts across all these courses.”

who worked on the project. “We’re all really good friends and we were discussing different relationships and we’ve all been through a million different things in college that are similar and kind of understood this feeling of moving on and changing

work on this fun project with my friends and that’s kind of exactly what we got out of it I think. The creative process for me is really hard individually but with other people, it was really great to feed off of their ideas.” After its first year, participants said the competition elevate both artistic innovation and cooperation. “It definitely promotes people who are just naturally creative and want to go out and make things, whether it’s music film or whatever,” Hancook said. “It’s really promoting Michigan students being creative and doing things in a short amount of time. You know coming into this competition that you’re going to have something by the end of the weekend which is always a really good feeling.” Shelby said the competition’s format lends itself well to friend groups who want to create art in a short amount of time. “I would encourage people to try and do something like this on their own having this example,” Shelby said. “You really just need two days and set time aside for what you feel like you really want to do. Have trust in your friends and be honest.”

something that was challenged during the question and answer session later in the afternoon. “There is an enormous resistance both inside my own community and inside what we would call the larger, mainstream community … to thinking about the world in any critically, racially interesting way,” Díaz said. “Often, what we are asked to do is to have solidarity with a point of view (white supremacy) that erases our lived experience.” LSA senior Juyeln Ha said Díaz’s voice as a Hispanic activist was new to her. “I guess there aren’t that many Hispanic activists that I know of,” Ha said. “I thought that this was a really good chance to explore that kind of area and just educate myself more.” Díaz’s speech drew parallels between the Dominican Republic and the United States and how each country racializes immigrants for its own political purposes. He emphasized that both have a border wherein the outside is viewed as inferior. In the United States, he highlighted, Mexicans are framed as inferior, while in the Dominican Republic — where Díaz emigrated from — Haitians are deemed secondclass. Both countries, Díaz said, use racialized immigrants as a political touchstone, and use it to activate a shift in popular mentality from thinking about the world critically to being dictated by fear. In recent history, politicians in both countries use immigrants to control political conversation. In the Dominican Republic, Díaz explained, citizens rallied around a collective action in a fight for education funding until there was a sudden emphasis on Haitian immigrants, disrupting solidarity and creating fear of foreigners. “This dream-like moment, of cross-class, cross-race, cross-geography, cross-age, solidarity begins to absolutely unravel when the political elites of the Dominican Republic awaken this very

It definitely promotes people who are just naturally creative and want to go out and make things

so much,” Shelby said. “We all were able to get into that feeling based on different experiences in the past.” Ciasullo, who did the final mixing and mastering on the track, said Spotlight gave him the chance to spend time with his friends and create music. “It’s really nice to have a goal to work towards,” Ciasullo said. “I was brought on to

was discussed. Engineering sophomore Xavier Yeshayahu introduced the idea, and noted the number of minors offered in LSA subjects is significantly higher than the minor options in Engineering subjects. “Our BME program is really comprehensive and really open to different majors,” Yeshayahu said. Because of the fast growth in the BME field, Yeshayahu thinks the minor would increase interest in the BME, particularly for graduate students. The idea received substantial support from the members of ESG. Engineering sophomore Ainsley Ashman Jr. supported the idea, but expressed concern about the development process. “I really like this idea, but I know that the process of approving new courses is cumbersome so getting a whole new minor approved could be very difficult to do, but I think it’s a great idea,” Ashman said.

charged, very emotional issue of the invader immigrant,” Díaz said. In the recent U.S. election Donald Trump created a fear of Mexican immigrants, which in turn controlled the political conversation and climate in the recent election, according to Díaz. LSA senior Kennedy Clark said she valued the opinions Díaz voiced and issues he brought to light. “He’s dealing with a subject matter that affects him personally—it affects many people personally—but that isn’t necessarily acknowledged by a vast majority of people,” Clark said. Halfway through the lecture, the floor was opened up to questions, allowing audience members to ask about topics such as institutionalized racism and the books Díaz is currently reading. “That sort of anti-Latino and

I don’t deny racism exists, it sure does

anti-Islam rhetoric fits right back into anti-Blackness,” Díaz said. “What’s interesting is that our enemies have created antagonistic solidarities between our communities that we have not yet begun to equal.” One question received shouts of disapproval from the audience and led to Díaz dismissing the questioner. “I don’t deny racism exists, sure it does,” the audience member said. “But I do deny that America is defined and controlled by white supremacy — it seems to be real nonsense.” Díaz repeatedly emphasized that gutted public education systems have led to a misinformed public and have undermined critical thinking. “Nevertheless, I would simply point to the fact that the average American has been educated in a system that makes them fundamentally ill-prepared to defend their rights,” Díaz said.

Opinion

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T

See the good in our presidents

uesday marked the end persists: 57 percent. of an era, as President Domestically, Obama focused Barack Obama bid the almost exclusively on the American public Affordable Care Act farewell during his final — a piece of legislation presidential rally in that he effectively Chicago. The departing rammed through commander in chief Congress without has, in my estimation, any bipartisan always had tremendous approval. The bill, skill in public speaking. popularly known Presenting himself as Obamacare, was with the same gravitas crafted behind closed that we have seen doors with virtually NICHOLAS for the better half of no transparency. TOMAINO a decade, President What is worse is that Obama addressed the the American public continued need for racial unity was wholly misguided on a variety and economic opportunities for of its principles. For instance, on all. It seemed as if every laptop numerous occasions Obama was and television screen in the nation seen at rallies saying, “First of all, was tuned in to the broadcast, with if you’ve got health insurance, continuous praise on various social you like your doctor, you like your media platforms. plan — you can keep your doctor, In fact, President Obama’s you can keep your plan. Nobody is approval rating rests at an talking about taking that away impressive 57 percent. While from you.” this cumulative evaluation sits These promises, however, agreeably with many, others turned out to be specious. The fact might raise the question — why? of the matter is that the majority of When elected, Obama marketed Americans receive health care plans himself as a man of change. He from their place of employment was seen as an individual separate and although the law does prohibit and distinct from presidential employers from dropping coverage norms. His modest upbringing if they have “50 or more full-time and accomplishment as the first equivalent employees,” the law did African-American president of not prohibit employers with fewer the Harvard Law Review are than 50 employees that provided merely two examples of how he insurance before the ACA was distinguished himself from the lot. passed to end their coverage. Thus, Yet, public opinion seems to with the passage of the bill, while suggest that the prospects for the many Americans were unscathed, future now are not much different many were forced to seek alternative than they were eight years ago. methods of care. This scenario is An NBC-Wall Street Journal poll particularly complex, though, and taken in January 2009 states that does not rest solely on the employers’ 26 percent of respondents believed shoulders. In other cases, many plans that the country was going in the were not grandfathered over into right direction, whereas 59 percent exchanges, thus forcing individuals said that it was on the wrong path. to seek new plans as well. A recent NBC-Wall Street Journal Surely, this attempt to mislead poll, however, similarly shows that the American public would 29 percent of respondents felt as result in a lower number than a if the country were headed in the 55-percent presidential approval right direction, while a gaping 65 rating. While a “minority” was percent disagreed. It also must be affected, it does not take a large noted that this data was taken in body of people to affect approval late October, a time in which the ratings or, at least, spread negative majority of politicians and political emotions about his legislation. pundits saw the victory of Donald Regardless of the number, his Trump as incredibly unlikely. misguiding words were harmful By voting for Clinton, the and, due to the effects, have the electorate was, in part, voting for a potential to affect ratings. But no, continuation of Obama. Thus, it is the number continues to persist. very hard to believe that the majority While there obviously are a of Obama-voting Democrats variety of factors that contribute would view Clinton as the “wrong to this, I ultimately believe that his direction.” Moreover, these numbers popularity stems, at least in part, from ultimately illustrate the fact that his personal domain. At the time of Obama’s presidency did not do much his election, he was the husband to a in the realm of American optimism. well-respected Michelle Obama and Yet, his approval rating the father of two charming little girls.

I can vividly remember sitting down many years ago in my elementary school classroom to watch the inauguration. It was history. Many young children felt as if they closely grew up with President Obama. As his children matured, we matured with them. By combatting racial stereotypes and discrimination, President Obama served as an inspirational father figure and leader to countless youth across America. He transcended boundaries and made a lasting impact on the lives of those around him. In the second presidential debate, both candidates were asked, “Regardless of the current rhetoric, would either of you name one positive thing that you respect in one another?” Hillary Clinton ultimately responded with high praise for Trump’s children. She stated, “Look, I respect his children. His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald. I don’t agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that, and I think that is something that as a mother and a grandmother is very important to me.” As Secretary Clinton notes, Mr. Trump’s children are a reflection of his dedication and values. They have grown to be successful, respected individuals in their fields. Politics aside, this is a noticeable commonality between Trump and Obama. Have the circumstances of their families’ upbringings differed? Absolutely. Now, one might say, “Clinton is merely commenting on his parenting skills, not his character!” The point, though, is that they have both devoted time and effort into becoming attentive and caring fathers for their families. It is incredibly difficult to separate parenting abilities from the man himself. However, at the end of the day, I have a sneaking suspicion that this component of Donald Trump will unfairly receive half the amount of recognition from what was given to Obama. With the inauguration a few days away, I urge everyone to take this into consideration: While you can fervently dispute someone in the political realm, it is important to recognize the good in someone as well. So, as President-elect Trump stands on the steps of the Capitol Friday morning with his family alongside him, remember the reasoning behind the praise Tuesday and, perhaps, apply it here.

Nicholas Tomaino can be reached at ntomaino@umich.edu

FRANNIE MILLER | CONTACT FRANNIE AT FRMILLER@UMICH.EDU

Trumpy the clown

S

The ethics of politics

ometimes it’s refreshing to Mrs. Wriston) in the first 13 years hear a distinction between of my life. America’s political parties My conclusion? The Republican that isn’t the hackneyed “liberals ideology Watts evokes is not a drive BMWs and holistic approach to conservatives drive solving the world’s pickup trucks” shtick. problems — rather, it Other times, however, assumes that people are it can be a bit jarring, the world’s problems as you realize just and ends the analysis how ideologically there. This nature over divergent the two nurture argument, I parties are. believe, is a cop-out In 2015, while and its infiltration of campaigning for Rand the political sphere LAUREN Paul in Oklahoma, SCHANDEVEL has stripped rhetoric conservative and, more importantly, politician J.C. Watts told writer policy of its compassion. Robert Leonard, “The difference Ifpeopleareessentiallydefinedby between Republicans and their sins — the prostitute is lustful, Democrats is that Republicans the gang member is murderous, believe people are fundamentally the poor are lazy — then it so easy bad, while Democrats see people to write people off, to dismiss their as fundamentally good.” It took suffering as a choice rather than me a while to determine what a product of circumstance. After Watts meant by this, as he seemed all, what incentive do you have to at first to be revering Democrats eradicate sex trafficking, improve for their kindness. Of course, as a the conditions of inner cities or Republican himself, he was not; he implement a more robust welfare was calling them naive for putting program if you perceive those their faith in people rather than a affected as having chosen their fate, higher power. as being characterized by their sin? I grew up in a conservative Take Ronald Reagan’s classic evangelical household that “welfare queen” speech, for always emphasized the binary of example. Though the realities of saints and sinners. The mantra an average welfare recipient are was something along the lines of far more nuanced (and less classist “we’re all sinners, there is a desire and racist) than those of which the to sin in all of us, and the only way president spoke, he nonetheless we can become clean is through managed to employ the effective repentance and baptism.” conservative argument at the (Now, the notion that people are time, which involved evoking a naturally inclined to be bad may caricature of deviance. The rhetoric seem hopelessly cynical, but when that paints people — particularly you believe your god is the purest those who are suffering or in need thing there is, it’s actually kind of government assistance — as of comforting. It’s like, the world one-dimensionally awful is useful sucks but someone will eventually in both religion and politics for save us from all of this suckage.) the same reason: It justifies our I never once thought to apply inability or unwillingness to help this to politics, but doing so sheds them. In this case, if we assume an LED torch on Watts’ logic. individuals who use welfare Keeping in mind the fact that many programs do so by their own Democrats are actually religious, I volition, and that they must be bad dissected this statement using the people who cheat the system, then ethical tools bestowed upon me we are absolved of blame (or even by a powerhouse team of Sunday revered as heroes) when we take school teachers (shoutout to you, this system away from them.

Because the welfare queens of the world are few and far between, it is therefore not naive to inquire further into the actual motivations of so-called sinners. Aristotle made the argument that humans are fundamentally virtuous because no person causes harm with the intention of causing harm — in other words, people always assume their actions are for the greater good. However, one mustn’t necessarily subscribe to this in order to see the merit in helping others; they simply must consider how circumstances impact decisions, and how alleviation of certain circumstances through thoughtful policy can prevent people from making less-thandesirable choices. In his final blow, Watts went on to attribute this liberal tendency to over-empathize to our godlessness: “If we are our own God, as the Democrats say, then we need to look at something else to blame when things go wrong — not us.” The assumption here is that the decisions people make — good or bad — are isolated and deliberate rather than guided by (or a direct product of) their circumstances. That is not to say people should not ultimately be held accountable for the poor choices they make, but from a policy perspective, it seems counterproductive to suggest that there is nothing we can do to prevent people from making them. Actions, after all, are not completely disconnected from their contexts — they are directly influenced by them. Politicians such as Watts and his constituents are in a unique position to shape the contexts that beget negative actions. By assuming these decisions will be made with or without their intervention, they are forfeiting their responsibility to make the world a better place. And that, more so than people, is pretty fundamentally bad.

Lauren Schandevel can be reached at schandla@umich.edu.

SARAH SALMAN | OP-ED

Base tuition on expected earnings

SARAH SALMAN

E

arlier this year, my little sister approached me while I was enjoying a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats with a particular announcement: “I want to major in art when I go to college.” Ever since she started middle school, art became her creative outlet. She would ask for distinct markers for Christmas, and the money she would save up from miscellaneous chores went into savings for a Wacom drawing tablet. So, this would have seemed like a reasonable declaration for someone who expresses so much passion for drawing, right? My immediate response: “Don’t.” The average tuition for a public four-year college is $9,410. For out-of-state students, the cost rises to $23,890. Private four-year universities are even higher: $32,410. Student debt, meanwhile, has skyrocketed. The graduating class of 2015 has most student debt in U.S. history. Students cumulatively owe lenders more than $1 trillion dollars. For someone planning to get a degree in art, is college worth the investment? Especially since graduates from art-focused schools seem to rack up the most student-loan debt. With this in mind, colleges should raise tuition accordingly to majors with higher expected lifetime earnings. This wouldn’t even be an issue if colleges exclusively acted within the public sector — eliminating the cost completely. With even public universities functioning within the capitalistic model — boasting that it is the “one of the top 50 public universities” or offering more than “150 academic majors” like the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, for example — it is hard to claim that university’s sole motivation is to act in the best interest of the students. Universities have been increasingly moving toward a business model. In 1960, California residents had free tuition. Now if a student attended the University of California at Los Angeles, it would cost $27,987 for room and board for in-state students. With universities becoming more and more like big businesses and treating their students like customers, it makes

sense for the consumers, students, to demand the best package deal with their education value. Moreover, it makes sense to hike up the price for engineering majors: It costs more. For example, in New York’s state colleges, hard sciences and engineering courses cost twice as much as fine/applied arts and five times as much as low-level psychology classes. That means that if someone wants to utilize the English courses or history courses, they would be paying for not just their own share/value, but for someone with a completely unrelated career path than their own. Imagine if you bought pizza with four friends. Each of you equally spent $2.99 for this pizza. When the pizza comes, two of your four friends eat 75 percent of that pizza whereas you and your other friend have to divide the rest of it. The system is inherently unfair. Why not change it? Wouldn’t it make sense for two of your friends to pay a little more for the pizza if they were going to use a greater amount of resource? The same applies to the university. It doesn’t make sense to go for a one-price-fits-all if other degrees are reaping more of the rewards. The sad part is that engineering majors have a higher expected income after graduation than people who major in art. A system that taxes majors with higher expected lifetime earnings will allow people to pursue their passions rather than think about practicality. My sister absolutely loves art, but knowing the risks and high debt associated with the major, I was reluctant to fully support her decision. “Definitely pursue your passions,” I told her, “but consider majoring in computer science with a minor in art when you’re in college.” This was not the answer that she was expecting, but it was the most realistic one. Not all share this sentiment. The Florida State Task Force also wants to vary tuition by majors — but in a completely different regard: pushing to decrease tuition for STEM majors and increase tuition in fields such as political science, anthropology and psychology. Its aim is to dissuade people from pursuing paths that are in much lower demand compared to STEM

fields. The problem is that it may end up saddling people who pursue the social sciences and the humanities with an even greater burden of debt. Logically, it doesn’t make sense either. Majors such as political science or English do not teach to a specific career paths. Students who major in these fields find positions anywhere from being a barista to working in Washington headquarters. They are not guaranteed a lot of money on graduation, whereas the starting salary for someone with a degree in computer science can be six figures. Additionally, it also suggests that these degrees are worth less than STEM. A stigma already perpetuated by popular culture, like the recent controversy with Wells Fargo ads implying that the arts are worth less than sciences. I remember telling an individual what I planned to major in college: “English.” The response: “Oh,” accompanied by the puzzled frown and “What are you planning to do with that?” Increasing tuition for engineers and business majors may deter students from pursuing that path, opponents argue. It might. But that argument is fundamentally flawed. If paying extra for a biomedical engineering degree, for example, dissuades students, wouldn’t that logic play with the knowledge that the lifetime expected earnings for political science, for example, are lower than biomedical engineering also deter the same students for exactly those reasons? My sister’s declaration plagued my mind. I always maintain follow your passion, but would that end up hurting her more than helping her? With a system that places a greater price-tag on more financially rewarding careers, my sister wouldn’t have to worry about being “practical” and would be able to actually do what she wants. As students, we must stop the one-price-fits-all philosophy and demand a progressive tuition. If universities continue to emulate big businesses, then we as customers should demand our fair share.

Sarah Salman is an LSA freshman.

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Thursday, January 19, 2017 — 5A

Michigan in need of role players’ production MIKE PERSAK

Daily Sports Editor

With a little more than 10 minutes left in its game against Minnesota on Saturday, the Michigan hockey team trailed, 3-0, and needed a spark. While the Wolverines would normally rely on players like senior forward Alex Kile or freshman forward Will Lockwood to supply a key goal, instead they got help from some unlikely sources. Sophomore forward Brendan Warren was just inside the blue line when he passed to freshman forward Steven Merl along the boards. Merl immedialley fired the puck at the net, and while it wasn’t a menacing shot, the puck slid past Minnesota goaltender Eric Schierhorn for the first goal of Merl’s his career. Then, just six minutes later, senior forward Evan Allen tipped a shot from the point into the net for his first goal of the season, and Michigan was suddenly down only one. The Wolverines’ comeback efforts would eventually fall short, but the offensive output from Allen and Merl provided the two players with some hope for the future. “I finally got my (first) point in a while, so that always helps with the confidence,” Allen said. “And hockey’s all about confidence, so that helps a lot. And hopefully, I can take that moving forward into this weekend.” Michigan has struggled to find successful offense this season. And while the most glaring examples of that come predominantly from the players on the top lines, like Kile — who were expected to produce at a high level — the fourth line has left Michigan coach Red Berenson with more questions than answers. This has forced Berenson to shuffle multiple players in and out of the lineup seemingly every game. “They’re competing for a job every week,” Berenson said. “We could have the same players on the fourth line every week if they’d separated themselves from the other guys. And then if

Michigan dominates Hoosiers in dual meet BENJAMIN KATZ Daily Sports Writer

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Senior forward Evan Allen scored his first goal of the season in Minneapolis on Saturday to trim Minnesota’s lead to one.

they get in the lineup and they play well, then that gives them a chance to stay in the lineup or to get back into the lineup.” The players understand this, too. With the constant changes in the lineup, it can be hard for the players involved in the substitutions to maintain confidence from game to game. For them, practice is not only an opportunity for them to prove themselves, but also a chance build confidence without the eyes of the Yost faithful on them. “You have to play every practice like you’re getting ready for the game that weekend no matter if you’re in the lineup or not,” Merl said. “So that way when you do get called, you’re

ready to go.” Added Allen: “Confidence is something you’ve got to build off, it doesn’t just come. It’s got to come from your play and your teammates being behind you. So, that always helps when the teammates are behind you and the coaches are behind you and you get a few points here and there. But it also comes with playing hard and playing well. … There’s a lot of different factors, but once you get it, it’s nice to keep it on you.” The duo’s play this weekend may be a step in the right direction for not just Allen and Merl, but also for the team as a whole. Because if the two of them can get results, it will take some of the pressure off the other forwards’ shoulders.

Confidence is something you’ve got to build off, it doesn’t just come

An endless gratitude A letter of thanks written by Chris Wormley to the ‘M’ community To the loyal Michigan community — I would be remiss to leave Michigan after five years without thanking you all for everything you have done for me. This school and community has supported me since the moment I signed my letter of intent and I can only hope to express a fraction of my gratitude in this letter. I would like to begin by thanking Coach Harbaugh, Coach Brown, Coach Mattison, the trainers, equipment staff and support staff that worked tirelessly to help me succeed each and every week. You all had a hand in helping me realize that my dream of becoming an NFL player could become a reality. I leave Ann Arbor a better person and player than when I first arrived, and it is due to the amazing support my teammates

WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

and I had surrounding us every day. I would also like to thank Coach Hoke for recruiting me to the school of my dreams and giving me the opportunity to become a Wolverine. Michigan football fans are some of the most proud and passionate fans in all of college football. Your unwavering support means so much to us. You filled the Big House every single week with maize and blue and supported us no matter the outcome of each game. I would also like to thank my academic advisor, Claiborne Greene, for his help and guidance over the past five years. Thank you to all of my professors and peers for supporting me in and out of the classroom each day. I am proud to have earned a degree from such a prestigious university. Thank you to all of my

teammates who I have had the honor and privilege of playing with for five seasons. We have shared so many memories and created a brotherhood on and off the field. Your faith in me to lead this team as a captain my final season means the world to me. I hope the bonds we have built and friendships that we made will continue for years to come. Finally, thank you to my family and girlfriend for your constant love and support. You have inspired me and continue to be my motivation for success every day. While this may end my time as a student athlete at Michigan, I will never stop bleeding maize and blue. I hope to return to Michigan Stadium and sing “Hail to the Victors” alongside all of you for seasons to come. Go Blue! #43- Chris Wormley

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Berenson seems like he may reward the strong play against the Golden Gophers, especially in the case of Allen. Though lineups haven’t been officially set, Allen has been practicing with Kile and senior forward Max Shuart, who both played on the first line in Saturday’s game. “I was really pleased that Evan Allen took a step last week,” Berenson said. “That’s what you’re looking for from those guys, is to step up. We didn’t think Evan Allen would be a fourth line player when we recruited him. … It’s about performance, really. It’s about performance every day, and then when you get a chance in games.” With time still left this season, Allen and Merl will look to ride any momentum they have and earn more time on the ice. And if they do, they could provide the spark that the Wolverines desperately need.

In its previous 15 consecutive Big Ten dual meets since the 2013-14 season, the sixth-ranked Michigan women’s swimming and diving team (2-0 Big Ten, 3-1 overall) has posted an impressive 15-0 record. After Friday’s 21187 victory over No. 13 Indiana (1-1, 6-3), it seems Michigan’s winning streak isn’t showing any signs of stopping. Following a strong performance in last week’s Orange Bowl Classic — where the team won all 12 events and set meet records in nine of them — the Wolverines rode their momentum into Bloomington and continued to post solid times against some of the fiercest competition they will face this season. “We saw some women who needed to see themselves in a different light,” said Michigan coach Mike Bottom. “They’ve been looking at Indiana as a really, really good team, so to see how we (had 1-2-3 finishes) and (a 1-2-3-4 finish) in one event, the women gained a lot of confidence.” Buoyed by a balanced attack, the Wolverines won 12 of 16 events and went 1-2-3 in five of them. Four swimmers earned multiple individual victories, headlined by sophomore Siobhán Haughey (100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard IM) and junior Clara Smiddy (100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke). “We will move forward on our team, not on any individual,” Bottom said. “Whether it be (sophomore) Rose Bi swimming the 100-yard breaststroke and getting second or (junior) Sam Yeo getting third in the 200 IM, those are points for Michigan, and that is how we will move forward.” Bi added wins in both the 500 and 1000-yard freestyle races, and her 9:43.77 in the latter was almost 15 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Usually a distance specialist, the sophomore was mere seconds behind Indiana star Lilly King in

Classifieds

the 100-yard breaststroke. Keeping up with King, the two-time 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalist, was an important takeaway for the Wolverines, encouraging them to trust in their abilities even more. “Lilly King is the name in our sport right now, and we had breaststrokers who, yes, got beat by her, but it wasn’t the pouncing we expected,” Bottom said. “So even that, to stay in range of a superstar like that, we gained confidence from that, and that’s what we need heading into the Big Tens and NCAA Tournament.” Reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week Vanessa Krause — who has already captured the award three times this season — continued to impress with individual wins in both the 100 and 200-yard butterfly events. The Indiana native, who was cheered on by her entire family, credited her familiarity with Indiana’s CounsilmanBillingsley Aquatics Center as an advantage. This experience paid dividends, as Krause narrowly prevailed by .06 and .5 seconds, respectively. While winning is a bonus at dual meets, they are primarily used as barometers for teams to analyze their performances and see where they stand midway through the season. “They’re a good check for us to see what is working and what we need to improve on,” Haughey said. “After dual meets, we have some time to go back to our own pool and work on things that we have to work on.” Even after a dominant victory, the ability to make adjustments and tune the finer details of a swimmer’s race is essential for Michigan, especially in the stretch run. “This win definitely boosted our confidence, but you never know who’s going to come out strong at (the Big Ten Championships), so we always have to be ready and can’t let up,” Krause said. “They say you have to work hard up until the last race, so we have to make sure we’re putting in the work before conferences.”

Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com

RELEASE DATE– Thursday, January 19, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

SUMMER EMPLOYMENT

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Naproxen brand 6 Yap 10 Documentary divisions 14 Ricoh competitor 15 Green-skinned “Return of the Jedi” girl 16 Approaching 17 Not shady 18 Action figure? 19 Site of Shah Jahan’s tomb 20 Protective charm often adorned with feathers 23 Decorative globe 26 Ice cream maker Joseph 27 Holed a fivefooter, say 28 Start of a handsoff declaration? 30 Fivers 32 Pigs out (on), briefly 33 Stamina-testing ballroom event 36 Longtime Labor Day telethon org. 37 Wild bunch 38 Gold units: Abbr. 40 Forensic analyst’s discovery 46 Swiss river 48 “Peter Pan” pooch 49 Travel org. freebie 50 Lamentation 52 Miss an easy grounder, say 53 It can follow directions 54 Device found in this puzzle’s three other longest answers 58 Cold drink brand 59 Come & Get It! pet food maker 60 Annoyed 64 Like some warnings 65 Jetty 66 “Keen!” 67 Fresh answers 68 Quick on one’s feet

69 “Business @ the Speed of Thought” co-author DOWN 1 Guns N’ Roses’ Rose 2 Sheltered side 3 Bit of work 4 Cancel 5 More than just edgy 6 Morning fare since 1952 7 Study, e.g. 8 Actor Baldwin 9 Rampart topper 10 Legislate 11 Punctual 12 Concurred 13 Result of a messy breakup? 21 Wax-coated cheese 22 Rear 23 Ancient 24 Gad about 25 Wall Street figures 29 1980 Chrysler debut 30 Something in the air 31 Cake with a kick

34 “Too true!” 35 Creole vegetable 39 German industrial region 41 Youngest BrontÎ 42 Short rests 43 Weight allowance 44 Stud, e.g. 45 ICU worker 46 Rose garden pests 47 “The Good Wife” wife 51 Nice thoughts?

52 Bishop John for whom a Georgia university was named 55 Movie trailer unit 56 Imitator 57 One-half base times height, for a triangle 61 Dennings of “2 Broke Girls” 62 Juillet’s season 63 Big affairs

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Sports

6A — Thursday, January 19, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wolverines open indoor season in Simmons-Harvey Invitiational Michigan to face Terrapins WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

TOR THORNE

Daily Sports Writer

While the Simmons-Harvey Invitational signaled the beginning of the 2017 indoor season for the Michigan men’s and women’s track and field teams, it also marked the final collegiate competition in the U-M Indoor Track Building after 43 years in use. Going forward, the Wolverines will compete in the Stephen Ross Athletic Complex when it is completed in fall 2017. “I’ve been here since 1976,” said women’s coach James Henry. “There are a lot of things that I’ve seen here, and there are a lot of great, great memories.” The women’s team came out strong, notching four event titles and 15 personal records on the day. The Wolverines dominated in the first event of the competition, taking the top four spots in the high jump, with junior Claire Kieffer-Wright taking the victory after clearing a height of 1.7 meters. “It’s a good place to start for me, to shake off the rust,” KiefferWright said. “There’s more to come, but I think tomorrow waking up I’ll feel good about what I did today.” Other impressive performances in the field events came from Michigan’s throwers. In the weight throw, freshman Courtney Jacobsen tied for first place with a throw of 17.94 meters. She eventually lost the tiebreaker, though resulting in a second place finish. In the shot put, the Wolverines claimed three of the top seven spots, with junior Kayla Deering setting a personal record with a throw of 13.46 meters, good for second place. Michigan excelled in the track events as well. Six Wolverines set personal bests in the one-mile contest, including junior Erin Finn, whose time of 4:39.76 placed her in third.

The Wolverines also came away with victories in the 60-meter, 400-meter, and 600-meter events. In the 60-meter race, freshman Torisa Johnson won with a time of 7.54 seconds. Racing 400 meters, freshman Jade Harrison led the entire way, finishing in a time of 55.88 seconds. In the 600-meter contest, freshman Julia Hall won in 1:35.65, an impressive 6.46 seconds ahead of the second-place competitor. “I’m happy because it was my first college race ever,” Hall said. “It’s back to training, because I want to do better, but overall I’m excited about the start of the season and happy about where it started.” While recognizing that improvements still need to be made, Henry was impressed with the unity and hard work his team displayed.

You kind of look at each meet as a building block

“Across the board, in every single event, we had kids have personal bests,” Henry said. “If this is any indication of how we’re going to do, I’m excited for the next meet and beyond.” Not to be outshone by their female counterparts, the men’s team claimed victory in five events, and set seven personal records on the day. “After you get through the first meet, there’s going to be a lot of adjustments,” said men’s coach Jerry Clayton. “But overall it was a solid first day.” The Wolverines’ first victory came in the shot put, where junior Grant Cartwright’s best throw traveled 18.32 meters, a full 1.53

meters ahead of the second place finisher. “You kind of look at each meet as a building block,” Cartwright said. “I felt like, as a team, we did a pretty good job of putting down a good foundation for our season today.” Also in the field events, sophomore Joe Ellis finished first in the weight throw with a distance of 21.05 meters, while Cartwright set a personal best with a toss of 20.09 meters, good for second place. In the pole vault, Michigan’s competitors finished fourth through sixth, with junior Kevin Haughn, senior Steven Bastien, and sophomore Nicholas Burkhalter each setting personal records in the event. The Wolverines had a strong showing in the track events as well, where senior Drake Johnson won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.97 seconds. “For him (Johnson) to break eight seconds the first time out,” Clayton said. “On the track, that was probably our most outstanding performance there.” In the 800-meter race, sophomore Matt Plowman finished in first with a time of 1:56.06. In the mile run, sophomore Kevin Hall came in first, clocking in at 4:15.39. “Although I’m happy that I won, and it’s a good start, there’s definitely a lot more to do,” Hall said. “More than anything, it’s just a motivator for the rest of the season.” While both teams recognized that this meet served more as a stepping stone for the rest of the season, the competitors and coaches alike were happy to perform well as a final farewell to their longtime their longtime facility. “Can we rest on today? No,” Clayton said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do if we’re going to accomplish what we need to by (Big Ten Indoor Championships). But is it possible? No question.”

with chance at marquee win ETHAN WOLFE Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan women’s basketball team has hit its stride in Big Ten play, but a daunting Maryland at obstacle stands in the way as it Michigan looks to upset Matchup: No. 3 Maryland Maryland 17-1; Michigan 15-4 on Thursday. The third- When: ranked Thursday Terrapins’ (5-0 6 P.M. Big Ten, 17-1 Where: overall) only XFinity Center loss this season TV/Radio: came at the hand of No. 1 BTN Connecticut on Dec. 29, narrowly falling, 87-81. The last time the Wolverines (4-1, 15-4) met Maryland was last season, when the sixthranked Terrapins ran away with a 20-point win in College Park. But with new offensive weapons along with momentum, Michigan knows it just has to stick to its gameplan. “We’re very excited to play a great team like Maryland,” said senior guard Siera Thompson. “We come in that game like we come into every game: Preparing, scouting, learning their tendencies and just trying to stop their great players.” For Michigan to remain competitive against such an elite team, it will have to match the success of its two previous matchups against Indiana and Minnesota, with four players scoring into the double-digits. The Wolverines are thriving with their current offensive balance, as they came in ranked 29th in this week’s AP poll. In other words, Michigan needs its stars to play to their potential — especially Hallie Thome, who

is coming off a commanding 20-point, 17-rebound game against the Golden Gophers. The sophomore center will have the toughest matchup of the game, battling against Maryland center Brionna Jones. While Thome has a height advantage, Jones has been dominant in the post, averaging 19.5 points and 10.4 rebounds. Jones’ performance has earned her three Big Ten Player of the Week honors this year and most recently, the ESPNW National Player of the Week. “They rebound the ball well,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “… I think it’s going to be key for us to hold them to one shot, to be able to defend (Brionna Jones), and rebound with them.” The Wolverines will have their hands full if Jones controls the paint or if Thome gets into early foul trouble, and will have to rely more heavily on outside shooting. Michigan, though, has no shortage of prolific shooters. Junior guard Katelynn Flaherty and freshman guard Kysre Gondrezick have spearheaded a productive offense that owns the second-best 3-point field goal percentage in the country. “As long as we scout them and know their tendencies I think we’ve got a good shot at them,” Flaherty said after Sunday’s game against Minnesota. “If we played like we did in the first half (against Minnesota), then we a have shot to play with anyone in the country.” Unfortunately for the Wolverines, the Terrapins also have a slew of effective scorers that have wreaked havoc on opposing defenses this season. Guards Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Destiny Slocum have been a dynamic one-two punch from the perimeter, collectively knocking down over 40 percent of their 3-pointers. As a do-it-all 5-foot-11 guard, Walker-Kimbrough will

also pose a matchup problem for junior forward Jillian Dunston if she can’t stay out of foul trouble. An upset over Maryland would surely be one of Michigan’s biggest wins in program history, especially for a team that has done everything right thus far in hopes of snapping its three-year NCAA Tournament drought. But few teams have been able to muster any success against the Terrapins, and a loss would barely be a setback on the Wolverines’ tournament resume. The same can’t be said about Michigan’s contest Sunday against Nebraska (1-5, 5-13). Barring extreme circumstances, the Wolverines should be able to top the Cornhuskers with ease. Nebraska is tied with Wisconsin for the worst Big Ten record overall and has lost its conference matchups by an average of 14.5 points. The lone bright spot for the Cornhuskers has been their low-post presence, led by 6-foot4 forward Jessica Shepherd. Shepherd is the only double-digit scorer on the team, averaging a double-double with 18.6 points and 10.3 boards. Similar to the matchup with Maryland, Thome will be the busiest Wolverine on the court, as it will be her responsibility to keep Shepherd in check. But given Thome’s current dominance in Big Ten play, the matchup will definitely be one to keep an eye on. “As long as (Thome) is in the game, she’ll do great things for us,” Flaherty said. “She opens up the court for our guards (and) she’s very much improved on her rebounding game.” Regardless of what happens in the paint, the Wolverines are simply more talented on both sides of the basketball and should leave Lincoln with one more tally in the win column.

Simpson seeing new opportunities as freshman campaign continues MINH DOAN

Daily Sports Editor

EMMA RICHTER/Daily

Michigan women’s track and field coach James Henry is enthusiastic about his team’s season after its first invitational.

Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein says you’d laugh at how many times his freshman point guard Xavier Simpson begs to play. The Lima, Ohio native came to Ann Arbor as the No. 48 recruit in the country, but has struggled to adapt to the pace of play in the NCAA. Still, these transitional difficulties haven’t stopped him from wanting to play in big moments. “He has the attitude of a winner,” Beilein said. “He wants to be good, he wants his team to be good. He has a lot of energy on the bench. He’s trying to get ready and little by little, that’s our hope.” And as the Big Ten season progressed, Simpson has gotten his chance. In two of Michigan’s five conference games, Walton has picked up two fouls in the first half, forcing Beilein to give extended minutes to his firstyear point guard. While the newfound playing time may not have paid off as much as Beilein hoped, he has noticed the progression of Simpson’s play and most importantly, his confidence. That much was evident in the players-only meeting that was called by senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. the night before the Wolverines’ game against Nebraska last Saturday. “Actually, shockingly, we had our freshman, Xavier, step up and speak,” Walton said. “I think that’s great.” Realistically, situations like Saturday night’s are expected. Coming out of high school as a pass-first point guard and Ohio Mr. Basketball, one of Simpson’s best traits on his scouting report was his leadership ability. The same scouting report, though, described Simpson as just a “good” shooter. “Most point guards are going to be pass-first guys,” Beilein

said. “They can shoot and they can score, but they’re looking to set up others. So that’s his mindset right now — ‘How can I make others better around me,’ and ‘How can I go down and give Derrick a rest and play great defense while I’m at it?’ But Beilein wants Simpson to bring more to the table than just passing. While Simpson may not be ready to play 30 to 40 minutes a night, Beilein understands his role on the team. “It’s hard to ever expect anything from a freshman,” Beilein said. “I never really expect it, being a freshman and come in and (play) like a Trey Burke. That’s so rare that they just come in, and they’re game ready at this level.” As Beilein stated, Burke was an outlier. He came to Michigan with a level of talent and “swagger” that allowed him to claim the 2011-12 Big

Ten Freshman Player of the Year award, which hadn’t been won by a Michigan player in nine years. For most, though, the path to conference awards is an arduous one, and Beilein also understands that developing a point guard like Walton over a four-year period takes time. “We’re trying to develop him as quickly as we can,” Beilein said. “But it’s not easy for a freshman. He’s making developments everyday, and he knows and I know that he has a long way to go. He works his tail off, and that’s all we can ask for.” While Simpson may not be a point guard of Trey Burke’s caliber just yet, Beilein put it best when he said Simpson’s job at the moment is to fill in for Walton while also playing good defense. And so far, he’s doing a good job of it.

EVAN AARON/Daily

Freshman guard Xavier Simpson is finding his place in Michigan’s lineup after struggling to acclimate to the college game.

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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | Thursday, January 19, 2017

the wonderfully weird world of

‘weird twitter’ Sam Rosenberg Daily Arts Writer

Design by Jacob Bergen

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2B — Thursday, January 19, 2017 SAM ROSENBERG Daily Arts Writer

The internet is, and always has been, a weird place. I’ll elaborate: The internet has developed into an uninhibited digital space where anyone, no matter how weird or strange one’s taste, can express oneself in any way one wants. Users can feel as if they are part of a community without actually physically interacting with it. Given this autonomy, the most avid of users can explore the World Wide Web and end up traveling through an infinite amount of virtual rabbit holes. Some get lost in watching YouTube conspiracies for hours on end, while others delve deep into Reddit forums and the never-ending abyss that is Wikipedia. But what is most intriguing about the internet is how its online communities have developed into individualized subcultures. Weird Twitter, in particular, is one such subculture, in which a loosely connected group of Twitter users create a series of statuses that can be absurdist, bizarre, meta and straight-up nonsensical. Somehow, Weird Twitter has managed to attract a wide underground audience. If you’re an avid Twitter user, like I am, you’re likely following a Weird Twitter account without even realizing it. To describe Weird Twitter in this way, however, is oversimplifying the concept as a whole. It’s not just a collection of snarky users mocking modern society through odd posts on Twitter. Rather, it’s a postmodern, underground, cybercultural movement that is almost impossible to categorize through just one definition. The Awl’s Ken Layne called it “(an) intentionally wrong style of idiotic comedy.” The Daily Dot’s Fernando Alfonso III deemed it “a burgeoning comedy subculture.” Sebastian Benthall of the blog Digifesto claimed it was “aleatoric poetry.” The New York Times described it as “inane” and posited that early adopters of Weird Twitter used “inside humor to subtly mock the site’s corporate and mainstream users.” Perhaps Slacktory.com’s definition is the closest representation of Weird Twitter, particularly in its description of Weird Twitter’s distinctive aesthetic appeal: “Sloppy punctuation/ spelling/capitalization, poetic experimentation with sentence format, first-person throwaway characters, and other techniques little known to the vast majority of ‘serious’ Twitter users.” While Weird Twitter has grown more popular in the past few years, the origins of its school of thought, so to speak, date back even before the site’s existence. In 2002, the website SomethingAwful.com created an exclusive subforum titled FYAD (short for Fuck You and Die, of course), which was arguably a precursor to Weird Twitter. Like Weird Twitter, FYAD was known for incorporating brevity, surrealism, lack of context and ironic humor into the content produced by its users. The subforum no longer lives — though there’s a best-of collection that exists — but FYAD certainly prompted users of Something Awful to utilize their voices on other free-form platforms like the controversial forum site 4chan. Eventually, however, Twitter would become the more mainstream site that hosted and popularized this kind of small, niche community. One of the earliest examples of Weird Twitter as a concept came from a guy named Jon Hendren, who created his Twitter account @fart (119k followers) in 2008. He garnered online attention when he posted this status in May 2012: “i saw an ad on craigslist once that said ‘free firewood, u collect it’ so i wrote the guy and said ‘bud you just wrote an ad for the woods.’ ” It’s this kind of random, deadpan and guffaw-inducing post that represents one of the many facets of a vaguely inexplicable concept like Weird Twitter. After that status blew up, Weird Twitter gradually proliferated into the baffling marvel that it is today. Accounts like @Seinfeld2000 (137k followers), @Horse_ebooks (177k followers), @dril (470k followers) and @NYTMinusContext (147k followers) have become popular among consumers of the subculture. Each of these accounts are idiosyncratic in their own way, yet they share a similar self-awareness in making intentionally stupid or eccentric tweets. Even stand-up comedian Brandon Wardell (74.8k followers), hip-hop artist Lil B

(1.35m followers) and actor/writer Rob Delaney (1.33m followers) could be considered part of Weird Twitter. Wardell integrates his abbreviated, text-message-like vernacular with hilarious, thought-provoking quips about pop culture, while Lil B puts his signature on almost every one of his bizarre tweets, suggesting that he is, in fact, Lil B and not some online bot. Alernatively, Delaney was an early user of Weird Twitter, but due to the success of his Amazon show “Catastrophe,” he has merged into the mainstream part of Twitter and become more outspoken on hotbutton political issues. Weird Twitter is as entertaining and bewildering as it is amoebic and ineffable. Critics may just pass it off as unimportant jargon or a pretentious display of how millennials communicate online. On the contrary, Weird Twitter offers a creative, comedic space for some of the internet’s most sarcastic, anti-intellectual and angsty voices. As Buzzfeed’s John Herrman and Katie Notopoulos noted in their comprehensive 2013 oral history of Weird Twitter, it is “where the language of Twitter gets created, where its funniest jokes come from, and where its worst tendencies are isolated, rebroadcast, and sometimes destroyed.” Weird Twitter is uniquely insular not only in how it transcends the normal barriers of the internet with its unusual, off beat discourse, but also in how it critiques other users. Since 2014, a committee of several Weird Twitter-like accounts led by The Tourney Organizer, a member of the group, engage in a March Madness style online tournament called the Shit Account Tourney. The objective of the SAT is simple: choose the worst, shittiest Twitter account of the year. According to an article from New York Magazine, the top picks from 2015’s SAT included the overtly patriotic Cloyd Rivers, conservative actor James Woods, Trayvon Martin killer George Zimmerman and The Tweet of God, an account that imagines what God’s Twitter account would look like. The foursome were deemed the “Fuccboi Four.” The 16 contenders of this past year’s SAT were divided into regions that were named based on each account’s level of “shittiness.” With the intense politics of 2016, pro-Trump conservatives on Twitter, like online commentator Mike Cernovich, dominated the “cuck” region, while vocal Hillary Clinton supporters, like “Jeopardy!” winner Arthur Chu, commanded the “headass” region. For those confused by the terms “cuck” and “headass,” both are pejorative terms that are often used on Twitter. The former denotes someone perceived as emasculated and the latter is defined by Urban Dictionary as a bothersome person who uses “constant social faux pas, obnoxious mannerisms, unrealistic expectations and general ineptitude” in their tweets. Given these accounts are based around political opinions, it’s easy to assume the SAT committee is biased when it comes to judging accounts. But according to an SAT Committee Member (who declined to provide his name or handle, but whom we will refer to as Kevin), the tournament is judged relatively fairly and the judges do their best to critique an account more on its quality than on its political views. “We’re all good buds, but have political opinions all over the spectrum, which helps to make a fair tourney,” Kevin wrote in a direct message interview on Twitter. “The only thing that truly matters is how bad your account is, not whether you support free trade or some political bullshit.” In addition to the “cuck” and “headass” regions, there’s the “Patreon” region, consisting of “woke” feminists (actor Matt McGorry, writer Sady Doyle), and the “spirit cooking” region, which is made up of athletes and celebrities who tweet too much (“Dilbert” creator Scott Adams, actresses Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer). By making a democratic process, the SAT committee allows Twitter users to vote via Twitter polls and determine who has the shittiest account. And with a tight race between Cernovich, Chu, former Hillary Clinton adviser Peter Daou and New York Times bestselling author Kurt Eichenwald, Eichenwald was crowned the winner of the 2016 Shit Account Tourney. In regards to what actually makes a shit account “shit,” another committee member, who wished to be named Paul, mentioned that it depends on “how thin-skinned they are, proportional to the size of

their platform or their actual offline power.” Weird Twitter accounts and tournament organizers, like writer Sam Grady (@TheSamGrady), believe the SAT “offers a form of entertaining self-policing to a community that for too long has gotten away with parading around awful content that plebes eat up.” Similarly, the Tourney organizer believes that the SAT is a fun experience, saying “the humor of the Tourney itself is to illuminate that online opinions are mostly shitty.” The Tourney’s purpose, according to the Tourney trganizer, is to mock these people but “allow the general population to decide who is the shittiest.” Though most might classify these accounts as Weird Twitter, Paul and The Tourney Organizer don’t consider themselves as such. “I don’t think the committee is really ‘weird-twitter,’” Paul wrote. “Most of us don’t have tons of followers or put a lot of time or thought into our jokes. We just riff on dumb shit.” He also suggested, even, that the tourney is “not there for Weird Twitter, or any other specific faction. It’s basically for the people who spend a decent amount of time on here.” Despite these contradictory statements, Weird Twitter can play a pivotal role in shaping the SAT for some, especially with Grady. As a struggling writer who joined the Weird Twitter community in 2011, Grady believes the movement and the SAT are much more relevant than we give them credit for. He believes Weird Twitter and the SAT “allow us to get above the BS of feigned manners and fake sincerity and really critically examine some of the accounts on here who genuinely add nothing to the larger conversation aside from ego stroking and creating a mass hug-box.” This internal conflict of Weird Twitter’s identity brings up an interesting existential question. If certain accounts that would be considered part of the Weird Twitter community don’t identify as such, then what exactly is Weird Twitter? And if the SAT is not a product of Weird Twitter, then how and where does it fit in within the larger paradigm of the Twitter community?As a genre of online humor, Weird Twitter seems concerned with provoking the most bewildered reactions from people. But as a postmodern online subculture, Weird Twitter lacks an inherent unity and thus remains divided, with some believing it doesn’t exist anymore and others saying the opposite. It’s quite a paradox. What will become of Weird Twitter in the following years, where our president-elect reigns supreme as one of the most excessively active and aggressive Twitter users? According to Grady, Weird Twitter seems to be headed in a somewhat more political direction. “The future of this subculture is one in which mainstream, leftwing, political thought and online discourse begin to more and more look like the Chapo (Trap House) crew,” Grady wrote. Chapo Trap House, an irreverent leftist podcast created by three Weird Twitter users (@ ByYourLogic, @cushbomb and @ willmenaker) during the election season, is one such example for how Weird Twitter can play a significant part within the larger realm of the internet. The podcast has garnered both ire and praise from the online community for its pointedly humorous and scathing attacks on both liberals and conservatives. It represents one of the many products of Weird Twitter that highlight the movement’s potential political utility. “We already see it in the altright,” Grady continued, “a kind of ironic detachment from sincere belief that will replace genuine ideology. A kind of hysterical-realist ubiquitous media nightmare where all cultural iconography is reduced to complete meaninglessness. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” The fate of Weird Twitter, and the greater online community at large, is still uncertain. But it’s hard not to recognize how something that was once deemed just a crude, exclusive form of online humor has become a social phenomenon today. It’s also terrifying to think of how something like Weird Twitter can cause such a blunt impact on online culture. But eventually, as Kevin pointed out, everyone is going to have to log off. “Twitter is a great website, but you can only be on it for so long before your brain melts, for good.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

B-SIDE

@absurdity: The societal breakdown of postmodernity DAYTON HARE Senior Arts Editor

I have been staring into the abyss for a while now. And honestly, I’m not sure it’s staring back. It might be, but really it’s a bit difficult to tell. The abyss’ gaze seems to wander over a whole lot, and to say I’m a particular focus probably isn’t correct. To be completely frank, it might be looking at any number of things — underwhelming sentient televisions, rapid-fire false equivalencies, speculative urban development, etc. — but I can’t tell what because the abyss is sporting a pair of pixelated sunglasses. This abyss is named @Dril, by the way. @Dril lives in the dimly lit corners of the Twitter-verse, little-reached regions that are entirely alien to me. He’s one of the most famous of a loose collection of people casually referred to as “Weird Twitter,” a sort of Internet sub-culture that, until now, hasn’t intersected with my own existence. Somehow, despite living in an age in which it’s the favored vehicle of invective for a certain former reality television star, I have never so much as entered the Twitter URL before this week (which is why, I suppose, I’ve been asked to write this). So to plunge headfirst into the phenomenon of Weird Twitter has been sort of like trying to watch a Samuel Beckett play after first imbibing a couple hundred micrograms of Tim Leary’s favorite nutritional supplement. Weird Twitter itself, I’ve learned, is a sort of amorphous collection of typically pseudonymous Twitter-users who have a penchant for the bizarre, satirical, absurd and generalized drollery. In short, they’re the sort of crowd who in all likelihood would mirthfully mock and roll their eyes at what I’m about to try to do, i.e., “get” them. But they’re probably not going to read this anyway, so here goes. After careful consideration, I have concluded that the existence and ethos of Weird Twitter — like most everything else — perfectly align with my Almost Comprehensive Theory of Existence in the Postmodern American Era. But seriously, while the ACTEPAE doesn’t actually exist, I do think there are a number of characteristics of Weird Twitter that can be viewed as microcosms of society at large, particularly in regard to the sociopolitical developments of the last few decades (and especially the last few months). The most prevalent of these is probably the overwhelming ubiquity of irony. We live in a culture that’s saturated with sarcasm. I won’t bother listing many examples because it’s next to impossible that you don’t know what I’m talking about, but to give one, there’s the fact that for nine years one of the most watched late-night TV shows (“The Colbert Report”) starred a character who literally never spoke unironically. My own generation, in particular, seems to be extraordinarily deft at this sort of thing — and I include myself in that characterization. It’s certainly not uncommon for me to have an entire conversation with a friend using the sort of straight-tone sarcasm that leaves some people from older generations (e.g., my mother) baffled at the turn of the talk. We’re the generation who can casually suggest that the appropriate retributive response to a perceived slight is an action that would make Hammurabi look like the author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all without our conversational partner batting an eye. Hardly ever would our words be regarded as literal by our peers. Despite the fact that we no longer go through the same type of baroque contortions to signify our use of sarcasm, as did previous groups, we almost perfectly

understand one another. We have developed our own subdermal language beneath the spoken/ written word, a jargon built as an imago to the vernacular. One discerns intent primarily through anticipation of insincerity. The reasons why we do this are more opaque, but I grow more and more convinced as time goes on that irony today principally functions as an antidote to (or fortification against) pain. No matter what your politics are, most of us can agree that the world today is generally what could be classified as “screwed up” — and while we might know, objectively, that it’s on the whole a lot better than it was in the past, we feel acutely all the anxieties and discomforts of living in a flawed planet that increasingly appears to lead an absurd and meaningless existence in the galactic boondocks. Almost certainly this collective existential dread stems from the newfound interconnectivity of the world, and the omnipresence of 24-hour mass media, but knowledge of the conduits doesn’t do anything to mitigate the feeling. But coming at this pain obliquely via irony certainly takes off the edge. Explanations as to why (with respect to the “screw[ed] up[ness]”) differ greatly, of course, but my personal view is, to a great extent, derived from observations about the culture of postmodernity, especially in this country. To me, one of our main problems lies in the misalignment of our value systems, which springs principally from our economic model. For instance, in contemporary parlance the words “value” (n. in the financial sense) and worth (n. in the definitional sense) have come to be inextricably bound-up with one another, circuitously leading to such absurdities as a belief in the automatic virtue of the rich, or the cult of wealth — warped perspectives that no doubt contributed to the calamitous consummation our country will be undergoing tomorrow at noon. Though it’s not as if this mindset is new: Albert Camus noted it in his day, remarking, “A man wants to earn money in order to be happy, and his whole effort and the best of a life are devoted to the earning of that money. Happiness is forgotten; the means are taken for the end.” A person confuses the value of something with its worth, and sets up the false equation of “money = happiness.” These same concerns that troubled Camus when he was developing his views on absurdism are pertinent today. And it’s not just this value vs. worth confusion that’s the issue in postmodern life — one of the worst culprits in our collective malcontentment is the sheer biting dullness of it all. Most of us go through our limited days following an unimaginative rubric that goes something like this: childhood, high school, college, nine-to-five job, spouse, kids, social security paycheck, retirement and la fin. In our free time we’re concerned with our lawns, our houses, our cars, the next winner of The Voice and all the other humdrum bullshit that’s part of a standard-issue postmodern existence c. 2017. We use these minutiae to try to find fulfillment, but somehow it still eludes our grasp — hence, the perception that it’s all “screwed up.” Throw a bit of the recent political scene into the mix and it just exacerbates the problem. The colossal absurdity of it all still makes one’s mind spin. We’ve come to such a point in our crisis of culture that the previously referenced former reality television star has been selected to lead the free world. That such a man, who is easily the most mendacious candidate in history and whose maladroit syntax scrambles the senses, could achieve the highest office in the nation is troubling, to say the least. But the fact that so many of us can still sit here and pretend

that we — as a culture — were asymptomatic prior to this, that what has happened doesn’t have anything to do with how we live, is perhaps more surprising. No wonder “surreal” managed to be named Merriam-Webster’s 2016’s word of the year. With all this strangeness floating around, the present moment has honestly turned out to be a breakdown of Baudrillardian magnitude. Scheming billionaires, corrupt officials, Russian cabals — the whole thing is really turning into a bad satire of a Bond movie without the love-interest. All of which, believe it or not, brings me back to Weird Twitter. Because even though they offer their message 140 characters at a time and don’t spend 1,000 words prattling on about the perils of postmodernity, they get it. Maybe they don’t ever articulate it in quite the same way as I do, but the more I read their tweets the more I become convinced they understand that our society has come to a crisis of culture, and that this crisis stems from the way we view and experience the world. Sure, some of their stuff is mindless shitposting, but if you look past the irony and absurdity and vulgarity often you’ll find a message containing a keen social critique. Some of those from Weird Twitter realize it too. At the heart of the Weird Twitter political scene is a collective known as Chapo Trap House, a group of three core members who originally came together to do an ad-hoc radio comedy show mocking the then-recent film “13 Hours,” by Hollywood director and part-time conservative propagandist Michael “moreexplosions-is-always-better” Bay. But CTH ended up sticking together, and have since been producing a profanity-laced, firmly leftist (not “liberal”) podcast that has been perhaps the loudest voice in the self-titled “Dirtbag Left.” CTH has had a real run of it in recent months, the pack of vulgarians turning their vituperative scorn on the shortfingered vulgarian. But following the failure of Hillary Clinton’s campaign especially, CTH has turned much of its ridicule toward other targets closer to home, namely, they lambast the sort of lackadaisical liberals who they feel handed the nomination to Clinton, and subsequently, the presidency to Trump. They demand a left that is more resolute in its convictions and fierce in its fights, mocking those in the Democratic Party who lacked either the passion or the courage — or maybe both — to truly stand up for the ideals of the left in the same sort of invigorating way that an FDR or JFK might have. And certainly CTH has been noticed; in November, The New Yorker ran an article about them and their future (though am I the only one that finds it strange that CTH agreed to be interviewed by a publication which is exactly the sort of liberal elitist snobbery they rail against? The New Yorker spells it “élitist,” for God’s sake). But it will be interesting to watch where they go from this point forward, particularly as it pertains to the reform of the American left. But in my view CTH, and Weird Twitter as a whole, faces a very real challenge to its efficacy as an agent of change. And this challenge comes from within itself — just as I have spent the last few days gazing into the abyss of Weird Twitter, so too has Weird Twitter spent its lifetime gazing into the abyss of our reality, and they would do well to remember the first half of that Nietzsche quote: “He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.” For mockery and ridicule will only get one so far. Perhaps I sound like a follower of Burke or a Girondin or some such thing, but to me one must not only tear down, but also build up. To commentate is easy — creation is harder.

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Thursday, January 19, 2017 — 3B

STYLE NOTEBOOK

JON HENDREN

The man behind Twitter user @fart

ARTIST

IN

PROFILE @fart: Hendren talks Twitter and making a career out of absurdity The uneven crossroad of Twitter and the modern fashion zeitgeist

UNSPLASH

An example of a clothing showroom

NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT Senior Arts Editor

The first time I saw that specific permutation of symbols — “@fart” — was on a Headline News Network chyron. Someone had sent me a link to what he claimed was “the funniest shit I’ve ever seen.” Sure enough, it was; this stunt was peak performance art in the age of social media, a brilliantly stupid and stupidly brilliant confluence of the 24-hour news cycle and pure absurdism. The man behind it all is more tastefully known as Jon Hendren, a Bay Area-based web developer specializing in a fairly new field called DevOps. But that “@fart” handle proved too intriguing for me. Relatively naive to Twitter, I took a deep dive into Hendren’s hilarious, wonderful profile and everything that came with it — the infamous shoe roast is another golden moment — and thus, I was converted: I was now a Weird Twitter devotee. I managed to get ahold of Hendren and ask him a bit about his craft — he’s a personal hero of mine, so having him respond was quite the thrill. What’s a bit of your background, and how did you get into “Weird Twitter”? I’m just some dude. I’m not particularly interesting or well-educated, but I’ve got a background in writing for websites and sometimes mobile games. Now I do marketing. Interestingly enough, the guys who hired me did so in part because when you google me, one of the first results is an article where I talk about how much I hate marketing. “Weird Twitter” is primarily made up of people who came over from SomethingAwful around 2008-2010. There are a handful of reasons people made the leap, but I think the big one was that Twitter was just easier to use on smartphones at that period, and most of us had jobs so it was just a better place to post our dumb things. Then along came style-biters with cartoon avatars and names like Random McBaconspoon and now I hate Twitter. So how did you come up with your Twitter handle (which is an all-time great)? Honestly, I just typed it in and it worked. I never really planned to “use” Twitter for anything, so I was goofing off, and it said the name was available and I jumped on it. In your own words, what characterizes the specific “Weird Twitter” sense of humor? A lot of it I think has its root in some of the old SomethingAwful stuff. If you go back and read some of the front page and the FYAD (Fuck You And Die) subforum from like 2000-2010 you’ll probably notice a lot of the same themes and tone. A lot of it hasn’t held up over time, but some of it is really good still. Lots of diapers, if you’re into diapers. The first time I read about you was the HLN Edward Scissorhands stunt, which, for the record, is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Can you give a little background behind that — how it happened, the logistics, what you think was the point of it,

etc.? I still don’t know how it happened. I got a pretty short email the day before from a producer or someone with just a couple lines like, “Hey, want to come on via Skype and talk about Edward Snowden joining Twitter?” and I immediately replied “yes” before even fully thinking it through. I think there was also a bit in there suggesting I might be having a back-and-forth with someone who was anti-Snowden, so I was mentally preparing myself for that. But I didn’t really have a plan at all because I didn’t know the structure of it for sure, I just thought it’d be funny to make it sound like I was there to talk about Edward Scissorhands. I figured they’d hang up on me as soon as I said something weird, but they didn’t and it kept going for like 2 minutes. I asked my friend Jesse Farrar to record it in case it ended up being funny, and as soon as the thing ended I was convinced it was going to be bad. I asked how bad it turned out and he said, “No dude, this is really good.” Then I went to work and opened my laptop and there were trending topics about it and whatever else. Really weird day. Has that whole episode changed anything for you? Every couple months someone recognizes me somewhere, which is basically horrifying because I’m usually doing something dumb or dressed like shit. How do you come up with tweets? Does it come easily to you? I don’t know, ideas just sort of happen as I go about my business. I don’t really work on them unless I have to get the wording into shape. Some guys really enjoy workshopping their tweets and posting revisions to see how they perform and whatnot. That’s not for me. I just have to get a funny idea out before I stop thinking it’s funny and before I bother anyone I know in real life with it. Do you think Twitter is legitimately an art form? I think it is if you treat it a certain way. Like, if you want to convey an idea or a concept or get some sort of result or reaction in just this small space, I think that and (a bunch of other uses) are legitimate art. But at the same time, you also will come across folks who are just re-engineering worn-out concepts and linebreak tweets in a desperate bid to get the favs and RTs. That part is sad and not artistic. Given that, what are some of your favorite Twitter accounts? I love @dogboner, @dril, @ degg, @bronzehammer, and all my other wonderful boys. Can you speak a little bit about DevOps and your involvement in it? Without getting too far into the weeds, DevOps is a methodology software developers and IT admins can use to create their software better and faster. It is a good thing, but incredibly boring and irrelevant to 99.99% of people. (Like me) The software my company makes deals with a lot of what makes DevOps hard for people, so I have to think about it a lot. What we make is actually useful for people interested in DevOps, but it’s practically impossible for anyone to cut through the sea of

buzzwords and self-appointed “Thought Leaders’” meaningless blog posts, so I figured I should just tell everyone I’m one of those thought leaders now, and also the best one. And it worked. I’m the best one now. Smartest, most handsome, highest libido. Most of the “real” thought leaders hate me for it, which is how I know it’s good. I don’t really mention the company on my Twitter account or tie it back in, I mainly just enjoy making self-righteous people mad. So is DevOps work a career path that sprung out of your Twitter usage? Yup, it’s absolutely something I never would have learned anything about otherwise. I’m extremely lazy. Because of the election, a certain subset of Weird Twitter has become identified with the Chapo/”Dirtbag Left” crowd. Do you think there’s a political utility to Weird Twitter? And if so, is it worthwhile? Yeah, and it is worthwhile. I think people in that Dirtbag Left community are usually seen as outspoken and even credible(!) on matters of politics. From what I’ve seen they typically don’t roast someone unless they can back it up. They criticize a wide range of things and people, but do it eloquently and lay out their arguments pretty well. It gives them a certain type of credibility that’s in short supply lately. Of course, this will all come back to bite me as soon as we find out one of them is a serial killer or something. But like, if the world’s most popular celebrity tweets, “Hey, mango-flavored chapstick is great, maybe get some next time you’re at the gas station,” I’ll think, “hey fuck you pal, mind your business,” but if Larry Website says to join the Democratic Socialists of America and yourself get involved in politics, well shit, I will join the DSA (and I have, along with thousands of other people). I think there’s a huge amount of potential in people like that so long as they keep pushing into the mainstream and don’t just peak with a successful podcast. That said, I don’t know any of the Dirtbag Left people on a personal level, but they seem to be doing something good at an important point in time, so I like ‘em and think they’re good. So what do you see as the future of this subculture? We’re moving the whole thing into VR as soon as Big Toilet Simulator 2018 is released. DLC will let you choose from 4 different pee stream colors. This might still be a sore spot, but want to talk about the infamous shoe roast at all—what the whole deal was, were you actually pissed, etc.? Another one of my favorite Twitter moments. Nah, it was cool. Greg and Dave and used to work together at a weird startup where we had way too much time on our hands, and we roasted each other constantly. That particular day I was fairly busy and didn’t see a lot of it until later. I deserved it though, the shoes were bad. I dropped them off at a thrift store I lived near at the time, which then closed a few months later. Totally unrelated probably I hope.

The role of‘Fashion Twitter’ and its unique space on the expansive website NARESH IYENGAR Daily Arts Writer

The corner of Twitter dedicated to fashion, or “Fashion Twitter,” is a weird place. It has never really been a place for in-depth exploration of fashion trends or to share what’s hot this Spring/Summer, but is more of a space for surface-level content. I think this is primarily due to the fact that other social media platforms have much more pointed communities for serious fashion talk, leaving Twitter to be the home of more superficial discussion. Fashion Twitter has many different facets, but at its roots, it primarily serves two purposes: First as a medium for people to vent and second, to post fashion memes. Both of these uses of Fashion Twitter have attracted fashion snobs and marginally attached fashion consumers alike. While the brands themselves don’t have a hold on the Fashion Twitter market, designers from Kanye West to Hedi Slimane have used the site to express their various troubles with the industry. Slimane’s sincedeleted rant started with the following tweet: “FACT CHECKING / THERE HAVE BEEN INACCURATE STATEMENTS ON RECENT ARTICLES REGARDING HEDI AND THE USAGE OF THE YSL HISTORICAL LOGO” It then snowballed into an in-depth, third-person account that I call “YSL: FOR THE RECORD,” highlighting Silmane’s long history of using the YSL logo in his two different tenures at the helm of the fashion house (first as Menswear Ready-to-Wear director, then as Creative Director). Kanye West has had his fair share of Twitter diatribes, as well: He (questionably) took to Twitter to ask Facebook

founder, Mark Zuckerberg, to invest in him after pointing out how many fashion houses have shot down his ideas because he is considered an outsider. West also used the site to complain about how so many houses were biting the designs of Slimane rather than pushing the envelope, which is something that has been seen over the past few years. It is interesting to me how designers and artists on the level of Slimane and West have used Twitter as the choice outlet for their frustrations. To me, the value of Twitter has always been the ability to send small tidbits of information to a large audience,

This sense of competition comes from the sense of urgency that has plagued the industry

so from that perspective it makes perfect sense to use it to express discontent with a situation. At the same time, however, the Twitter demographic does not seem to align perfectly with the group that someone like Slimane would be looking to reach through his self-defense. A couple fashion blogs will pick up the story and run with it, which is where it will gain traction, but it’s extremely rare to see Fashion Twitter having a serious conversation about the tweets themselves. On the other end of Fashion Twitter are accounts like Four Pins. Since shutting down its

blog in late 2015, Four Pins Twitter account has continued in high spirits. They can be found talking trash about Roshe Runs. Or providing plenty of content to tag “your most swagless homie” (i.e. your only other friends interested in fashion on Twitter) in. These tweets are lighthearted jokes that people who are interested in fashion can relate to, just like any other Twitter community but on a much smaller scale (compared to Four Pins who has 200,000 followers). Something that I’ve asked myself is what value does Fashion Twitter add to the fashion scene as a whole? Facebook is great for buying and selling highly sought-after items, Instagram is a fantastic platform (for better or worse) to “flex“ the latest pickup and for the proliferation of trends in general and then there’s Twitter. Besides memes and the occasional tirade, I don’t think that Twitter adds much else, but paradoxically that’s what makes it so useful. For something that many people view as a hobby, fashion can be terribly competitive: Competition shows itself on Facebook through people constantly seeking the most iconic (and expensive) garments from a designer, and it shows on Instagram with users always trying to post outfits in the most exclusive pieces. This sense of competition comes from the sense of urgency that has plagued the fashion industry. While everyone from designers to Instagram users are working so hard to be perceived as trailblazers in their own ways, Fashion Twitter hangs back and provides a place for people to complain from time-to-time and to post dumb jokes. For people like myself, this can be a much-needed break from the competitive scene.

MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW Young Thug’s known for the point. He goes on to humorously outrageous shit he does. He chronicle the day’s events via this wears women’s clothing. He text on the screen, where we’re doesn’t eat, like, anything. He told they continued shooting takes molly regularly. without Thug, under Etc., etc. The dude the impression he just doesn’t care. And would eventually “Wyclef apparently, he didn’t arrive. We see shots of Jean” give enough to show girls in bikinis, shots of up to the filming of Young Thug girls smashing bikinis, his “Wyclef Jean” shots of girls eating video. But that didn’t hot dogs, but not shots stop director Ryan Staake from of Thug. And this does not go making one anyways. And, while unmentioned by the director. the end result isn’t necessarily a He tells us, too, that music video, that’s kind of what his only interaction with Thug makes it the greatest music video was via an audio recording sent ever. to him, in which Thug details The video opens on a the premise for the video. This black screen that features text recording goes on to narrate the through which Staake introduces entire video. For example, over himself to us: “I don’t have any the audio sample Thug says, “I of what I planned to film. So, I’ll want like, police cars. I want kids just explain how this video fell in the adult car,” and we see a apart,” the screen reads at one shot of just that: kids dressed in

police uniforms sitting in a police car. This continues throughout. And the humor is not subtle, as Staake adds his own little quips throughout. One scene features “bitches” hitting the police car with bats, in which he comments: “This scene actually worked out pretty well. It even feels like a real video.” There’s commentary on artistry, and wealth and celebrity, as well, with Staake concluding: “Maybe that’s the moral of the story: None of this matters. This video costs over $100,000 and the artist never showed.” But this is a rap music video, and we don’t have time for that shit. Just keep the girls in the bikinis coming. - RACHEL KERR

the b-side

4B — Thursday, January 19, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

in this series, three daily arts writers in varying states of mind do the same activity and write about their experiences.

this week’s event:

‘The Young Pope’ ft. Catholic Guilt BASEDWORLD

Lil B, rapper and Twitter personality

Lil B and the age of digital music fandom

What if the Pop blasted cigs?? What if the Pope blasted cigs????? What if the Pope blasted cigs??????? What if the Pope blasted cigs???????????? dAmn he does lmao — Daily Arts Writer

How artists like Lil B, through Twitter, changed the way in which fans and musicians interact forever SHAYAN SHAFII Daily Music Writer

Back in high school, I remember my friends and I once had a contest to see who could get the most rappers to follow us on Twitter. It all started one day, when totally out of the blue, frequent Riff Raffcollaborator TKO Capone blessed me with a gracious follow. It wasn’t much, but it stood as the beginning of something truly special; in the ensuing weeks, my friends and I would scheme and strategize our way to eventually earning the prized Kanye West follow. I decided I would circumvent all of the mixtape scrubs and jump straight to the big shots. I called the White House Communications Agency to see if I could get a follow from President Obama (not a rapper), but I guess my request was deemed unimportant. When V-Nasty leaked Riff Raff’s phone number that same week, I spam-called him at least 15 times to see if he would follow me on Twitter. He eventually picked up up the phone, but I was only on the receiving end of swear words in his surprisingly authentic Texas drawl (though, it should be noted that he did follow me sometime thereafter). My friends had begun to rack up all sorts of struggling rappers, and yet, I had nothing. They angled for shoutouts on Datpiff cuts, while all I could do was refresh my page. I felt directionless, worthless — unworthy, even. One friend happened to become particularly close with Soulja Boy through Xbox Live, and mentioned that Mr. Boy was very responsive to fans that repped his label, SODMG (Stacks On Deck Money Gang). It was free

None were quite as prolific as Lil B, though marketing and made the fans feel acknowledged on an individual level. At that moment it became very clear what I had to do to redeem myself. I updated my Twitter handle to include his label, and within a few days, I was in. The internet proved to be shockingly powerful guerrilla marketing tool for

up-and-coming artists, and I think early internet rappers that existed between the years of 2008 and 2011 were most exemplary in their approach. Wiz Khalifa was an infamous Twitter user in his pre-Kush & OJ days, keeping his ears to the pulse of his cargo short-wearing fans. Curren$y typically responded at every time of asking, and all it took was a name-change to receive affirmation from the first guy to ever “superman” on us all. None were quite as prolific as Lil B, though. Born Brandon McCartney, Lil B ‘From The Pack’ BasedGod was (and continues to be) the greatest Twitter user of our time. Before the cooking dance memes, ESPN appearances, Pitchfork endorsements and university lectures, there were the tweets. My god, the tweets. From the beginning, Lil B was the most unpredictable and eccentric rapper at the intersection of popular culture and Twitter, populated with a wide variety of characters ranging from Father to Earl Sweatshirt. His tweets were most identifiable by a childlike juxtaposition of vulgarity and sincerity — tweets about mental illness awareness were released in tandem with confusing and offensive takes on feminism and sexual violence. He was so passionate on issues that most rappers couldn’t give a damn about, and yet, his Twitter presence amplified his status as the poster child of “whack new rap” that his music gave him. His virtual signature gracing the end of every tweet, it almost feels like he’s speaking to you personally when he tweets that he loves you every day. At this point it’s gone too far to be a joke or gimmick; in a recent interview with Noisey he discussed his challenges of coexisting peacefully with insects. I would love to hear, say, Tyga’s take on insect rights (not that it matters). Lil B followed me on Twitter on September 14th, 2011. I was a junior in high school, and it meant a lot to me. Having grown up and experienced music fanhood without the direct lines of communication, Twitter was awesome to me because I could hear about Kanye’s favorite movies, Earl’s favorite books, Tyler the Creator’s favorite Roy Ayers albums, etc. It brought me closer to my favorite artists in a way that removed them from their respective pedestals (in a good way). They were regular “music

“You don’t just cast a guy with a small pee-pee as a pope” And off we go to Neverland! So many dead babies dear lord. But lords are all the rage these days, didn’t you know? He drops his robe and my oh my Catholic education never gave me a jude law it gave me some homophobic priests, a puppet, and catholic guilt but NOT jude law. Catholic guilt and insecure men, what did I tell you. All the ingredients you need to enter priesthood is right there. Fourteen years and what does it get me? Several bible passages and a woman telling me that we “can talk to her” about our problems “because she was a college counselor and she understands.” It also gave me Pam Stenzel. Why did one girl in my graduating class get pregnant and two drop out? Pam Stenzel. Why did my sex education consist of the identification of defense mechanisms and the map of the female vagina? Catholicism. Lenny’s a contradiction. He’s the pope, but he’s also Jude Law. I can’t tell you what this does to my psyche. Because in high school, yes, I wrote a sonnet about Jude Law. 14 lines, and a rhyming couplet at the end. Oh how rich, how sweet, how rich. My teacher had me read it in front of the class as the “ideal example of a sonnet.” I told her it was about Jude. She made me return to my seat. And now, I bestow it onto you my dear readers. Please, remark on it in peace and in pure adoration for the art of those who came before us — There holds not much use in comparing thee To the summer’s day, or rose buds of springs For such drawings are made in falsity You are more pristine than either beings Those eyes shine bright, full of life and laughter A voice melodious with an accent Mirroring a song, but a bit faster If only from thy lips a kiss be lent Deceit can be seen in thy awful past But there is mercy for a handsome face My love for you is sure to always last But your heart may not always keep the pace From afar these feelings have collected While any hope of requite has melted Timemark: October 27th, 2013. I also did an interpretation of Macbeth’s murder based on the Sopranos. There were nerf guns involved and i made them buy wifebeaters. Ask me about it sometimes. And then ask why I didn’t have any friends.

kids” like me, and Twitter made me feel like a genuine part of the artistic and cultural movements I most identified with. I was 16 at the time and admittedly thought the “Thank You Based God” jokes and cooking dance celebrations were hilarious. I once tweeted a video of an American soccer player celebrating a goal against Suriname with the Lil B cooking dance, and a guy from Lil B’s camp named “Caseeno Truwop” (no longer online) retweeted it. It eventually found it’s way to Lil B, who then shared the video on Facebook. To this day, I still think he wouldn’t

I was 16 at the time and admittedly thought the “Thank You Based God” jokes were hilarious

have found it had I not tweeted; his incredibly close internet-relationship with his fans makes it possible to influence the artists who most influence us. A faction of his fans, affectionately known as the “Task Force,” have been responsible for elevating Lil B’s most infamous beefs to unforeseen levels via Twitter. One fan ordered 30 cheese pizzas to Space Ghost Purrp’s home, and collectively, they managed to make Joey Bada$$ delete his Twitter altogether. They are very much a force to be reckoned with, and I think the dedication these fans show Lil B is merely a reciprocation of the respect he has shown to us in every tweet, like, follow and song. Lil B is the 21st century iPhone-wielding Black Monk of rap, blessing us with aphorisms and criminally underrated music with each extension of his digital consciousness. He generally doesn’t use punctuation in his tweets or music, constantly finding ways to express himself through the constraints of our satellites and keyboards. As a generation of kids typified by a feeling of loneliness from incessant connectivity, Lil B’s resilient messages of all-too-real positivity really do hit close to home.

­— Daily Arts Writer

I know I’m in on “The Young Pope” from its first shot: a baby’s bare ass, climbing across a mountain of more naked babies. And who emerges from the infantile rubble? None other than my main man, David Jude Heyworth Law. I love this show already. I feel like I could write about “The Young Pope” for hours. The incredible, blistering, surreal, subversive, miraculous opening 15 minutes (Buzzed, who went to Catholic school: “This is NOT the Catholic Church”), the lush cinematography, Jude Law’s career-best performance, its winking self-awareness that renders any and all previous Twitter-based memes dated, if not outright irrelevant — but I can’t stop thinking about “Pope” ’s complete and utter command of tone. The supposedly wide chasm between pretentiousness and camp isn’t so much a yawning gap as it is a circle that bends back upon itself. Sorrentino pitches the show at that perfect intersection, and it’s a minor miracle that he pulls it off. Which is why this whole viewing might be an exercise in futility. “The Young Pope” knows its premise is absurd, it’s aware of the inherent outrageousness; it’s essentially a living, breathing meme. You’re not laughing at this show because it’s bad, you’re laughing because the writers literally wrote a joke. It’s OK to laugh! It’s the anti-prestige drama, a splash of cold water in the face of HBO stiffness. As Buzzed looks through her laptop files to find a sonnet she once wrote to Jude Law in middle school and Baked is unnervingly silent, a Cardinal on the screen is scrolling through his iPhone. It’s such a simple but outlandish image, cartoonish but effective. Jude Law, the Pope, asking for a Cherry Coke Zero — incredible. There are so many other things I’d like to pontificate on, but Baked just yelled out, “WHAT IF THE POPE BLASTED CIGS THOUGH?” Shouts to Brandon Wardell. — Nabeel Chollampat

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

the b-side

FILM NOTEBOOK

Thursday, January 19, 2017 — 5B

COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK

The secret happiness in the unhappy ending Writer Eli Rallo talks about the satisfaction and contentment she finds in unhappy endings, savoring their authenticity and appeal to reality ELI RALLO For the Daily

FACEBOOK

President-elect Donald Trump

Trump parody accounts link politics & Hollywood Arthouse accounts use classical film as a way to target Trumpisms DANIEL HENSEL Daily Film Editor

President-elect Donald Trump’s unique penchant for tweeting — and his distinct, brash style on that platform — has proven to be ripe for parody. But unlike that of Alec Baldwin on “Saturday Night Live,” which requires excellent acting in real time, plus all the production that accompanies it, Trumpian parodies on Twitter are essentially democratic; they only require an internet connection and a working knowledge of pithy exclamations. During and after the election, when it seemed Trump’s tweets alone gained as much media attention as all his opponents combined, Trump parodies and complements became something of a cottage industry. Not all parody accounts, though, are created equal. Many that have spread virally are steeped in pop culture, and film in particular. For Jimmy Lynch, a 32-year-old cycle courier from London, Trump’s tweet this past December attacking the magazine Vanity Fair after it negatively reviewed a restaurant in one of his towers spawned the creation of @ Trump_Is_Hip. The account has over 5,000 followers and has provided Trump-esque criticism of various facets of pop culture. “I think parody accounts help people laugh at the absurdity and hypocrisy of politics,” wrote Lynch in a private message on Twitter. The most popular tweet to date from @Trump_Is_Hip was posted on January 4: “People say the movie E.T. is a classic but he entered the country ILLEGALLY and also wore a child’s dress! Not good!” Lynch uses his Twitter account to project an image of an “uncultured” Trump. He revealed, “I thought tweeting about pop culture as Trump would be funny because he’s soon to be president, he’s mad as fuck, and I thought it would be funny if all he did was tweet about films and books and bands, mostly because I don’t imagine he has any interest in that stuff.” Twitter parodies serve as a potentially powerful form of modern political discourse. The details of politicians’ personal lives used to be concealed behind front-facing policies. Now, they’re not only widely discussed, but often used by voters to make their choices as well. Lynch embraces the role his account may play. “Copying Trump’s style of tweeting means that it is hard for people to tell which account is actually him when they’re scanning through their timeline,” Lynch wrote.

That conflation of parody and truth — and its accompanying power — is troubling for Tom Hunt, a 25-year-old aspiring lawyer who created Emperor Trumpatine (@ RealTrumpatine) with his friend, Daniel Bogre Udell, also 25, and director at Wikitongues, which serves as a platform for global languages. The account depicts the arch-villain in the “Star Wars” anthology, Emperor Palpatine, as a Trump-like figure. One was visiting the other during the primary season last spring when they began recognizing similarities between the candidate and the character. “I don’t think parody accounts should play any role in shaping anyone’s politics,” Hunt wrote in a private message over Twitter. “The parody account is just that — parody — and anyone who uses it to inform themselves of actual news I think is doing

Not all parody accounts, though, are created equal themselves and the country a disservice.” Bogre Udell disagrees. The type of parody the two create “can play a role in political discourse — in pointing out hypocrisies, highlighting the absurd, and speaking truth to power,” he wrote. “As the saying goes, ‘good satire punches up.’” For Hunt, his parody is less political than his peers. “Some people might read into it that we’re trying to deliver some subliminal message that Trump is going to be an emperor or dictator,” he wrote. “That’s not how I see it at all.” Hunt and Bogre Udell believe that mimicking Trump’s defining brash tone is key. According to Hunt, Trump’s “brashness and constant need to respond to critics add to the absurdity and humor of this evil Star Wars villain acting similarly brash and ‘sensitive’ if you will.” The duo is particularly adept at copying that style. When Trump started to appropriate the term “fake news” (see his January 12 tweet: “.@CNN is in a total meltdown with their FAKE NEWS because their ratings are tanking since election and their credibility will soon be gone!”), their account tweeted later that day: “Jedi Council is in total meltdown with their FAKE PROPHECIES because their powers are tanking (clouded)&their credibility will soon be gone!” The mass appeal of the “Star Wars” franchise, Hunt

and Bogre Udell wrote, is what makes their form of parody so popular. Its followership is bipartisan and its worldconstruction is “sprawling,” allowing an endless supply of material so long as Trump keeps being Trump. Ironically, one of the most popular of the Trump parody accounts is @ ArtHouseTrump, with over 24,000 followers, in which Donald Trump participates in rather niche film discussion. The account is run by David Johnston, who after starting in March has since ceased tweeting. @ArtHouseTrump, which didn’t respond to a request for an interview, gained traction during the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival last September. It’s unambiguously entertaining for film fans, perhaps because of a jarring juxtaposition between the populist brand that Trump exuded during the campaign and the elite circles that typically enjoy the films in question. In fact, when other similar parodies began to appear, modeled on other candidates like Jill Stein and Hillary Clinton, they didn’t have the same bite or familiarity. In other words, Ted Cruz’s Twitter cadence isn’t particularly distinctive; Trump’s is. Take, for instance, a criticism of the Democratic Party’s donkey logo rooted in a reference to Robert Bresson’s 1966 French drama “Au Hasard Balthazar:” “What does it say about the Democratic Party that they would steal Balthazar for their main symbol? I don’t know, folks! But it’s not right!” Like the “Star Wars” account, @ArtHouseTrump is particularly at successful at translating Trump’s own talking points into thematic tweets. For instance, Trump’s criticism of coastal media elites is transformed into disdain for high-minded critics who are disconnected from the common filmgoer. The parody Trump even replicates its namesake’s tendency to respond over Twitter to criticism. When actress Jessica Chastain tweeted negatively about Trump’s tax policy history, in which the then-Republican candidate for president said in a debate that he was smart to avoid paying taxes, @ ArtHouseTrump responded by tweeting, “To be fair, you owe the American people for Interstellar!” These three parody accounts are engaged in a sort of blurring of popular fiction and populist free thought. By juxtaposing Trumpian rhetoric with a niche topic like film, the parodies equalize the president-elect with more familiar faces: the critical co-worker, the space opera super villain or that one annoying guy in your friend circle. Sad!

There is so much to be said about the happy ending. The attentive reader, the seasoned moviegoer, the overly optimistic Netf lix aficionado — they all crave the happy ending. It’s Dorothy finding home at the end of “The Wizard of Oz,” it’s Ferris Bueller somehow making it back from Chicago unscathed in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” It is a monster that looms under our bed, that happy ending; it often feels forced or expected, however, we ignore these notions and accept it. The protagonist ends up with the love of their life, they get the job, they beat the odds, they save the day and they are the hero. We watch an entire movie, read a book, obsess over an entire series of television just to know the ending. And secretly the entire time, deep down, we silently beg for that ending to be happy. We as the audience are so incredibly attached to the happy ending. I’ve thought about the happy ending a lot. Unfortunately, because I overanalyze every book, movie and TV show I come in contact with, I’m prone to questioning the ending. I like happy endings. They are pleasant, they make us feel satisfied. I always want the main character to succeed, and I am happy that Blair and Chuck end up together, or that Regina George can live in harmony with the rest of the high school world, but I wonder if this is how it would really be. I imagine every Nicholas Sparks couple springing to life, and I cannot fathom that they’d all end up together. That every couple would be happily eating dinner on a sailboat, or getting married in a barn surrounded by a field of wildf lowers. I’m sure sometimes it would work out that way, but realistically, life doesn’t always work out as such. We’re attached to the happy ending because it brings us hope. It shows us that in our fictional worlds, the ones we use to terminate the fears and stress that come up in our realities, things turn out all right. It gives us a tiny grain of something to hold on to, that in our lives if things aren’t going how we planned, somewhere far, far away (like Monica’s

apartment in “Friends” or Elsa’s castle in “Frozen”), everything turned out just fine. I find myself rejecting that artificial or unrealistic happy ending, so I also think about the unhappy ending. In famous literature, well-known movies and popular TV shows we’ve all seen the successful execution of the unhappy ending — the no resolve, the vague cliff hanger, the lonely protagonist. Something not our typical cathartic and beautiful, but that redefines a beautiful resolve. Something that drags us out of our fictional worlds and forces us to think. Something that asks the constantly reiterating question: Why did the author or director do this to us? Society often complains about that “unhappy ending,” and yet, audiences still return

We watch an entire movie, read a book, obsess over an entire series of television just to know the ending to it over and over again. “The Fault in Our Stars” is so successful because it mirrors real life. Sure, it’s heartbreaking, and I sat in a comfortable movie theatre chair sobbing over John Green’s decision to end his characters’ stories the way he did. But there’s a catch to the whole thing. I went back and saw it again because it’s real, honest and painful, but it bleeds truth. Jojo Meyer’s “Me Before You” is another example of the unhappy ending. After I finished the book, I still went to the movie theatre to see the film. It shocked me that Meyer would end her enticing story the way that she did, and I was drawn to it. Part of me wished that she would have ended the story with an intricately described wedding, something stunning that I could picture perfectly in my romantic

head. But relationships in life don’t always end with a lovely wedding, so there’s not a reason for every romantic novel to end that way either. All that does for an audience is constantly provide unexpected realities. There are many more unhappy endings. “My Sister’s Keeper,” “Marley and Me,” “1984,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Titanic,” “Saving Private Ryan” and the list goes on. We return to these movies, we return to these books, despite their unhappy endings, because they are wonderful. They are magnificent and they are real and they provoke us to think about reality through the lense of fiction. However tough or scary they may be, they give us something to hold on to when we feel like there is nothing else. This is what the story aims to do. Not to provide the world with the idea that everything always goes our way, but to be there for us once we’ve accepted that not everything can go our way, just as it didn’t for many of our beloved characters. These difficult endings are so tragically alluring that we return to it in a myriad of mediums, constantly in our everyday lives. There’s something to be said about all endings. They’re put in place because our favorite books and movies and TV shows unfortunately don’t last forever. The unhappy ending knocks the reader or the audience unconscious from its element of surprise. It puts the world in prospective. It speaks truth and honesty, it proves that things go wrong in the world all the time — every day, in fact. It’s our job as humans to take a deep breath, just as many of our fictional heroes had to, and carry on. I’d like to stand by the unhappy ending. It gives us a blissful piece of truth to hang on to. It proves that not everything can go our way. It shows a reality about the world that is often shadowed by the happy endings that we have become so reliant on. It boils down to a simple dichotomy: the person who turns to fiction to escape versus the person who turns to fiction for catharsis. I don’t turn to fiction to escape to another place, I turn to fiction to help me make sense of the world I’m in. And that to me is the happiest ending of them all.

ATLANTIC RECORDS

SINGLE REVIEW Last year was one emotionally-turbulent kickof romantic chaos for Keh- back, is extremely promising lani — the singer-songwriter in light of her Jan. 27 album found herself in the middle SweetSexySavage. It makes of a love triangle with ris- its stake not in creativity ing R&B stud but consistenPARTYNEXTcy, utilizing DOOR and “Do You Dirty” straightforNBA star Kyrie ward synth Irving, with the and snare. Kehlani media-hyped OVO-esque aftermath Atlantic Records sound is fitting reportedly considering pushing her to her PartyNextthe brink of suiDoor ties; the cide — but 2017’s Kehlani is ambience of the harmonic an artist chomping at the bit background vocals completo separate this past with her ment her persona. “Sign career. So far she’s worked the deal and then they cut quite successfully toward the check / And ever since, a musical vindication. my color’s showing,” she Released Jan. 13, claims. “Change the scene, “Do U Dirty,” essentially an the things are better now

/ And you know the wave is never slowing, the wave is never slowing,” as her explosiveness is surrounded by an echoing hook, revolving around Kehlani and only Kehlani, further providing a spotlight to punch as much as she feels necessary. At times it sounds like Keyshia Cole 2.0, which isn’t at all a bad thing. Simple yet nuanced, Kehlani delivers further justification of her somewhat low key foray into an infrequently penetrated gold mine of sound. Few have succeeded in establishing a Drake-like sound; this comes close. ­— JOEY SCHUMAN

Arts

6B — Thursday, January 19, 2017

Daily Arts Presents: Best of Vine 2013-16 In 2013, we were blessed. Two days ago, we were cursed. Vine’s all-toobrief life span was, of course, longer than six seconds, but it’s impossible to feel like our collective time with the app was cut heartbreakingly short. Vine was essential to the culture at large, an outlet for people from any corner of the world to express their creative passion, yet it died at the

EXPOSE HIM A beautifully simple Vine to honor a beautifully simple app. There are funnier ones, sure, but as I tried to narrow my candidates down to a single one, I realized there was no Vine that I had watched more than this one. The app became a cultural phenomenon, a vehicle for concentrated bursts of creativity and genuine expression, but

hands of of cut-and-dry, joyless, Silicon Valley business dealings. For Twitter, specifically, its relationship to Vine was almost symbiotic; one fed into the other, artistic expression crossing the blurred lines of vaguely related social media. Here, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite Vines. Enjoy. — Daily Arts Staff

about pulling off, and this man seems to be on his way to landing it without a hitch, until the last split-second of the vine, where he kicks the neon sign at full force, which is where the Vine ends. Did he stick the landing? What happened to the sign? Did he get in trouble? All of these questions are left VINE unanswered, and that’s what makes this Vine so amazing.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

RUN AWAY WITH ME To be honest, it’s impossible to choose just one out of the many amazing Vines that exist out there. But if I had to pick, it would be this wonderful clip of a man skipping to the beat of Carly Rae Jepsen’s effervescent ‘80s reminiscent “Run Away With Me.” This was one of several Vines that used Jepsen’s song, but this one is by far the most hilarious and creative. Whoever recorded

for no community was this more true than for Black teenagers. There’s not much to describe here outside of a guy crossing up a dog like AI breaking Jordan’s ankles, and then the world’s greatest human, preVINE sumably our videographer, screaming “EXPOSE HIM!” in the background. That’s enough for me. — Nabeel Chollampatty

I HOPE YOU FEEL BETTER

BACK AT IT AGAIN AT KRISPY KREME This is my favorite Vine for so many reasons. First, the guy starts off by saying “Back at it again at Krispy Kreme,” implying that back handsprings in fast-food donut shops is a normal Friday night activity. Then, can we stop for a second to talk about the athleticism involved? I mean, this is the type of stuff that people — myself included — can only dream

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Gavin got us. After his uncle put a lizard on his head, the kid skyrocketed to Vine stardom, quickly becoming the face of a generation much older than himself. Gavin reacted the world the way we did, so everything he did was instantly deemed worthy of #relatablepost status. Yes, Simone Biles, there is a Gavin meme for everything. Because Gavin was one of us. He was a child with the soul of a millennial,

at once fascinated and horrified by the world around him. He was the heart of the Internet. This vine is Gavin at his best. It’s the ultimate clapback Vine, aptly subtitled “tag your ugly friend #cute.” And tag our ugly VINE friends we did. — Madeleine Gaudin

THREE BOX LOGOS Trash. Blue Ribbon Select, USDA Grade A, organic, cage free millennial trash. Vine operated on the exploitations of the absurdist shit our shameless generation never ceases to produce, and for good reason — it’s great #content. An ambassador of these antics to the greater generational fringes of our world, Asspizza,

a teenage anti-wunderkind whose various sartorial exploits and Sharpie-scribbled tees have lent the adolescent a bizarre public stage, unknowingly cemented his reputation as the caricatured cultural obelisk

this was extremely lucky, especially since the man’s dancing in the Vine is scarily in sync with the “Run Away With Me,” making for a perfect, smooth loop. It reaffirms the undeniable fact that VINE Vine will truly be missed. God bless this video, God bless Carly Rae Jepsen, God bless Vine. — Sam Rosenberg

NOT THE REAL VINE BUT STILL FUNNY My favorite Vine of all time is one that I have never been able to find after the first time I saw it (such is the tragedy of trying to Google one of these masterpieces). The basic premise is a gym full of boys running at high speed, one large rope in hand. Mariah Carey, The Elusive Chanteuse, sings in her upbeat vibrato, working towards that impossible high note. As soon as she hits it, we discover what it our generation did not deserve — this Vine being the best and foremost example. Vine has come and gone in, all things considered, an instant, but we will still remain the maligned, malVINE feasant gaggle of degenerates that American

is the boys have been pulling the entire time (estimated 3.5 seconds): a final boy appears, catapulted from the rope attached to his hips, and smashes into the ceiling above. Post-climax, a large part of the ceiling drops and crumbles to dust on the gym floor. End VINE scene. (If you see or know anything about the whereabouts of this Vine, please email it to arts@ michigandaily.com.) — Kathleen Davis

society has had the displeasure of welcoming. Thank you Asspizza. Thank you for your candid self-portraiture, thank you for your cultural contributions and thank you for your wonderfully haphazardly slapped together triple box logo Supreme hoodie. A budding star among aging nebulas. ­— Anay Katyal

COMMUNITY CULTURE COLUMN

There is more to life than college College: The best four years of your life. Have you heard this before? I have, plenty. We are set up to believe that these four years are the best of the best. Leaving school and entering a world more “real” than the one within university borders will lead us on an inevitable spiral downward. This isn’t hopeful thinking, nor is it at all realistic. In a video on Stanford University’s YouTube channel titled “Stanford Open Office Hours,” two professors, Dave Evans of the Design Program and Bill Burnett of the Design Program, discuss this false idea that college is the best and life following only gets worse. They suggest that if we are to believe this, that will mean that at fifty or sixty years old, we will be wishing we were our twenty-year-old

selves. We don’t want our young minds to make the ultimate decisions about our futures. Life is a process and it will take us years to really know what we want. We have to work gradually to tailor our skills and reach our desired future. It can’t just happen in one neat construction of a four year academic plan. That sets us up to believe all we have to look forward to is a world of the mundane, set in a dull workplace, far worse than the lives we once had as undergraduates. Evans and Burnett go on to talk about how some of the negativity attached to life post-grad comes from confusion with what we think has to happen while on campus. We fall into a trap while declaring majors and minors, finding our directed field and starting to discard any of our passions that don’t “align” with a given major.

If someone has many different to keep jobs that maybe we once interests (let’s say music, physics loved and then eventually lose and literature), they often choose interest in. In the future, if you find one and assume the others cannot yourself in a career that isn’t fully be pursued. There suiting your interests, isn’t quite a clear especially because those thread between those interests are constantly three passions, so evolving, both professors many just choose one suggest you have to do and forget about the something in order to rest. fix the problem. Evans These and Burnett warn us: misconstrued “You really can’t solve ideas that circulate a problem you’re not in academic willing to have.” If you BAILEY environments are identify that you’ve KADIAN something: careers let something go that and passions have really wasn’t worth to be distinctly identified in abandoning, identify that as a college or after years and years problem and move forward to fix it. in one profession, the prospect of We’ve confused the idea that a eventually switching directions lack of narrowing in on one interest is impossible. This causes us to is a lack of progression. We want fix our gaze on just one thing. We to specialize, but in doing so, we limit ourselves, which may lead us often abandon other passions that

aren’t relevant or helpful. Love for music, physics and literature might not seem to mesh. The neat, clear picture of choosing one often seems easier to adopt. What do Evans and Burnett say to the notion of forward motion? “Don’t try to decide your way forward, just do something.” I’ve lived so little life to try to decide my way toward the exact place I want to end up. Or try to predict the person I’ll be when I get there. Or even worse, put myself in a place now to assume life after college will only get worse. This past Monday, I had the pleasure of hearing filmmaker Issa Rae (“Insecure,” “Awkward Black Girl”) speak at the Symposium keynote memorial lecture in Hill Auditorium, and I found that what she shared paralleled some of the ideas from the Stanford video. When asked about her immense

success, she credited her career to the idea of just going out and doing something that mattered to her. In order to pursue her love for the arts, she began asking her friends and family to participate in her films, and she quickly gained a following. It wasn’t a matter of having a perfect plan or abandoning certain interests to fit the mold of what could be successful to the public. She just created art about real people and real things. Someone said to me once that each day you’re doing one of two things — you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse. As for me, I’d take future advancement at the expense of a coherent, neat life plan that revolves around one interest. If chaos and random interests are what carry me forward, I’m happy to say I can only get better.

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

Maltese artist Joe Sacco to talk social justice ERIKA SHEVCHEK

Daily Community Culture Editor

DAYTON HARE Senior Arts Editor

Activist, cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco will be sharing his work today at the Michigan Theater. Sacco’s presentation is affiliated with the International Institute’s Conflict and Peace Initiative and the Penny Stamps Distinguished Lecture Series, and receives additional support from 25 campus co-sponsors. A world traveler, Sacco has used his journeys to inspire his writing and drawings in order to create multiple award-winning novels, including “Days of Destruction,” “Days of Revolt,” “Footnotes in Gaza” and “Safe Area Goražde.” Additionally, Sacco took his real accounts in Europe and produced

them into his critically acclaimed works.” comic “Yahoo.” Although much When asked to describe his of his work is rooted in Middle work in one sentence, Sacco said: Eastern tensions “The reality and global justice I see.” As an issues in general, artist, he can he did not begin in neither make Joe Sacco: that field. claims for every Galvanizing Social “I started artistic viewer Justice Through drawing when nor for the Comics I was about sixoverall world. years-old,” the “I can only Thursday, January Malta-born and recreate what 19th @ 5 P.M. American-raised I have seen … Sacco said in an it’s completely Michigan Theater interview with subjective,” he the Daily. “I really continued. “I enjoyed drawing cannot be the funny stuff, mainly monopoly on the for humor, because I was in it for concept of truth.” the laugh.” The question about the However, as Sacco got older, controversial and radical time of he became more interested Trump’s America came into the in connecting his humorous interview and how Sacco would drawings with real world events go about this in his work. He — thus, his satirical lens led answered simply: “Comics is a to more “pointed journalistic flow form of work.”

When creating his graphics, he must think about how the drawing will represent “a long term scene,” or in other words, long term issues and not necessarily bound to this specific time in our nation’s history. Finally, Sacco was asked what he believed to be the most important thing for people to know when reading and observing his work. Even as a popular journalist, an artist and an activist, Sacco answered: “Journalism is imperfect.” But journalism, in all its various mediums — whether broadcast, print or radio — has the ability to alter the world. Perhaps more now than ever before, today’s social climate demands that inquisitive and selfaware journalists, like Joe Sacco, remain critical in the work that they do in order to preserve the integrity of the media and defend the notion of truth.