2017-03-16

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Students with disabilities criticize barriers at ‘U’ Say community is overlooked in policies, Schlissel DEI plan, building accessibility JENNIFER MEER Daily Staff Reporter

EMMA RICHTER/Daily

Protestors gather in response to President Trump’s visit in Ypsilanti, Michigan on Wednesday afternoon.

400 community members protest Trump automotive rally in Ypsilanti

Administration announces plans to roll back emissions standards, cut EPA funding MAYA GOLDMAN Daily Staff Reporter

As wind speeds surged and temperatures plummeted Wednesday afternoon, activists gathered near the Willow Run manufacturing complex in Ypsilanti to protest President Donald Trump’s arrival and speech in the city.

With just two days’ notice of the presidential visit, several grassroots organizations from the community organized the

protest. Despite the lack of time available, they still managed to draw a crowd of about 400 people.

Michelle Deatrick, vice chair of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners and co-founder of Michigan to Believe In, stressed the event was a collaboration between many groups.

“I had the honor of getting to help organize, along with a lot of other people,” she said. “It shouldn’t be just one voice, not just my organization, Michigan

to Believe In, it needs to be many … it couldn’t just be one middleaged white woman’s voice Trump arrived at Willow Run — the future site for the American Center for Mobility’s autonomous and connected vehicle-testing facility — to hold a roundtable with executives from the automotive industry and speak to select employees.

During the speech, he announced plans to review the EPA’s auto-emissions standards, and roll back restrictions he deems unnecessary.

The Michigan Daily was not granted credentials to Trump’s speech.

The protest took place on one side of Airplane Road, just outside the Willow Run facilities. On the other side of the road stood a handful of Trump supporters, who came to counter the protest with a large float sporting Trump signs and American flags.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Though several institutions and officials serve as agents in supporting the community of people with disabilities on campus at the University of Michigan, those in it still face daily hurdles. Many resources, students object, fall short of inclusion. Furthermore, much of the conversation around marginalization — students and staff agree — fails to consider the experiences of individuals with disabilities.

The perks and pitfalls of registration Services for Students with Disabilities is the University’s central office with which students who have disabilities can register. It helps provide accommodations and access for students academically and in other capacities on campus.

The office’s annual report from the 2015-16 school year shows a record 832 newly registered students — more than

100 students higher than the previous year — and an overall registration of 2,277 students. Of students registered with SSD, 40 percent have learning disabilities, 26 percent have mental-health conditions and 15 percent have chronic-health conditions.

The office’s primary role, once students register, is to provide students with a Verified Individualized Services and Accommodations letter to compensate for a student’s disability. Students then provide these letters to professors — generally early on in the school year — so accommodations can be made for them in terms of testing, absences and other portions of the class.

However, according to SSD Director Stuart Segal, the office can only go so far in terms of assisting students.

“We don’t have the ability to make any fundamental alterations in a classroom, a curriculum, or a program of study that leads to certification or licensing,” he said.

“Students have to be able to do See DISABILITIES, Page 2

Snyder releases latest budget proposal, CSG hosts DAAP aims $49 million promised in aid to Flint to focus on dialogue

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

for women in tech, CS

State representatives see funds as a step in the right direction, not a fix-all

Student, faculty share their experiences in math, science related fields

In an effort to continue the building of Flint following its declaration of a state emergency in 2015, Gov. Rick Snyder’s recommended budgetfor the 2018 fiscal year allocated funds toward multiple programs and initiatives within the city. The budget will run from Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2018.

To offset the thousands affected by lead contamination, about $49 million has been promised to be allocated for Flint in the proposal. Since the state of emergency was declared, 2015 a total of $234 million in aid has been sent the city. However, Rep. Dan Kildee (D–Flint) said while this continued funding is a step in the right direction, it is not a complete solution.

“The state of Michigan is responsible for what happened in Flint and we need their long-term commitment,” Kildee said. “They spend some money and treat it as if they have solved the problem. The real question is whether it’s enough, and so far it’s not.”

In order to support the drinking water declaration of emergency in Flint, $25 million of the total $49 million has been allocated to address the emergency state. If the proposal receives legislative approval, the funding will be

KATHERINA SOURINE For The Daily

While women are rising to equality in most fields, a seminar hosted by Central Student Government Wednesday evening discussed the fact that women remain a distinct minority within technology and the sciences.

LSA junior Olivia Luciani, one of two event organizers, alongside Engineering freshman Julia O’Sullivan, expressed the importance of this topic and why she was inspired to coordinate the event.

“Visibility of women in technology and dialogues around diversity in computer science are both very important, at Michigan and nationwide,” Luciani said. “Women have made huge strides in tech industries over the past 50 years, but there are still perceptions some hold that pose unique challenges to women and may stand in the way of true gender parity in the workplace.”

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

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CARLY RYAN

Daily Staff Reporter

available to Flint residents as needed. Though this state funding is appreciated and necessary, state Sen. Jim Ananich (D–Flint) noted the programs that have appeared more successful have been community efforts and ideas.

“There’s been a number positive solutions that the community helped develop,” Ananich said. “Lansing caused the problem, and I think they

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need to let Flint come up with the proper solutions.”

Though Kildee acknowledged Flint has an inevitably slow recovery ahead, largely because of the long-term effects of lead poisoning, the state needs to expedite the recovery process as much as possible.

“All of the improvements that have taken place are good but are too slow,” Kildee said.

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“The state does not have a sense of urgency — the most positive thing about Flint is that the people of Flint haven’t given up.”

Ananich also mentioned the long-term nature of the water crisis and the problems that causes for both the people and the budget.

minority students

Keshya Wall, Lauren Key highlight Central Student Gov. campaign CAITLIN REEDY

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Daily Staff Reporter

Keysha Wall and Lauren Kay, if elected in the upcoming Central Student Government elections, hope to use their positions to amplify the voices of minority students on campus to the University of Michigan administration. Wall, an Art & Design senior, and Kay, an LSA senior, are running for president and vice president, respectively, with the Defend Affirmative Action Party, the University’s longest-standing student political party.

Though the party has not won the executive ticket in recent years, DAAP’s preliminary platform consists of a long list of policies focusing on issues such as minority enrollment, expanding rights for undocumented students and other marginalized groups on campus, and mental health, among others.

DAAP is the political arm of the larger local group BAMN, which fights for affirmative action, integration and immigration rights.

DESIGN BY JULIA MARGALIT

INDEX

Vol. CXXVII, No. 46 ©2017 The Michigan Daily

NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

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

News

2 — Thursday, March 16, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

ON THE DAILY: ROSS ALUMNI BREAK GROUND ON FINAL PROJECT When three students in a 2013 Real Estate Essentials class at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business were assigned to create their own potential real-estate development deal for a final project, they crafted a realistic idea, with hopes that one day their project would come to life.

Four years later, the project that began as a simple idea in a University classroom is taking shape, as development on their proposed site is set to begin this month.

University alumni Dang Duong, Myles Hamby and Clarke Lewis dubbed their project Baltimore Station, with an initial goal of re-developing abandoned, cityowned buildings in Detroit located near the historic Fisher Building.

That original group of three students is now adding one more partner to its team: Peter Allen, owner of an Ann Arbor-based real-

estate firm Peter Allen + Associates, and the same professor who taught them in the Real Estate Essentials class in 2013.

Allen noted the Baltimore Station project was realistic and affordable, making the idea especially promising for a student process.

“The new kid on the block for cities is Detroit,” he said in a Business School press release.

“It has replaced Chicago as the favorite city to go to, in my mind, especially if you’re in real estate.”

The idea for the project came from the team’s general interest in urban planning and lifestyle.

Though each alum specializes in different areas — Duong studied business and law, Hamby received a master’s in urban planning and Lewis studied architecture — they all were committed to a project that would be effective and relevant.

Andréa Cara @andrea_cara

“I want to treat this as more the team made approximately 100 than an academic exercise,” Hamby pitches to investors, with none said about the project. “I want to do agreeing to invest. this as a real deal.”

Read more at To get its project off the ground, the team initially struggled finding MichiganDaily.com adequate funding. Duong recalls

The bar Frannie took us to in Florence has a University of Michigan shot - so yeah, Florence is awesome

W O M E N ’ S M A R C H A N A LY S I S

Ains @ainsleyporath Every time I go to the u of m gym I see other girls and I’m like YAS B. Then I go home feeling 100x worse about myself lol

JOHN YAEGER/Daily

LSA professor Michael Heaney speaks to students about his research findings from the Women’s March on Washington in the Union on Wednesday.

CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES HIV Today Panel

Peace in Islam, Islam in Peace

Gifts of Art Presents Irish Fiddle Music

WHAT: Join scholars and members of the community in an open dialogue about the ideas of Islam and peace. Specific topics will include conflict resolution in the tradition WHO: Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies WHEN: 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

WHERE: Michigan League

WHAT: Kick off your St. Patrick’s day weekend by listening to Big Fun, an Irish fiddle group that has been touring the Midwest since 2012.

WHO: Gifts of Art WHEN: 12:10 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

WHERE: University Hospitals, University Hospital Main Lobby, Floor 1

A Glimpse Into the Refugee Crisis

Snarky Puppy

Young and Elected

WHAT: Coming off a Grammy victory for “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album,” this jazz collective is bringing their large and powerful mix of jazz with funk, R&B and more. Tickets are available online or at the League Ticket Office.

WHO: University Musical Society WHEN: 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

WHERE: Hill Auditorium

WHAT: A panel of younger Michigan officials will outline their journeys to office and what issues they are tackling right now for their constituencies.

WHO: Ginsberg Center WHEN: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. WHERE: Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium

WHAT: Join the Michigan Refugee Assistance Program at its capstone event where former refugees will share their experiences of resettling in the United States.

WHO: University of Michigan Museum of Art .

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

WHERE: Museum of Art

DISABILITIES From Page 1 whatever the requirements are of whatever class or program they’re in.”

Specifically, the SSD cannot alter components of the course — including attendance, grades and homework obligations that are outlined in syllabi — to accommodate students.

Additionally, students in certain programs that lead to certification or licensing must abide by the rules of the program as it was designed.

Students can ask for adjustments themselves, but it is up to the discretion of their professor or supervisor to agree.

Art & Design freshman Celeste Adams recently registered with the office, but does not entirely agree with its tactics. Adams uses a power chair.

“I get why (the SSD office) is important and how helpful it is, but I think there are a lot of issues with it,” she said. “If you look at any history of any minority, having to register to prove you’re part of that group isn’t something that has been

ALL-NIGHTER.

appropriate (or has gone well).”

She pointed out a teacher in one of her classes recently accommodated another student who will be absent from class for the upcoming Jewish holidays without documentation.

“She doesn’t have to prove that she’s Jewish,” Adams said. “I was told by a teacher last semester that she was unable to give me any accommodation unless I had proof through the SSD, even though it’s pretty obvious that I have a disability.”

Adams went on to explain the incident led to a conflict in the class before she registered with SSD. The teacher threatened to fail her and then told her that people like her, with disabilities, shouldn’t be allowed to go to college.

“It just seems like for some reason with the disabled community, whenever we need stuff we have to prove it,” she said.

Adams explained some argue people could manipulate the system by lying they have disabilities when they don’t in order to get accommodations.

“It’s never made sense to me that we have to go through proving our own identities and the fact that

puzzle by sudokusyndication.com

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WHAT: As part of LGBTQ+ Health and Wellness Week, speakers will share personal experiences about HIV in today’s climate. Panelists will moderate the discussion.

WHO: Spectrum Center WHEN: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Hatcher Graduate Library, Gallery (Room 100)

we need certain things because someone might lie about it, which in reality doesn’t really happen,” she said. “If it does, that’s when the University needs to reflect and say, ‘Ok, are we pushing our students too much?’ ” Adams noted students do not have to register with the SSD, but if they don’t, it is up to the discretion of teachers to offer accommodations. The difference, she said, can sometimes be between passing and failing a class.

Engineering junior Drew Canada wrote in an email interview he has had a positive experience with teachers in the College of Engineering, but not to the same degree in LSA. He is also registered with SSD for his muscular dystrophy. “(The College of Engineering is) very empathetic of my health issues and have easily rescheduled exams for me,” he wrote. “Large LSA classes (like Calc 1-3) were less accommodating and couldn’t reschedule exams due to the lack of a doctors note. With my Muscular Dystrophy, I have all the medical equipment in my dorm to treat my health issues except to an IV. Things can get pretty bad even without a doctor / hospital visit. The CoE profs I’ve had understand that while even though the LSA teachers might understand as well, they haven’t given the same support.”

Architecture graduate student Mieko Preston experienced a stroke five years ago and now uses a medical scooter. She said registering with the SSD was an “uphill battle” and she did almost as much paperwork to register with the University as she did to receive government assistance.

“The accessibility of being able to benefit from those accommodations or resources that are necessarily put in place is actually extremely difficult,” she said.

Building accessibility — or lack thereof Students with disabilities also face significant barriers in regard to accessing buildings on campus.

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Beth Smith @mrssmithmms

Reproductive Health Today

6th grade STEM students are off to U of M for Brains Rule.

Yay! #powerupmms

WHAT: Participate in a panel discussion about women’s health and rights in today’s society.

Changes in health policy will also be discussed.

WHO: Women in Health Leadership WHEN: 6 p.m to 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Rackham Graduate School, Amphitheatre

Sarah Wasielewski @sweetliz22

Marie Howe Poetry Reading WHAT: Part of the Zell Visiting Writers Series, Howe will be reading selections from her poetic works. Howe’s work has been recognized by Margaret Atwood, the Los Angeles Times and others.

WHO: Helen Zell Writers’ Program WHEN: 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Museum of Art

Not sure what to think of my 3rd grade boyfriend’s son givng my daughter a paper airplane with his name and a U of M symbol..... #nokissing

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Production and Layout Manager The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $225 and year long subscriptions are $250. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press.

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American Girl Doll STEFFI CAO

MiC Contributor

When I was a kid, I loved American Girl dolls. They were just expensive dolls, but they were also a defining innovation of my entire upbringing. The historical dolls scene was the best — don’t argue. Felicity was my favorite, but Nellie was pretty cool and Molly was all right. Don’t talk to me about Samantha though. My best friend and I would spend hours at her house poring through magazine pages, picking out the dolls we wanted and the outfits we would put them in. We read all the books together, and made up our own stories once we finished the books. I wanted, more than anything, to have an American Girl doll. And when my best friend got Kit Kittredge, I was so jealous.

But here’s the thing: part of the attraction of American Girl dolls is that the doll looks like you. All the girls in the magazines looked just like their dolls. There were always sections in the back where you could customize your own doll so it really fit — Truly You, or whatever it was called. You could even buy matching clothes and pajama sets, so you know it was real. But my friends and I would sit for ages, leafing through eye colors and hair colors and skin tones but we could never come up with a doll that looked quite like me. A chubby-faced, Chinese-American girl.

That really messed with my head for a while. Especially playing with my friend and Kit Kittredge, with their matching blonde bobs, I wondered why I couldn’t get a doll that looked like me. So I decided I would write a letter to the American Girl organization.

I saved all my Christmas money, all my birthday money and all my Chinese New Year hong bao (red packets of Chinese New Year money) for this moment. I had $132.74 in cash and a mission.

I wrote to the American Girl organization in Chicago — with my best handwriting, to make it clear I wasn’t fucking around — to ask if they could make a doll that looked like me. A doll with little almond eyes that her classmates sometimes made fun of, and straight black hair that stood out among a sea of brunette. I put all my money into the envelope, figured out how to address an envelope and sealed my letter in tight.

Unfortunately, my grand plan was thwarted by my mom, who thought putting a fat stack of cash into an envelope was not a good idea. And even though I wasn’t happy about it, I was willing to let it go. It was my mom, after all.

Fast-forward to 2007, and American Girl released Ivy Ling.

I was shook. Yeah, Ivy was a Best Friend and not a main doll and she was Taiwanese, not mainland Chinese, so I didn’t relate to everything about her. But she looked like me, ate the same kind of food at home and celebrated Chinese New Year, like me. And when I say I begged for that doll, I’m not playing. I swear I almost cried when she arrived in the mail, with her red qipao — traditional Chinese dress — and black bangs.

Finally, I had an American Girl Doll that looked just like me. I felt like I belonged.

This is the story of so many

Asian-American girls. I spent so much of my childhood, and still spend so much time today, searching for women who look like me in outlets of my life. It’s not something that I would spend a lot of time thinking about, but I think its effects were more pertinent than I recognize. Because whenever I see Asian-American women like Constance Wu, Amy Tan or Judy Chu, it makes me think that I could be them in the future. I can make as much change as they have made.

I can be successful, I have a place in America. For all the backlash I have gotten for looking the way I do, seeing Asian-American women in the eye of the public makes me feel as though it doesn’t matter. If they could make it out and keep chasing their dreams, I can too.

Recently, I have also been spending an ungodly amount of time explaining to people why Asian-American representation matters. From Facebook friends, class discussions and our own university president, I hear that Asians are a smaller population anyway. It’s an economic and business choice to use white people. Asians are better off compared to other minorities, and I need to pick my battles.

Some Asians don’t care, so why should I? And when I consider those perspectives, it makes sense.

Stereotypically, Asians stack paper, keep their mouths shut and fulfill the image of immigrants that is marketed to the rest of the world. But why don’t people think Asian-Americans have problems?

Because I know there is unspoken poverty in urban Chinatowns, there are ignored issues among the Hmong population in Detroit, and that Jiansheng Chen, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani were shot unarmed this month and no one really cared. However, I have realized that people are only aware of the Asian-American statistics publicized to the rest of the world. They do not see our issues because, to them, Asian issues don’t exist. All they see are the numbers of Asians getting university degrees, the nerdy Asian sidekicks on the big screens, the Asian fantasy girls in pornography, but that is not the reality of the Asian-American experience. Although Asians are part of the ethnic group that is most likely to receive a college education, there exists a serious lack of Asian-American leadership in industries across the board.

That’s not even mentioning that many subcategories of AsianAmericans receive below-average educations — we just don’t talk about it.

So Asian-Americans get degrees, but that doesn’t mean anything when they leave campus if they want to make change in a field.

People still want white faces to lead their businesses and institutions.

And while it is a huge privilege to be able to receive an education at the university level, Asians still have to combat the notorious bamboo ceiling when they finish college. It all stems back to how Asian-Americans are perceived in this country. Media is a huge outlet for many Americans, and that is why accurate and multifaceted representation matters so much.

It’s why Karlie Kloss dressing as a geisha in Vogue’s diversity shoot was offensive, and why Scarlett Johansson in “Ghost in

the Shell” was unacceptable. If you really needed a model for a diversity shoot celebrating Japanese culture, wouldn’t it be a great opportunity to help Japanese models break into the modeling industry? Isn’t it more economical to cast an Asian actress in “Ghost in the Shell,” rather than try digital alterations on Scarlett Johansson’s face to make her look more Asian?

Hearing about things like this makes me, as an Asian girl, feel as though I’m not needed in society.

That someone can just take a white woman, give her an angled bob and call it about the same. Preferable, even.

I have been taught, through instances like these, that white America doesn’t want actual Asians. They want Becky to squint a little, and that’s more palatable for society. They want me to mispronounce my Rs and say things that don’t make sense, because English can’t possibly be my mother tongue. They want me to stir-fry rice in the corner, and laugh along with their jokes that simply aren’t true. But you want to know a secret? It’s not “ching chong,” it’s Chongqing, and Chongqing is a major Chinese municipal city with over 30 million people. You don’t have yellow fever, Chad, you have a problem with hypersexualizing Asian women.

And my eyes might be smaller than yours, but I still somehow see more than you, because you can’t even recognize the ignorance coming out of your own mouth.

When I tutored kindergarteners a few weeks ago, I walked into the classroom and noticed that, while the classroom was quite diverse, there was only one Asian girl in the room. She noticed it, too. When she saw me, her eyes grew so big, they looked like marbles. She ran up to me when activities started, still in disbelief.

“You look like me,” she whispered.

“I do,” I replied.

She stayed by my side for the whole time I helped out in class, playing phonics Go Fish with all the kindergarteners. And when my time was up, her little hand waved goodbye, watching me with those big marble eyes. All I could think about for the rest of the day was the look on her face when she first saw me. It reminded me of my own inexplicable obsession with Selena Gomez when I was younger.

I couldn’t put a finger on it at the time, but I later realized it was because she looked vaguely like me. Representation matters. When I see another Asian woman doing important things in society, it gives me so much hope for myself. And this feeling is probably applicable to other groups of people. Diverse representation is a powerful tool that must be harnessed to truly attain an inclusive society. And people will question, degrade, dismiss and push my beliefs aside, but I will not stand down. This is important, and I will push until people understand.

Progress comes slowly, but I am willing to take slow progress if the alternative is none. Ivy Ling was discontinued in 2014, but in February, American Girl released not only a new Korean-American doll, but also a Pacific Islander doll.

American Girl dolls might not be the hypest scene for kids anymore, but I hope those who still care can learn more about those cultures, or find a place for them within the context of American Girl Dolls.

Because if you are here in America, you deserve to be visible.

LSA Dean Andrew Martin Promotes Ignorance of Asian/ Pacific Islander Americans racism, while fighting for UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ethnic studies, affirmative A/PIA ALUMNI action and social justice. This MiC Contributors erasure reinforces the model minority stereotype of Asians as If you are worried that the passive and conservative, thus dissemination of “alternative fostering divisions between the facts” is undermining intelligent A/PIA community and other discourse and threatening our communities of color. democracy, we advise you to In recent years, A/PIA pay closer to attention to LSA’s students, faculty and staff attempts to eliminate and organized a series of campusdistort the history of Asian/ wide summits, conferences and Pacific Islander Americans at the events in response to LSA’s failure University of Michigan. to retain A/PIA Studies faculty, On March 10, LSA Dean which reached a crisis point Andrew Martin sent an email starting in 2011. Within an eightfor mass distribution in which month period, the United Asian he announced “the first-ever American Organizations, the A/ campus-wide convening of PIA Studies program and Multistudents, faculty, and staff for an Ethnic Student Affairs convened afternoon of informal meet-and- two summits, one strategy session, greet networking, information one community conversation sharing, and structured and an Asian-American activism conversations on issues of concern conference, where more than to Asian, Asian-American, and 80 presenters addressed both Pacific Islander communities campus and community issues. across campus.”

Participants included Apparently, Dean Martin prominent A/PIA scholars, has just discovered the A/ artists, organizers and offPIA community the same campus leaders, including a U.S. way Columbus “discovered” congressman and a state senator.

America. The flier Martin Two presenters have since been attached says the summit will elected to the Michigan House of discuss the “History of APIAs at Representatives and Philadelphia U-M.” However, his misleading City Council, respectively. These announcement suggests this will gatherings also addressed the lack be a whitewashing of history. of space for A/PIA and student of As members of a network color organizations on campus, of A/PIA alumni and former as well as the problem of a hostile student leaders, we are here to campus climate. tell Martin that our community To pretend that events of has convened dozens of campus- this magnitude never happened wide gatherings of student, staff demonstrates either profound and faculty for more than four audacity or a supreme level of decades. Not coincidentally, ignorance that should disqualify overcoming LSA’s lack of support oneself from leadership in for A/PIA Studies and lack of education. But why is LSA trying awareness of A / PIA concerns so hard to erase this history? We has been a central impetus for have some ideas. these regular convenings.

First, when students don’t To erase the history of know how vibrant A/PIA Studies A/PIA organizing at the used to be, it is easier for LSA to University is to ignore the pretend as if its new diversity plan collective struggles we have is breaking new ground rather fought against Eurocentrism, than peddling old rhetoric. Prior hate crimes and institutional to the demise of the program,

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We accept all forms of submissions — personal narratives, poems, policy critiques, and more. If you are interested in joining or submitting a piece, please contact at michiganincolor@ umich.edu.

When you see me, do you only see my hijab?

ZANIB SAREINI MiC Contributor

When you greet me, do you only see my hijab?

silent

wear ‘that’?”

presence

happy

“When will you have an arranged marriage?”

the classroom

When I

When you

the grocery store

fail

silence me

the mall

succeed

call me a terrorist

the gym

smile

look at me with fear

the airport

cry

yell at me to “go home”

Do you only see my hijab?

Do you only see my hijab?

When I am angry

When you ask me “What foreign country are you from?”

Your false perceptions, pull your child away from implicit biases, unconscious my side of the sidewalk hate, irrational fear, invalid disgust, and uninformed are shocked that I can generalizations? speak English

sad

“When were you forced to

feel threatened by my mere

When I walk into

Thursday, March 16, 2017 — 3

Do you only see my hijab?

Maybe the more important question here is: What do you even see when you see my hijab?

Me? or

A/PIA Studies curriculum and faculty had a strong presence among student organizations and campus life, and frequently collaborated to put on events several times a semester. One of the annual events that has since dropped off was “HolidAPA”, an event held at the end of the fall semester to showcase A/ PIA Studies end-of-the-semester projects.

Second, setting low expectations makes it easier for LSA to defend its poor decisionmaking regarding leadership choices for the A/PIA Studies program and Department of American Culture, which lost 20 faculty of color from 1997 to 2016, including all four prior A/PIA Studies directors.

Third, Dean Martin and LSA are covering up their own roles in undermining faculty of color and ethnic studies. The University is currently the defendant in a landmark suit by two highly successful, award-winning faculty, who cite the University’s own documents to reveal how prior LSA deans and senior faculty opposed ethnic studies and favored white professors with thin resumes to lead American Culture.

If he wants to believe he is so committed to diversity and the A/PIA community, Dean Martin should retract these alternative facts and implement the five demands we presented in November 2016, and reinstate professors Kurashige and Lawsin immediately, giving them the resources needed to restore A/ PIA Studies at the University. If he will not do this, we challenge Martin — a quantitative researcher — to show us the data that on A/PIA Studies activity (e.g., student enrollment and involvement, fundraising, public events, local/national awards, media coverage) before and after Prof. Kurashige’s termination and explain the discrepancy.

Opinion

4 — Thursday, March 16, 2017

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MARY KATE WINN | COLUMN

Look for the humanity in everyone

F

or Christmas my I was also worried about the sophomore year of college, response from the other side that my mom gave me “Just chose to stigmatize and shame Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson. people instead of working to Since I had been better understand aspiring to become a them.

Stevenson’s lawyer, she thought I message came back to might be inspired by me, and I wondered the story of a lawyer what could have been who advocated done if bigotry had for marginalized been met by mercy criminal defendants. instead of venom.

She couldn’t have been Recently, it more correct: Few couldn’t have been books have the ability MARY KATE more fitting that to transform my Stevenson spoke on WINN worldview as much campus, delivering as “Just Mercy” did. The work the 25th annual Wallenberg was compelling not just for its Lecture. He was awarded the heart-wrenching stories about Wallenberg Medal for upholding clients Stevenson represented, the values of Raoul Wallenberg, but also for the captivating and a University alum who risked impassioned way that he made his life by (and was likely killed his case for justice, equality for) saving the lives of thousands and mercy. of Hungarian Jews during This combination was the Holocaust. Stevenson and so compelling because, in Raoul both embody the words my experience, these three inscribed on the medal, “One ideals seem to be increasingly person can make a difference.” disentangled. The quest for During his lecture, Stevenson justice and equality that I usually spoke at great length of his see, at this university and around experiences representing clients the world, is a quest that reserves who may have committed its compassion and mercy for reprehensible crimes, but were only some. Often it alienates, still greatly mistreated by the ostracizes and condemns criminal justice system. These instead. This is found in “public- stories still tugged on my shaming” culture, which reviles heartstrings even years after and castigates without asking having first read them in “Just questions or looking for context. Mercy.” Stevenson emphasized We often decide based on a how the criminal justice system tweet or off-hand comment that treats Blacks, Latinos, children, someone is incurably prejudiced, people of low income and people evil and irredeemable. From our with mental disabilities unfairly. high horse we look down and Speaking of his experiences judge. Stevenson, in contrast, representing these guilty argues for understanding yet mistreated defendants, and forgiveness, ideals that I Stevenson said people “are have found to be difficult to more than the worst thing they implement in practice, but strive have ever done.” When he says for nonetheless. this he means that we should I embraced these ideas understand people are flawed surrounding justice, particularly and we should treat them with racial justice, upon reading kindness and mercy. We should “Just Mercy,” but over the be willing to show forgiveness years as I have had to deal to people and not let them with academic, professional be defined by their mistakes, and familial challenges, they however severe. Stevenson also have slowly faded to the back made clear that this empathy of my mind. They came to the should not just be reserved for forefront, however, when I found the marginalized. We use mercy myself confronted with the sort when we deal with convicted of marginalized people whom felons as well as bigots.

Stevenson championed over the During the lecture, Stevenson course of my legal internships also advocated for the “power and volunteering positions. of proximity” as a way to gain These ideas also came back to understanding of the struggles me during heated debates on of others, and thus be better able racial inequality with family to help individuals instead of and friends, particularly in light problem-solving from a distance. of the 2016 elections. Upon the He also believes that this power rise of racial hatred, so many of proximity can help to address who advocated for racial justice bigotry. In fact, he believes we and equality responded with need to free people of their equal amounts of hatred and bigotry, and this can only happen anger. This might have been an when we have uncomfortable acceptable response to a neo- conversations. He believes these Nazi, but not so much to a Trump uncomfortable conversations voter for whom the economy was about racism and inequality can a primary concern. help us address our country’s I was frustrated and legacy of racism, and when we disheartened that so many in acknowledge and accept these our country either embraced a truths we will be set free. candidate who stirred up racial A powerful example of how hatred and had close ties to effective these uncomfortable white nationalists, or had simply conversations can actually be is chosen to look the other way. the case of Derek Black, the son

of prominent white supremacists and the godson of David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard. Black embraced the white-nationalist ideology he was born into and surrounded by, and was widely considered to be the heir to the movement.

This all began to change after he started studying at New College of Florida, a liberal and somewhat diverse university.

After a few semesters of trying to hide his familial background, news spread around campus that a white supremacist was present.

Although many students chose to shun him, some of Black’s acquaintances reached out to him and chose to include him.

Black credits the conversations he had with these students as being one of the factors that helped him realize the damage that he had done. As a result, he has renounced the white nationalist movement.

Stevenson suggested during his lecture that children who are indoctrinated with white supremacy by their parents are subject to a certain form of child abuse. Certainly, people must take responsibility for their decisions and actions, but we must recognize that some people are taught racial superiority and hatred from a young age, which hinders their ability to recognize the liberating truth of equality.

Luckily for Black, he went to school with peers who used mercy and compassion to set him free.

Stevenson encouraged us not to consider bigots and racists lost causes, and his manner of discussing issues of inequality and injustice seemed to show he had experience attempting to convert these people. His lecture was beautiful and persuasive, articulating his messages of equality, justice and mercy as convincingly as he did in his book. I appreciated that he conveyed these messages in a way that didn’t seek to punish those who didn’t already understand, but instead sought to create understanding. He avoided using overly academic terms to speak of issues of inequality and racism. He spoke with conviction and passion but avoided letting his emotions turn into anger or hatred. I hope the rest of us hoping to spread equality and fight injustice take a page out of his book, and learn to embrace mercy.

I’m not suggesting that anybody put themselves in danger or go out and befriend their local Klansman. Rather, I’m suggesting that we look for the humanity in everyone and try to have these difficult conversations when possible.

Although meeting bigotry with mercy can be hard, it often helps me when I remember something I was taught in high school, “Hurt people hurt people and open hearts open hearts.”

Mary Kate Winn can be reached at winnm@umich.edu.

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Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.

I

A European’s views on Trump

n March, I moved to the United States and started my new position as a researcher at the University of Michigan. I accepted this offer when I still had the certain belief that Hillary Clinton would be elected president.

Yet, I believed wrong — like so many others. Though I highly respect the vote of the Electoral College, on the morning of Nov. 9, I woke up overwhelmingly shocked and, in fact, scared by the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States.

When I checked my phone, a friend of mine had texted me: “Now are you already looking forward to the purge?”

In her concession speech, Hillary Clinton said, “We owe (Donald Trump) an open mind and a chance to lead.”

This might or might not be true, and in my opinion, when respecting democratic standards, there is no other option but to give him that chance. Particularly, as a nonAmerican I feel I am not in the position to say or demand otherwise. Also, I think I am not in the position to criticize or judge Trump’s ideas and actions concerning internal U.S. politics. But there are two things in particular that give me collywobbles when I think about the new president of the United States.

On Jan. 20, a person who literally said, “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive” took office.

During the presidential race, Trump promised anything but fighting climate change or progress toward clean energy in the United States. This has been underpinned by his first actions as president, and if he continues to implement what he promised, it will not only concern U.S. citizens — especially those who would become victims of fracking —

EVAN ROSEN | OP-ED

O

but have a severe impact on the whole world.

This is a deeply frightening reality. I have heard people say things like “We just have to survive those four years and everything will be back to normal again.” But the sad truth is that a lot can be damaged in just four years.

Already now, it will require a tremendous, collaborative effort to keep the planet from rising two degrees Celsius above the “pre-industrial” global temperature. But if the United States really quit the Paris climate agreement, that goal could be buried for good. This would be a disaster of global scale and the mere thought that it could actually happen is scaring me.

It is now more important than ever to actively participate in the political process.

handle the nuclear codes.”

To be fair, the more experienced people that were chosen for Trump’s cabinet give me hope that they will have a moderating inf luence, especially in terms of foreign policy.

But nonetheless, Donald Trump carrying around the launch codes for the United States’s nuclear weapons is a serious matter that concerns the whole world.

For some people in Europe, it now seems pretty convenient to blame the “stupid Americans.” But it is not that easy. And it is not about the United States, and not about Trump alone. On the one hand, as Michael Moore put it: “THE MAJORITY of our fellow Americans preferred Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.

Period. Fact.” This disproves the “stupid Americans” argument and is a sign of hope for everyone disapproving of Donald Trump’s views. On the other hand, the “movement” that helped Trump become president is happening in Europe as well. (Anyone heard of the Alternative für Deutschland party in Germany?)

Hence, it is not an exclusively American phenomenon.

What I ultimately learned from the rise of Donald Trump is that voting alone is not enough anymore. Voting does not require you to create your own ideas, you just decide for or against the ideas of others.

It is now more important than ever to actively participate in the political process and commit oneself to leaving a better world and a healthy planet behind. Therefore, just like Trump has an agenda for his first 100 days in office, I have an agenda for my first 100 days in Michigan. And one of my first to-dos is to contact the Democratic Party in Ann Arbor and ask what I can do to help them.

Second, in a foreign policy briefing — i.e., not in a speech before his supporters — Donald Trump reportedly asked, “If we have (nuclear weapons), why can’t we use them?” Now, if this does not worry you, I do not know what would. When looking at his well-documented lack of knowledge regarding foreign affairs and how thinskinned he can be when confronting criticism, I find it not exaggerated that before Election Day, Barack Obama said: “In the last two days, (his campaign team) had so little confidence in his self-control, they said, ‘We’re just going to take away your Twitter.’ Now, if somebody can’t handle a The writer’s name has been Twitter account, they can’t withheld for personal security reasons.

Making moves

ne of the first things you learn in film school is editor Walter Murch’s theory on the “ideal cut.” When deciding exactly where to make a cut, he says emotion, or the feeling in the scene, accounts for 51 percent of the decision. All of the other categories combined — story, rhythm, continuity, etc. — account for less than half of the decision-making process.

Last year, I decided to make a cut that very much went against the continuity, rhythm and story of my life up to that point. I was in the Ross School of Business, working an amazing job as student manager for the Michigan football team and was in the Sport Business Association and Big Ten Network Student U. I was well on my way to a career in sport business.

Yet, after much deliberation, I decided to leave the business school and go study film in LSA. The reasons were simple: I hate talking about money, and I love talking about movies. Now, after almost a full year in my new major, I’m making another cut. Again, I’m disregarding the continuity and the story in favor of what I’m feeling. I’m running for president of CSG because of that overwhelming 51 percent. Because it kills me to know that at my school, the University of Michigan, there are students who have to face racial prejudice on a daily basis. At the University, students have to wait multiple weeks to get an appointment to talk about their mental health.

At the University, a student can go through an entire semester without learning the name of one single person in their class. I created the Movement because I want to go to a university that lives up to its name, and because I see a potential for this school that I don’t think anyone else does.

What we stand for is quite literally “movement.” Our platform is divided into four main “pillars” highlighting aspects of the University we

think need to move forward.

Our first pillar is studentbody unity. We recognize that these are uncertain times in our country, and as students, we must be a united front to respond when we feel the need to do so. This means creating more public forums where students can share and discuss ideas, disseminating more information to keep our students up to date on important national events and conducting school-wide surveys to gauge student sentiment on these matters.

Next is education reform.

There is evidence out there to suggest many college grads in the United States are not ready for the workforce.

According to a 2015 study featured in Money, employers gave recent college graduates low grades in all 17 careerreadiness outcomes surveyed.

Although this is a national issue, it’s our duty to address it here, on our campus. One thing that we can do is re-focus on the social aspect of the classroom and give students a voice in their own education.

Our “Annual Education Forum” is one initiative we have where students will get up in front of faculty and voice their suggestions in an auditorium setting. By making the professors listen to us for a change, it will serve as a symbol of the University putting the students first and will give them the voice they so badly need.

Another huge issue on this campus is diversity. Over the last decade, though enrollment of some minority groups on campus has increased, enrollment of Black and Native Americans has decreased significantly, and more and more students are upset with an apathetic campus culture.

We aim to change that through multiple ideas like our “Send the Elevator” initiative, where students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds mentor younger kids from similarly disadvantaged

backgrounds to help navigate the path to higher education.

Hopefully, this mentorship could help highlight opportunities that students in poorer communities might not see as available to them, and attract students from more diverse backgrounds to the University. Moreover, we wish to create paid positions within the University for people who engage in diversity labor. These people will help our school become a more welcoming and understanding place, and without compensation, they don’t have the time to commit to do this.

Our fourth and final pillar is mental health. We feel that in addition to continuing to expand CAPS, we must work together to combat the source of mental health issues on campus. One initiative we have in place to do just that is our Four-Years Campaign — a University-sponsored mission to help students thrive in the four years that they have here on campus. For many students, it’s the first time on their own and managing everything can become overwhelming. For others struggling, the stresses of college life may manifest certain problems which were previously manageable.

This program will serve as a g uide, through mentorship, workshops and conferences, to help students find the work-life balance that is right for them.

These are just some of our ideas under these four pillars that we are ready to fight for.

We plan on listening to you, the students, and incorporating any major concerns you may have. For the next week we plan on having “office hours” at Movement Headquarters on 1304 Geddes Ave. for all following weekdays before the election on March 22. All students feel free to stop by anytime between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. to talk to us about your ideas.

Evan Rosen is an LSA junior.

Arts

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Thursday, March 16, 2017 — 5

COMMUNITY CULTURE COLUMN

FILM REVIEW

Life as the revolving door: Who is coming and going?

Columnist Bailey Kadian explores the modern instinct to avoid commitment in favor of short, cyclical relationships

Roadside Attactions

‘Bitter Harvest’ overlooks genocide in new romance Melodramatic period piece abandons famine for fantasy REBECCA PORTMAN Daily Arts Writer

As far as films about tragic historical events go, most of the lot manage to elicit any number of reactions from the audience. From “Saving Private Ryan” to “Schindler’s List” to “Inglourious Basterds,” tough subject matter can make us scream, cry or laugh. However, the only reaction viewers of “Bitter Harvest” will have is one of regret, regret for buying the ticket in the first place. “Bitter Harvest” is supposed to tell the story of romance within the frame of the genocidal impact of the Holodomor famine in 1933 Soviet Ukraine. However, the romance is over-the-top and the tragic famine is disregarded for obviously staged fight scenes and desperately dramatic scores.

The outcome of “Bitter Harvest” is a cliché war movie bathed in melodrama and ending in disappointment.

“Bitter Harvest” follows Yuri (Max Irons, “Red Riding Hood”), a young artist who leaves his small Ukrainian village and his lover, Natalka (Samantha Barks, “Les Miserables”), to pursue art in the capital, Kiev. While Yuri is painting and attending boisterous Ukrainian nationalist rallies, Natalka and his family are being starved by Stalin and his army in one of the deadliest famines, later to become known

as the Holodomor Famine. While Every choice in “Bitter Yuri gets into some trouble Harvest” is either obvious, in an overly-bloodied, overly- melodramatic or both. However, expected bar fight, Natalka finds it is worth commending the herself starving and reluctantly film on its one success; the pursuing a career as a “lovely cinematography (Douglas lady” a la Barks’s previous role Milsome, “Full Metal Jacket) in “Les Miserables.” The lovers is stunning. Filmed in the exchange terribly romantic Ukrainian countryside, the letters in the sappiest language beautiful opening shots give since “The false hope to a Notebook.”

The rather mediocre “Bitter letters are of course film. While the Harvest” narrated, because bleak, gloomy why not, with letter footage from Roadside writing voiceovers Kiev and the Attractions reminiscent of a wintry tundra bad Jane Austen Goodrich Quality 16 of Siberia add adaptation. contrast to The small the painterly Ukrainian village that Yuri landscapes of Ukraine, it is and Natalka call home is a again, an expectedly obvious fetishized version of a life- choice. size doll house for one of those “Bitter Harvest” is a Russian stacking dolls, filled substandard attempt at trying with random festive dances and to depict an overlooked tragedy. enough colorful embroidery to The romance between Yuri cover your grandmother’s doily and Natalka overshadows the collection. Like everything else tragedy of Holodomor. “Bitter in “Bitter Harvest,” the acting Harvest” is so preoccupied with is melodramatic and over- trying to capture the love story, dramatic. Irons and Barks turn that both the romance and the every interaction into the end of famine suffer. Sadly, the viewer a Shakespearean tragedy with will not learn anything of the an overdose of crying and face- Holodomor famine until the very touching. A lot of people die in end of the film, where before the this movie, but they all blend credits roll the event is finally into one — bedridden, gasping clarified with a few frames of for breath and reaching for the text. The Holodomor famine heavens almost-corpse adorned is most certainly a story worth with makeup so gray and sad telling, but “Bitter Harvest” that it looks as if Tim Burton does not do near enough justice animated it. to the heartbreaking genocide.

People will always cycle in and out of your life. The “revolving” door metaphor that we so heavily rely on in order to understand our changing relationships has remained relevant because of our widespread acknowledgment of its truth. Relationships change and people come and go, and as one who enjoys analyzing the habits of the communities I live in, it seems only fitting I share the observations I have gathered.

Our world has become immune to relationships changing all the time. We go through “seasons” of being close with some people before eventually falling out of that community. This has led to the failure to commit; that is to really, truly commit to maintaining a level of knowledge about a person and his or her life. We should reject this passive, “that’s how things go” mindset, and instead, express an adamant and sincere effort to keep relationships strong. It’s impossible to do with everyone, and of course, that is to be expected.

But when we run into that old friend and say, “Wow, it has been so long! We should grab lunch soon!” Do we ever actually do that? If it has become a consistent habit to never follow through, is it because we are relying on the belief that we have lost touch with enough people in our past? And will it matter whether or not we make the effort now? When we say that we wish to see that person, are we also reminding ourselves that it likely won’t happen?

A few weeks may go by and

‘Marie’ graces Keene with extravagance and comedy For the Daily

REPUBLIC RECORDS

“Liability” Lorde Republic Records

pronunciations, signaling listeners to really hear her story.

Aside from the stripped down production, the single’s true merit comes from Lorde’s lyrics, as she recalls a conversation with a past lover. In retelling an exact moment in time, Lorde invites listeners into this conversation. They can

more unavoidable fate and we lose touch simply because of that. I’m admittedly a victim of this mindset, and it has resulted in a consistent form of neglect.

Just a few days ago, my professor reminded me of the importance of maintaining these ties. He said: “We declare our priorities most in our use of our time.”

How we choose to use our time is among one of the few things we can actually control, and it reveals the quality of our relationships and our willingness to continually invest in them.

He went on to explain that

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

ARYA NAIDU

about the song is pointed, leaving room for listeners to process the heartbreak.

The piano notes are repetitive and simple, a drastic change from Lorde’s typically diverse and electronic production. Even Lorde’s cadences are acute, ending her phrases with succinct

BAILEY KADIAN

if you walk around saying to people, “I care so much about you or I love you, but I am too busy,” than you’ve made your priorities abundantly clear.

Writing this as someone who was once told by a former boyfriend he was just too “busy” to date me, it seems appropriate to also address what implications these habits carry. Let’s get out of this ridiculous mindset that relationships should exist when it is convenient. The excuse you use today will change to something else tomorrow.

By using the easy escape of claiming you’re “too busy,” you’re inexplicitly stating what matters most to you.

My point is that generally, people are always in and out of our lives — and many of those people we lose unwillingly.

Sickness strikes and takes away a loved one. Friends move away. Family ties weaken.

Relationships, platonic or not, fall apart.

In light of knowing people are going to leave, why not make more of an effort now to sustain the bonds with others when it is possible to do so? It takes tremendous effort and sacrifice, which I’m not convinced we are always willing to contribute to others.

Whether it is college, or wherever you go beyond this place, make sure you are aware of how you are investing in your relationships. If you prioritize such efforts, whether convenient or not, you’ll reap the benefits of relationships that are long lasting and persist even through the everchanging circumstances of your life.

RC Players bring a new perspective to ‘Let them eat cake’

SINGLE REVIEW

In 2013, at age sixteen, Lorde, a then-unknown girl from New Zealand, became an international pop star.

Like many before her, she gained stardom and quickly lost privacy. Tabloids bodyshamed her, plastering photos of her and her boyfriend across the internet. “Royals” — her break-out single — debuted in June of 2013, and

by October it was number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

In five short months, Lorde’s life was entirely public.

“Liability,” Lorde’s second single from her sophomore album Melodrama, details how fame tore apart her relationship. The fame-ruinedmy-life narrative is nothing new. In fact, it’s almost expected: Britney Spears had “Lucky,” depicting the never-ending labors of a pop star, while Taylor Swift penned “The Lucky One,” lamenting on the loneliness of fame. But Lorde’s single stands out from her peers in its specificity. Everything

you think to yourself: “I would have liked to see that person.”

Maybe you could have cleared that window of time, but it didn’t happen. Those months become years, and soon you wonder what ever happened to the person you had seen so long ago on the sidewalk.

Maybe it’s just that a majority of our relationships lack substance, so it seems the shallow level of our friendships or relationships is just one

picture Lorde “crying in the taxi” while the ex tells her that “he made the big mistake of dancing in (her) storm.” After the breakup, Lorde goes home and returns to “the arms of the girl (she) loves,” an allusion to finding solace in one’s self after losing a lover. Throughout the song, Lorde’s voice is so clear and exposed, it’s almost as if she’s singing directly into your ear. Her voice is intimate and burdened with emotion, dragging the word “poison” like it was too heavy to let go.

For two minutes and 52 seconds, listeners act like an omniscient entity, witnessing Lorde’s breakup and subsequent recovery. “Liability” showcases an entirely new, raw and profoundly introspective side of Lorde, suggesting that Melodrama may not be Pure Heroine … and that’s okay.

— Danny Madion

Techno music, celebrity culture and a sheep: David Adjmi’s wildly extravagant and superbly funny play, “Marie Antoinette,” combines these elements and others to create an eccentric telling of the French Queen’s reign.

This Friday and Saturday, the Residential College Players are performing the anomalous tale in East Quad’s Keene Theater.

Modernizing interactions and conversations of the 1700s, the play brings new insights to Antoinette’s lavish life.

“It is historical, but all of the dialogue is in contemporary vernacular. The author kind of picked some really unusual moments in her life to hone in on,” said RC Senior and director of the production, Sara Head. “I think it’s a much more psychological look at what happened to her and her life and her story.”

Original and grandiose, the tragicomedy leads up to Antoinette’s execution, following her throughout her reign as Queen of France.

“I think it’s super timely.

One would expect it to not be super relevant considering it all happened 300 years ago, but it offers some really poignant commentary on celebrity culture and what happens when you put somebody up on a pedestal and give them all of this authority over culture without really holding them to any set standards,” Head said.

Pertinent to the current

political climate, the show emulate. The play has been a plays with the concept of power true labor of love for Head and and the extent to which it can the rest of the RC Players. be interpreted and stretched.

“The RC players can only It deals with the lavishness provide a small budget, and I’ve that so often consumes society, been fundraising like crazy and crafting the character of Marie applying for grants, and I think Antoinette out of the grand we’ve managed to get enough to values of her setting. The play put together a really cool set,” delves into this and takes the Head added. “We also have the audience through the rise and whole of the RC Players kind fall of her royal of backing us up tragedy. and providing “Marie support “Marie Antoinette” wherever we combines its need it. It has Antoinette” themes with been a huge Keene Theater diverse lighting group effort. and soundscapes Our faculty March 17th & to create an advisor has 18th @ 8 P.M. otherworldly been coming in experience. and helping us Free Drawing get access to set inspiration from pieces and props both traditional that we need, and contemporary so I’ve gotten music, Head crafted a everybody on board with this soundtrack that ranges from project.” classical all the way to techno.

Tirelessly working to The effect: a show that’s embody the artifice of Marie grand enough to entice the Antoinette’s world, the RC audience, strange enough Players have put together a to keep them interested and show that journeys through impactful enough to leave the concepts of power and them mulling over what just extravagance, giving the happened. audience a spectacularly The nature of the production original experience. is “surrealist,” Head said.

“Just come in looking to “There’s a sheep character that experience a new take on a comes in and talks to Marie, classic story,” Head said. “We’re and all of these kinds of weird mostly hoping that people are things that you can’t really tell a little bit different when they what’s real and what’s not.” walk out than when they first With a context that calls for walked in, whether that just an over-the-top set and time means they were entertained period costumes, the opulence or they took something a little of Marie Antoinette’s life is deeper from it. We just want to something that has necessitated make some kind of impact on extreme time and efforts to the audience.”

Style

6 — Thursday, March 16, 2017

STYLE NOTEBOOK

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

STYLE NOTEBOOK

Vogue // Instagram

French women and the myth of ‘effortlessness’ TESS TOBIN

Daily Arts Writer

This past week as Paris shuttered Fashion Month I was greeted with a barrage of French girl-related headlines from nearly every sartorial news outlet. Said headlines ranged from inane (“French Girls Do Everything Better, Even Instagram (And It’s Because They Don’t Care)”) to absolutely eye-roll inducing (“Confirmed: French Girls Love the Underwear You Hate”). Vogue even went as far as to publish an article titled “Are French Girls the Only Ones We Should Look to for Style Advice?” on their Snapchat, which quoted this sage insight from fashion writer Elizabeth Hawes: “There is no word in English for chic. Why should there be? Everything chic is by legend French. Perhaps everything chic is in reality French.”

This is, of course, blatantly false. The French do not hold claim on chicness, and they most definitely are not the only ones with a word for it. Just because the word “chic” is French in origin does not mean it is not also very much part of the English lexicon. Analogously, the word “restaurant” is likewise French, but no one would ever assert that we do not have a word for it in English. Factual inaccuracies aside, I find this deification of the French woman and her style irksome.

French style stereotypically diverges from American’s primarily in the application of effort. The French girl mindlessly tousles her hair, her skin both unblemished by makeup and stunningly clear. Her outfit is marked by its simplicity, perhaps just a sweater, trousers and heels — everything tailored impeccably.

Conversely, the American girl twirls a loose strand of her blowout, her words framed by an undaunted shade of lipstick.

Her body is wrapped in layered garments. These tropes both look perfect — but only the American seems to have tried.

I have nothing against French style. I find their minimalism elegant, and, despite advice from friends, I have been on the hunt for a good beret for some time. Not to mention, there is something undeniably alluring about the idea that you can look great while “undone.” What I find bothersome is the vilification of effort. The recurring motif in all these articles is that French women are superior to American counterparts because they do not try.

Perhaps my annoyance is a pervasion of my own personal insecurities.

I was first introduced to the term “try-hard” when I was 13-years-old by an identically-aged boy. He used the term frequently, each time with disgust. I was not entirely sure what a try-hard was, but I knew it was the absolute worst thing

to be. Thankfully, I was spared the awareness that the loser who he was describing was, in fact, me. I have been the Hermione in Snape’s inaugural potions class (me: Hand eagerly erect, teacher: Anyone? Anyone?) multiple times.

Granted, the aforementioned scene is the apex of my try-hardness — usually I am much more mellow. Still, my accolades are almost invariably coupled with effort.

So, yes, I am bugged by lazy journalism that propagates the superiority of French style.

French women are gloriously chic, and there’s nothing wrong with modeling your style after them, but they are not the sun upon which the sartorial solar system rotates. If you love fashion the fun is often in the effort. I enjoy the sometimes 30 minutes it takes me to get dressed, “outfit testing” as I dance about to pop music.

And after I’ve finally settled on an outfit, I want to look perfect; I want you to take note of my outfit and know that I tried.

The idea that your outfit would be improved with less effort is offensive — your trouble merits appreciation. It shows you care and it’s indicative of prowess.

What’s more: Don’t believe for a second those French women don’t apply themselves. Of course they do, they just double their effort simply to make it seem as if they didn’t. Don’t fall for the farce.

You’re pretty cool, too; don’t let anyone tell you any different.

Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Thursday, March 16, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

DOWN 1 Brand of sheepskin boots

2 Biting 3 Italian capital 4 Fallback option 5 __ Today 6 Tease 7 “I was out of town,” e.g.

8 Approach midnight 9 Place to hoist a pint 10 DBA followers 11 Madison Ave. field 12 In-your-face challenge 15 Feudal laborers 18 Protective barrier 22 El __ 25 Authentic 26 Dole out 27 Like birds with worms, so it’s said 28 Designer Schiaparelli 29 Cowardly Lion portrayer 30 Facing serious trouble 34 Singer who formerly stylized her name with a dollar sign

36 “__ du lieber!”

37 Yarn purchase 39 Squeal 40 Catch sight of 42 Raises 43 Many a gospel song 48 Brainstorms 50 Uruguayan money 52 Nail a test 53 Like Oscar Wilde

54 Mackerel relative 55 Beatnik’s “With ya” 56 Repeating movie role for 51-Across 60 “Sheesh!”

61 Animated bug film 62 Time at a hotel 64 Org. for docs 66 Pint to drink 67 AOL alternative

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Instagram stars dressed by and for the internet age Promoting personal brand in a digital community that promotes copy-cat culture in order to join ‘The Culture’ NARESH IYANGAR Daily Arts Writer

In “Orlando” by Virginia Woolf, she writes: “There is much to support the view that it is clothes that wear us, and not we, them; we may make them take the mould of arm or breast, but they mould our hearts, our brains, our tongues to their liking.”

That’s a quote that has stuck with me for a long time.

Where the likes of David Bowie and Keith Richards have defined what’s now known as the rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic, others wear the garb in an aspirational sense. When skaters wore Thrasher to show their support of subcultural publications, others donned the hoodies once they hit the mainstream. Nowadays, style is trending towards a sense of conformity. I think the biggest culprit for the proliferation of unoriginality is Instagram.

Instagram is a wonderful platform for the dissemination

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

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 The Miners of the Lone Star St. 5 Eurasia’s __ Mountains 9 Fundraising gps.

13 Caesar’s France 14 Marner of fiction 16 Hindustani language 17 What Dobermans do for dinner?

19 Innocent 20 Retro wall unit 21 Titanic undoing 23 Not very bright 24 Super-cold concoction at Baskin-Robbins?

28 Yale alum 31 Longtime Yankees announcer __ Allen 32 First to play James 33 Tall and lean 35 “Sadly ... ” 38 Box 41 World’s stealthiest detective?

44 Got out of bed 45 “So __ say” 46 Crowd-sourced review site 47 Asian takeout option 49 Little trickster 51 See 56-Down 52 Cutest Baby contest champion?

57 Security briefing org.

58 Clothing part that might split 59 Epic tales 63 Singer James 65 Massage epiphany?

68 Agenda detail 69 Gets mud on 70 Phi __ Kappa 71 Banks of 2000s TV talk 72 Doing business 73 “The Osbournes” patriarch

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of fashion. Through Instagram I have connected with people from all over the world with an interest in fashion, and some of these people have become close friends. I sometimes find myself spending more time messaging people from these fashion groups than my best friends from high school — not because we’re better friends, but because we finally have a platform where we can nerd out about fashion. It’s something that I craved for the longest time: Finding people who were equally passionate about clothing.

When I found platforms like Instagram and Reddit that let me connect with both lifelong friends and strangers, I was hooked. At the same time, the thirst for Instagram success is not a foreign concept; there are countless articles outlining the twelve-step program for gaining followers. For some it’s a way of making money, but for most it’s simply driven by a desire to share content with similarly-interested people and to feast in the likes and followers.

When I really started to spend time on Instagram, exploring different fashionrelated hashtags and accounts, I had the realization that people love to dress the same way. That’s not necessarily to say that the exact outfit is replicated by dozens, if not hundreds, of people, but that a certain, paint-by-numbers approach is taken to fashion.

The people you see under the tag #thefeargeneration dress up in Jerry Lorenzo cosplay, while a search of the #supremenewyork tag will yield enough box-logo hoodies to put a salty taste in your mouth for coming up empty on the last drop. The thing is that there are people who will post outfits that deviate from the cookie-cutter aesthetic, but the problem with Instagram is the fact that these photos don’t get as many likes, comments or lead to as many followers as simpler outfits. It’s difficult for anyone who is motivated

by internet fame to push boundaries because it won’t lead to the same success as sticking with what works.

I think this overlooks a key point, which is the fact that many people know that they want to dress well or dress in a certain way but don’t know how to achieve that aesthetic.

It’s very easy to look to a person whose fashion sense has been applauded by the masses on Instagram and work to emulate it at the start.

Once someone is comfortable with their new look, they will begin to post their own fits to the Internet. From there, it’s undeniable that many people like the self-gratification of knowing that well-established fashion accounts are dressing like them, so they are more likely to follow accounts and like photos that reaffirm their

Nowadays, style is trending towards a sense of conformity

fashion choices.

From here the cycle begins again: Someone looking to begin to define their style will look up to more wellestablished users for tips and tricks. Because these users know that the more avantgarde outfits aren’t going to give them sufficient exposure, they will continue to post basic outfits to Instagram, which will once again inspire someone who is just getting into fashion, which will increase the body of people who are focused on a certain look. All of this boils down to the fact that so long as people are driven by likes and followers, which isn’t likely to stop anytime soon, the current state of Instagram fashion is going to stagnate for the foreseeable future.

WHO STARTED THE SCRUNCHIE TREND? DAILY ARTS? OR HEATHER? MATTHEW MCCNAUGHEY? E-mail arts@michigandaily.com to let us know who and for more information on applying.

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Thursday, March 16, 2017 — 7A

BASKETBALL Wolverines rolling into Big Ten Tournament WOMEN’S ‘M’ to open WNIT run ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor

The Michigan hockey team’s change in mentality was wholly apparent from the moment it began around a month ago.

The Wolverines started to come to terms with an unpleasant reality: with a record well below .500, Michigan would not be securing a bid to the NCAA Tournament during the regular season. From there, the Wolverines started to think of themselves as the underdog.

If they were to qualify for the NCAA Tournament at all, they would need to run the gauntlet at the Big Ten Tournament, winning three games in as many days — a scenario that players such as senior forward and captain Alex Kile were quick to point out as the team’s ultimate goal.

And so, the second half of the season became a trial run of sorts.

How much desperation could this team play with, and how much

progress could it show before the conference tournament? After all, the same version of the team that at one point held a 9-17-3 record wouldn’t be likely to make it past the first day.

But give Michigan credit: it took its blows, and while some may say the change in identity took too long to happen, it has the Wolverines experiencing the most success they’ve had all season. They have dropped only one of their past five games, with all four wins coming against ranked teams that have either locked up or are competing for NCAA Tournament bids: No. 13 Ohio State, No. 5 Minnesota and No. 15 Penn State.

And now, that long-awaited moment is here. Michigan is headed to Joe Louis Arena, where it will fight to keep its season — and in the case of the seniors, their careers — alive, starting with an opening-round game Thursday night against the Nittany Lions.

“I think we had beginner’s

luck at the beginning of the year with a couple of wins when we didn’t really know ourselves yet,” said senior defenseman Nolan De Jong. “Then we obviously struggled through the heart of the season. Now we’ve come into our own a little bit. We understand how we have to play. …”

“We found our identity a little more, and we know we can grind out these games and hold a lead better now than in the middle of the season.”

The Wolverines are coming off the heels of a sweep against Penn State this past weekend that included a 4-0 shutout Saturday.

Though the score was lopsided, Michigan was well aware that it didn’t play as well as it could have.

Berenson pointed it out after the game, as did senior goaltender Zach Nagelvoort, who stood on his head and turned in a 46-save performance as the Nittany Lions outshot the Wolverines by a 2:1 ratio.

It was evidence that although

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Senior defenseman Nigel de Jong and the Wolverines are experiencing the most success they’ve had all season.

Michigan’s record may be red-hot amidst its attitude adjustment, the team still has a lot of room for improvement. The Wolverines, with their abysmal Corsi numbers, don’t have the firepower to play the way they have in the past. Any postseason run will involve a combination of pucks bouncing the right way, the team’s trio of goaltenders continuing their stellar play and a tangible improvement on defense, which Michigan spent all week in practice working for.

“It all comes down to the F3 and F2,” said senior forward Alex Kile. “If you’re in on the forecheck and (Penn State) breaks the puck out, you’ve got to backcheck because their defensemen are really active and provide a lot of offense for them. That’s been our main focus. All their good chances this weekend were off rushes — 3-on-2s, 4-on-2s — with no backcheck, as we’ve found.”

Yet the Wolverines, thanks to Nagelvoort, withstood Saturday’s onslaught, and winning the game in that fashion only added to the growing belief within the team that they can write their own Cinderella story this weekend.

“I think this is definitely the most confident we’ve been all year,” De Jong said. “We know it’s going to be a challenge to beat the same team three times in a row because we know that we got outplayed at certain times on the weekend. But we definitely have that confidence and we know that we can win games whether they’re tight games or having to hold a lead. It’s the Big Ten Tournament and anything can happen — that’s the kind of attitude we’re going in with.”

Added Kile: “Once you’re realistic with yourself and realize other teams have better records and you are the underdog in most of the games you play, I think it benefits you. … The past three weeks have been the closest we’ve ever been as a team this year. We just have a belief in the locker room right now.”

MAGGIE KOLCON Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan women’s basketball team is facing a postseason test — not of skill but of character. The Wolverines (11-5 Big Ten, 22-9 overall) were snubbed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee after finishing third in the Big Ten, but their postseason is not over.

Michigan will play its first game of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament against Kent State on Thursday night.

While this is not the tournament it strove to end up in, it will give the Wolverines the chance to conclude their season on a high note — and potentially prove the NCAA wrong.

“Obviously, we’re extremely disappointed,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “But it’s going to be about how we move on from here and let that disappointment fuel us.”

This will be Michigan’s eighthstraight postseason appearance, with its last two seasons ending in the WNIT semifinals. The Wolverines have never made it past the semifinal round but they certainly have the potential to break that record this year.

The Golden Flashes (13-5 MidAtlantic, 19-12 overall) have a similar record to Michigan, but the Wolverines’ schedule was undeniably more challenging.

Michigan faced five top-25 ranked teams, while Kent State only played then-No. 5 Baylor, to whom they lost 84-42 back in November.

The two teams have also faced off against four common opponents this season: Western Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota and Iowa. The Wolverines beat all four, while the Golden Flashes were victorious over just the Broncos and the Bobcats. Kent State suffered blowout losses to the Golden Gophers and the Hawkeyes, falling 92-62 and 83-48, respectively.

Yet, Michigan’s defense, led by

junior guard Jillian Dunston and senior guard Siera Thompson, will have to watch out for offensive juggernaut guard Larissa Lurken, who averages 23.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Forward Jordan Korinek is the only other Golden Flash who averages over 10 points a game. If the Wolverines are able to shut the duo down, Kent State will have a hard time sinking shots.

Michigan’s main concern will be regaining its scoring confidence.

The Wolverines have not played since losing to Michigan State 74-64 in the Big Ten Tournament on Mar. 3.

In that game, freshman guard Kysre Gondrezick, junior guard Katelynn Flaherty and sophomore center Hallie Thome scored 23, 18 and 16 points, respectively. Despite their considerable efforts against the Spartans, Michigan’s top three scorers (and the highest scoring trio in the Big Ten) were unable to solidify the win.

The Wolverines also lost their last regular season game to Penn State on Feb. 26, though Gondrezick tallied 25 points, Flaherty scored 22 and Thome had 14. Against better teams, the trio’s talent has not been quite enough to push Michigan over the brink. While it may not be a deciding factor against the Golden Flashes — who have not proven to have a deep offensive unit this season — the Wolverines could use scoring help from Thompson and sophomore guard Nicole Munger.

Even though Michigan has lost four of its last five games, it has had almost two weeks off to rest and practice. With a proper mindset, the Wolverines can shake off lingering disappointment and still make program history by winning the WNIT. “Our senior class has done a little better than the year before it and put our team in a better position than the year before it every year since I’ve been here,” Barnes Arico said. “We’re definitely headed in the right direction.”

Brdar, Thomas spark Michigan as a potent infield combination JACOB SHAMES Daily Sports Writer

Through 15 games this season, the Michigan baseball team has kept pace with last year’s offensive output. The 2016 Wolverines scored at a rate of 6.35 runs per game, while this year’s edition currently crosses the plate an average of 6.33 times per game.

With seven regular starters returning from last year, this type of production at the plate was expected. But two other players have also stepped up as offensive contributors – senior shortstop Michael Brdar and sophomore second baseman Ako Thomas.

Last season, Brdar and Thomas were new to the team – Brdar as a junior college transfer from Diablo Valley College in California and Thomas as a freshman from Chicago. Despite their lack of experience in Division I baseball, the pair quickly became mainstays in Michigan’s lineup, both appearing in 53 games.

However, Thomas and Brdar were relative nonfactors at the plate, ranking just seventh and 10th on the team, respectively, in batting average, and they drove in just 32 runs between them.

This year, the pair lead the Wolverines in batting average, with Thomas hitting .339 and Brdar putting up a .328 clip.

Thomas is also tied for second in runs batted in with 10, and Brdar has already eclipsed his home run total from last season with two, while driving in eight runs of his own.

There isn’t anyone in the Michigan program who has forgotten last season’s dismal finish, in which the Wolverines let a NCAA Tournament bid slip out of their hands by losing seven of their final nine games after a 34-12 start. The memory of that slide has manifested itself as a more aggressive mentality for the Wolverines this season.

“There’s no taking the foot off the gas pedal,” Brdar said. “We saw last year the difference was a

couple games – every pitch, every moment we have is important.

You always talk about that, but we never really saw it until last year.

“We’re more aggressive in everything we do, with running the bases, playing defense, coach calling signs and in the weight room. I think we have more intent with everything we do.”

This new mentality has shown itself most prominently on the basepaths. Michigan was a solid base-stealing team last season, with 60 steals in 83 attempts, but this season the Wolverines have gone from decent to dangerous, swiping 35 bases in 39 attempts to rank sixth nationally.

Leading this improvement has been Brdar and Thomas, who combined to steal just four bases while being caught six times in

“There’s no taking the foot off the gas pedal” 2016. However, raw speed was never the issue for the pair – it was instead getting acclimated to the pressures of Division I college baseball. With a full year of experience under their belts, Thomas and Brdar now rank 15th and 26th in the nation in steals, respectively – Thomas with nine and Brdar with eight.

“We’re just as fast as we were last season, but it was our first year, and we didn’t have all the confidence we do now,” Brdar said. “Now when we’re on the bases, we have more confidence, we trust our jumps and trust what we see to be able to actually steal bases instead of being hesitant.”

Added Thomas: “We’ve just been more aggressive this year, trying to get guys in scoring positions as much as we can.”

But a team must be able to reach base in order to steal bases in the first place, and Michigan has excelled in putting runners aboard in a variety of ways. The Wolverines are drawing one more walk per game than they did last season. Thomas (.438 OBP) and Brdar (.418 OBP) have paced the Wolverines with their plate discipline, and they have excelled at making contact as well, having combined to strike out in just 13 percent of their at-bats.

“We can manufacture some runs for sure,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “I like when our offense is very disciplined and doesn’t chase out of the zone, and we’ve got a lot of speed in the lineup that can really get around those bases fast.”

Brdar and Thomas have also formed a defensive bedrock in the middle of the infield.

Michigan has committed just half as many errors per game as it did last season, and Brdar and Thomas have been central to this defensive resurgence. Working in combination with each other, the pair has helped the Wolverines turn 11 double plays already, while the Wolverines recorded just 26 for the whole of last season. Thomas in particular has displayed a penchant for highlight-reel moments at second base, while sporting a perfect fielding percentage.

“What doesn’t show up in the boxscore is the web-gem play after web-gem play that he makes,” Bakich said. “The difficult play that you think is a hit that somehow he’s got a glove on it and then throws a guy out, and the double plays that he’s in the middle of with he and Michael Brdar. He is a true sparkplug type guy.”

Michigan shot out to a fast start last season, and this year’s version has done so as well. But a more aggressive mindset in all facets of the game and the evolution of Brdar and Thomas gives the Wolverines hope that they can write a different final chapter this year.

EVAN AARON/Daily

Senior shortstop Michael Brdar has stepped up as an offensive contributor in his second season as a Wolverine.

Sports

8A — Thursday, March 16, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Cost of admission hurts Michigan students during NCAA Tournament BRANDON CARNEY Daily Sports Writer

There were just five of them, but by the noise they were making, you would have thought there were more.

Way up in the upper deck of the Verizon Center, five members of the Michigan Maize Rage stood, yelled and cheered the Wolverines for four straight days all the way to a Big Ten Tournament championship.

For two of those fans — kinesiology sophomore Jonathan Markwort and engineering sophomore Alex Kettwich — it was a once in a lifetime experience.

“I don’t know if I’m ever going to see anything as amazing again,” Kettwich said. “I thought the Maryland game last year when (the Terrapins) were ranked No. 2 was amazing, but that wasn’t even close.

This was absolutely fantastic.”

But for many other passionate members of the Maize Rage, it was a weekend that could never happen.

When the Big Ten announced back in May 2014 that the conference was taking its annual basketball tournament to the East Coast, students were just about the last group considered in the decisionmaking process when they chose the location.

Ann Arbor is 530 miles — over an eight-hour drive — from the heart of Washington. But compared to the distance between most other Big Ten schools and the Verizon Center, that’s an easy ride. Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State and Ohio State are the only schools closer.

Kettwich, though, said after experiencing the Big Ten Tournament for the first time last year, there was no distance too far for him to travel to be a part of it again.

“I went to Indianapolis last year as a freshman, and I loved going there,” Kettwich said. “I’ve always liked basketball, and a year-anda-half ago, I went to D.C. I wanted to join the two together. Compared to Indianapolis, it was a lot more difficult, but I wouldn’t complain.

Washington is an awesome city.”

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

The Michigan men’s basketball team will have less supporters than expected during the NCAA Tournament due to rising ticket prices for students as well as fans.

While having to go all the way to Washington to get his fix of basketball wasn’t ideal for Kettwich, the Big Ten at least made it worthwhile for him and others making the trip.

The conference offered $35 ticket packages for students making the trek to the Verizon Center.

That package got students an upper-deck seat for every session in which their school was playing.

That meant Kettwich, Markwort and their friends ended up paying $5 each per game to watch all four games Michigan played in plus an additional three games played in the same sessions.

“That was a fantastic deal,” Kettwich said. “I guess I understand why they put us up so high, because it was a really good deal. I would certainly pay more to sit closer, though.”

Added Markwort: “The flat rate by itself really depends on how well Michigan does, but being able to

go to any game they were in was a really good deal. You can’t find very many tickets in the arena for $20.” *** As the Wolverines shift gears and look forward to playing their opening NCAA Tournament games closer to home in Indianapolis, their fans, especially students, are looking to hop on the bandwagon.

But something many students have come to realize since Sunday night is that it’s going to cost them one way or another to get on that wagon to Indiana.

On the Monday afternoon following the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, the Michigan Athletics Ticket Office released information via email to all student basketball season ticket holders on how to make requests for a small pool of tickets allocated to students for the games in Indianapolis.

The email detailed policies the ticket office had set up to process the allocation. Students who are

granted a ticket would be required to show up at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Friday to claim their tickets with a valid MCard to both the game played that day, and a ticket for Sunday if Michigan were to advance. By submitting a request, a student would be committing to attend both the Friday and Sunday (if the Wolverines win Friday) sessions and could not purchase a ticket to one game without the other.

This policy causes a problem for students who have classes late Thursday night or Friday. Many students are unable to attend Friday’s game due to class conflicts and other academic priorities. An official in the Michigan Athletics Ticket Office confirmed there were many inquires made by students about purchasing tickets for just one session, but none were granted due to these policies.

The ticket office had also put in place a policy limiting ticket

requests to students who are season ticket holders for this season. As MLive’s Brendan Quinn reported in December, student season ticket sales have declined 44 percent between the 2015-16 and 201617 seasons. A number of factors have led to this decline, but this alarming trend will carry over into the postseason, as many students’ decision not to purchase season tickets will rule them ineligible for postseason ticket requests.

But nothing has deterred students from buying tickets more than the price they’re being asked to pay. The Michigan Athletics Ticket Office has little control over price, an official told the Daily on Wednesday. Rather, the NCAA sets prices when it passes on the tickets for the office to distribute. Michigan only profits off a $5 service fee it charges with every transaction.

The price set for each ticket was $81, meaning if the Wolverines beat Oklahoma State on Friday, students

who committed to buying the package will be charged $162 plus a service fee for tickets to the two games. For comparison, the cost for a student to purchase season tickets to the upcoming 2017-18 season is $175 for somewhere between 16 and 19 home games.

That combination of policy, apathy and price created the perfect storm for an incredibly underwhelming number of ticket requests. According to a Michigan Athletics Ticket Office official, just 27 students requested the package by the 10 a.m. deadline on Tuesday.

An official from the office confirmed they had planned for a higher demand from students, and even warned in the original email that tickets were not guaranteed if the demand exceeded supply.

But that was never going to happen.

The extra tickets not claimed by students have since been turned over to the allocation reserved for the general public, which did have excess demand.

As for students, there certainly will be more than 27 of them attending Friday’s game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. They’ll just have to look elsewhere, mainly on the streets or through online ticket exchanges, to be in attendance to see if the Wolverines’ postseason run continues.

Markwort and Kettwich won’t be two of them: the pair needs the weekend to catch up on schoolwork and patch up the hole burnt through their wallets after spending four days in Washington.

But they feel they made the arena atmosphere better for everyone around them.

It’s unfortunate many students like them won’t have the chance to do the same in Indianapolis.

“The people sitting around us were very receptive of us being there,” Markwort said. “Multiple people came us to up after the game and said, ‘We’re really glad you guys came here, thanks for making the trip, it was really cool.’ They definitely appreciated it.”

‘M’ to face Northern Illinois in first home series of the season HUNTER SHARF Daily Sports Writer

Last Wednesday, when asked about Michigan baseball’s first series of the year at Ray Fisher Stadium, a jubilant smile filled the face of second baseman Ako Thomas. Yet, on a day when Michigan experienced record-high winds, the standout sophomore pleaded one simple wish for the upcoming series against Northern Illinois: “Hopefully the weather isn’t too crazy.”

Unfortunately for Thomas, his request did not become reality.

The No. 21 Wolverines (12-3) will host the Huskies (3-12) amid frigid temperatures and potential snowfall. Current forecasts predict the high temperature for the weekend series to be 40 degrees Fahrenheit and the low to be 17 degrees.

In fact, the teams were initially scheduled to commence their series on Friday. However, one of the doubleheaders slated for Saturday has been moved to Thursday as a result of the expected inclement weather.

Heading into the winter showdown, Michigan has been on a blaze – winning nine of their last 10 games. During the first 15 games of the season the Wolverines have consistently outperformed their competition, outscoring their opposition 95 to 49.

In addition to the stable offense and pitching, Coach Erik Bakich points out that Michigan’s defense has played an integral role in the team’s early season success.

“I really like our defense,” Bakich said. “That’s an area we take a lot of pride in, playing good fundamental defense.”

While coach Bakich explains that “surprised is (not) the right word” when discussing the team’s high level of play on defense – the team currently ranks eighth in the NCAA with a .984 fielding percentage – it is an area that seems to have caught his eye, and perhaps even exceeded his expectations.

“From a coaching standpoint,

our guys not only making the routine play, but making the web gem play has generated a lot of momentum for our team,” Bakich said.

In addition to their superb defense, one area that has also sparked the Wolverines this season is their success on the base path – Michigan ranks fourth in the country with 2.33 stolen bases per nine innings and sixth overall with 35 total steals.

Bakich explains how this is a byproduct of the speedy personnel they have on the roster. He points out that while stealing bases is a great weapon to have, it is not necessarily something they hunt for.

“We don’t go into any game with a set number of stolen bases in mind,” Bakich said. “Really, who cares if we lead the nation in stolen bases or not, it really doesn’t matter.”

The duo that leads the Wolverines in stolen bases, Thomas and senior shortstop Michael Brdar, have nine and eight stolen bases respectively on the season.

The duo feels the team has not only

been more aggressive on the base path, but in all areas of the game.

This sort of intensity is something coach Bakich expects from his players: “The players understand what the expectation level is, which is 100 percent all the time,” Bakich said. “They’ve done a really nice job with it.”

Michigan will have to channel this intensity while playing in below freezing temperatures this weekend.

While Northern Illinois has found little success this season, winning just three games and boasting a subpar .232 batting average, they are coming off of a win and will undoubtedly look to steal a few games from the ranked Wolverines. The Huskies will turn to left-hander Donovin Smith – who last week was awarded the Mid-American Conference pitcher of the week – to try and defeat Michigan.

While on paper the Wolverines should be able to handle Northern Illinois, the inclement weather could prove to be an unpredictable element.

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Sophomore second baseman Ako Thomas plays a key role on the basepaths.