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Thursday, March 8, 2018

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ACADEMICS

Faculty blast new Victors Care as elite, too exclusive New program takes on membership model to provide individualized care, for a fee ALEXA ST. JOHN Editor in Chief

CARTER FOX/Daily

Walter Johnson, Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, discusses the evolution of monuments and their role in current society in North Quad Wednesday evening.

‘U’ scholars discuss replacement of monuments to the Confederacy

Some professors resurface University’s own conflicts with C.C. Little on panel ETHAN LEVIN

Daily Staff Reporter

On Wednesday evening, the University of Michigan History Department held a teach-in surrounding “Disrupting White Supremacy: Global Histories and Local Struggles.” The talk included 12 speakers in an effort to reclaim and retell the history of race in the U.S. and globally. The speeches were followed by a student “talk back” panel, focusing on the historical

injustices and their inaccurate recordings that have shaped our current political climate. Views could follow the talk on twitter and pose questions to the speakers using the #UMDisrupt. Teach-ins have a long and storied history at the University. The nation’s first “teach-in” took place on campus in March of 1965 with 3,000 students gathering across rooms in Angell Hall to discuss and protest the war in Vietnam. Rackham student Tara Weinberg explained the urgency

to come to events like this, especially with the controversy surrounding white supremacist Richard Spencer’s potential visit to campus next semester. “I think it’s really important to counter him because if there is no counter, then it’s almost taken as a given that he’s been received with silence and with complicity,” Weinberg said. Several professors and one graduate student spoke on how the current political climate has been shaped from an international, historical

perspective. Katherine French, a J. Frederick Hoffman professor of history, accompanied by Rackham student Taylor Sims identified medieval fantastical symbols used by white supremacists in the Charlottesville protests, and how their modern use incorrectly represents the Crusades at large. This misrepresentation has given white supremacists an empty sense of security and support, and has misconstrued their presence to the public. See TEACH-IN, Page 3A

Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan is currently launching Victors Care, a concierge medical care model aiming to deliver tailored health care access to a limited number of patients. These patients will receive specialized, convenient and optimized care for with purchase of an annual membership fee to cover primary care services without copays or deductibles. Though concierge medicine has been practiced at a number of health facilities nationwide — including Michigan Medicine competitors like Stanford Health Care, Virginia Mason and the UNC Physicians Network Carolina Continuity of Care Program — the University will institute the care approach for the first time in April. Mary Masson, institutional positioning director at

Michigan Medicine, said Victors Care is one example of ways Michigan Medicine aims to improve medical care. “Victors Care is a pilot program, developed after requests from patients for a service similar to what exists at institutions across the country,” Masson wrote in a statement to The Daily. “This is just one of a number of ways we’re seeking to improve access to and efficiency of care we provide. Others include use of e-visits when appropriate, opening a new facility in west Ann Arbor and the planned opening of another, in Brighton this fall, which will significantly expand our capacity and access.” However, this concierge medicine program — often referred to as boutique or retainer medicine — has drawn criticism from University physicians. In a January letter obtained by The Daily addressed to Marschall Runge, executive See MEDICINE, Page 3A

Law students reflect on discretion, LSA SG ‘U’ signs off pushes for duties of AAPD with class ride-alongs surgical

ACADEMICS

BUSINESS

Mich. Time ballot box

Program aims for transparency amid questions of department accountability

Assembly approves bill to seek student input on class schedule changes

On the corner of two major streets just outside downtown Ann Arbor, Police Officer Christopher Hoffman parks behind a tree that conceals his squad car to passersby, about 10 feet away from the intersection. He focuses intently on the cars passing through, never once taking his gaze off the road. It’s a Saturday night and this is his usual haunt when it’s “slow” during his 12-hour shift. He’s looking for cars that go through one of the four stop signs that mark each road at the intersection. Several cars commit a “roll-stop,” only braking slightly before passing through, but he decides not to stop any of them. “I’m looking for the ones that speed through, without stopping at all,” he said. Ten minutes pass, and a car speeds through the stop sign. Gas to the pedal, Hoffman turns on his sirens and chases after the car. The car pulls over in a vacant lot, and after asking the driver a few questions, reviewing the video footage from the camera on the front of his police car and checking the driver’s record — clean for the past seven years —Hoffman decides to let her off with a warning. “She’s visiting her sister and isn’t under the influence, plus she has a squeaky-clean

RACHEL CUNNINGHAM Daily Staff Reporter

LSA Student Government met Wednesday night in Mason Hall to discuss ballot questions for its upcoming elections. The body also passed a resolution with a vote of 15-10, with two abstentions, to add a binding ballot question to the Winter 2018 election ballot on whether government should support the Universitye’s decision to end Michigan time. Michigan time is a practice used across the University of Michigan campus of starting classes ten minutes later than their scheduled times. This was intended to allow students enough travel time between backto-back classes. However, not all of the University’s colleges, such as the School of Nursing, use Michigan time. On Feb. 19, the University and the Provost’s Office announced Michigan time will end on May 1 in order to make collaboration among the different colleges easier and instead, classes will end 10 minutes early. Common student critique was a lack of transparency in making the decision. See LSA SG, Page 3A

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record,” he said. “And I’m feeling generous since it’s my first day back (after two weeks of unpaid paternity leave).” The Daily was allowed to participate in a ride-along, a program in which police departments invite citizens to shadow a police officer for a shift, or part of a shift. Participants must sign a waiver and are assigned to ride with an officer based on a rotational schedule. The program allows

citizens to “see firsthand the daily workings of law enforcement and gain a better understanding of the challenges and rewards of being a police officer.” “A lot of people look at police work as kind of a secretive-type thing and it’s not, we’re just average people. We’re trying out there to do a good job,” Hoffman said. “And I think the ride-along program lets people see that, lets people see why we

do what we do, our motivations. So, I think it’s good to bridge a community gap that there is.” One University of Michigan Law School elective, Policing and Public Safety, taught by U.S. District Judge Judith Levy and former U.S. Attorney Saul Green, requires students to engage with the police during the semester either by completing a ride-along with an area police department or See AAPD, Page 3A

A lot of people look at police work as kind of a secretive type thing and it’s not, we’re just average people, we’re trying out there to do a good job. – OFFICER HOFFMAN, ANN ARBOR POLICE DEPARTMENT CASEY TIN/Daily

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INDEX

technology to care firm

Fortune 500 company purchases student-made device for microsurgery SAM SMALL

Daily Staff Reporter

Baxter International, a Fortune 500 American health care company, recently signed a licensing agreement with the University of Michigan to acquire rights for a new surgical device that was developed by a small five-person classroom of Engineering 490/Design and Manufacturing 450 students. In a statement, Michael Campbell, vice president of Baxter’s microsurgery business, said Baxter International is looking forward to utilizing the new device. “We are excited to work with the experts at the University of Michigan and license this promising new technology that could lead to a meaningful impact for microsurgeons,” he said. This surgical device, mirroring that of a small silicone pen with an easily adjustable steel spine, would make the complicated and tedious process of connecting arteries more efficient by reducing a 25-minute procedure to only six minutes. See SURGERY, Page 3A

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2A — Thursday, March 8, 2018

TUESDAY: By Design

MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers

WEDNESDAY: This Week in History

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Going to @UMich was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Kardashians talking about eating their placenta reminds me of when I jokingly asked my Dr at @UMich if I should consider that and his answering was a resounding “hell, no”

ok nick ya just spend ur spring break at umich attending random architecture lectures (archilectures, if you will) w ur pal!!!! #LivinLaVidaLoca #LocaCabeza

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“I would probably say Jim Harbaugh. I feel like he would be a great motivator, would probably actually get me to do my work instead of just sitting here not doing my work. I think that would be great motivation.” LSA junior Marco Lewis

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Professor advocates for diversity of thought in classroom & group work Page shows studies on benefits of variant perspectives in kickoff for Munger case competition MADELINE MCLAUGHLIN For the Daily

After being pushed by a colleague to spread his findings on diversity, Scott Page, a Leonid Hurwicz Collegiate professor of complex systems, political science and economics at the University of Michigan, now travels the country discussing why diverse perspectives and ideas are so crucial to group work. Wednesday afternoon, Page discussed diversity of thought in a talk concentrated on the findings in his most recent novel,

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“The Diversity Bonus.” About 50 individuals attended the event focused on the benefits diversity brings to groups solving complex problems. The talk was hosted in concordance with the founding of a new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion certificate offered by the Rackham Graduate School and the start of the Winter 2018 Munger case competition, challenging graduate students to solve complex problems within diverse groups. Lindsay Trahan, a transdisciplinary program manager at Munger Graduate Residences, explained the

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Munger case competition and its importance in honing graduate students’ group skills. “Every semester, Munger hosts a case competition. So, over the past couple of semesters, we’ve reached out to strategic partners interested in some larger topic or issue that is best addressed through diversity of thought, getting graduate students from across different disciplines and having them come together to form teams to address certain issues, such as poverty,” Trahan said. “We want to offer students the opportunity as they are working through this action plan to address diversity and inclusion. We want them to think about it through different lenses.” Page began his talk by explaining the idea behind a “diversity bonus” –– diversity having a functional, pragmatic value in group settings, leading to an added bonus to efficiency. Page discussed how the term “diversity” is often misunderstood and fundamentally based on experience. When referencing diversity, he spoke on different perspectives and ideas permeating society. “When dealing with complexity, you need lots of different frameworks to make sense of the world,” Page said. “What we really mean when we say diversity is people who think about the world in different ways. The core takeaway is that cognitive diversity improves outcomes on complex tasks.” Page went on to discuss the logic and evidence behind this finding. Citing

multiple studies in fields ranging from political science to biology to economics, Page emphasized the concept that working in combination, rather than isolation, produced higher rates of efficiency, accuracy and productivity in groups. He stressed how group creativity outweighed individual creativity in almost all situations. Page refuted the commonly held notion that diverse groups of individuals counterbalances one another to be merely average. In fact, he claimed, there is almost always a bonus to efficiency because of diversity. “People sort of think there is this trade-off between excellence and diversity,” Page said. “By being inclusive and diverse, we will actually achieve excellence.” Finally, Page discussed identity diversity. He explained how identity fundamentally lies in the different attributes making up an individual and how these identities change over time. He then stressed the crucial relationship identity and diversity share. Rackham student David Morphew discussed why learning about the importance of diversity is crucial to graduate students. “I was very interested in the topic because I wanted to see some data to back up why diversity is so important for solving problems on a grander scale” Morphew said. Page closed by reinforcing the correlation between success and diversity. “If you want something really interesting you have to bring in people trained differently, from different places, from different groups, if you really want to have something amazing,” Page said.

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AAPD From Page 1A by attending a police-community meeting. The requirement was designed to expose future lawyers to the daily implementation of the law and help them understand what it is like to be a police officer. Law School student Samantha Jackson, whose father is the deputy sheriff of St. Clair County, took the elective because of her familial connection to law enforcement. Even though she’s been exposed to police work from a young age, during her ridealong with the Wayne State Police Department, she said she learned just how much each department can vary. “In my town, my dad has so much pride in his career and is really passionate about helping people, and that’s the kind of perception I grew up with,” Jackson said. “And it wasn’t until I stepped out of that town that I

SURGERY From Page 1A Called the arterial everter, it could be applied to a multitude of procedures including breast mastectomies or severely injured limbs suffered from car wrecks. This medical success greatly impacts the field of reconstructive surgery and health care. The arterial everter works in addition to existing equipment known as the GEM microvascular anastomotic coupler system, made by Synovis Micro Companies Alliance Inc., a supplementary company owned by Baxter. The GEM coupler is an appliance that works adeptly with veins; however, when attempting to sew small millimeter-sized arteries with extremely dense walls, it can make tissue transfers incredibly difficult. The arterial everter disperses the compact walls over the coupler, effectively connecting the wide arteries. Paul Cederna, a professor and chief of plastic surgery at the University Medical School, and Albert Shih, a professor of biomedical and mechanical engineering, were co-teaching a senior-level engineering design course when they realized the coupler deficit challenged their students to devise a solution.

TEACH-IN From Page 1A “If you know your history, then people can’t give it back to you in the wrong form,” French said. Lecturer Anne Berg explained how the Nazi party used fabricated scientific claims to promote and encourage racism in Germany and compared this to the current eugenics argument. In this respect, she admitted society today is not too different from Nazi Germany. This past fall, protests broke out across campus as students groups called on the University to change the name of C.C. Little building and bus stop, as their namesake was a former University president and President of the American Eugenics Society.

MEDICINE From Page 1A vice president for medical affairs, and David Spahlinger, executive vice dean for clinical affairs, faculty members list several reasons for their “deep disappointment in the concept and rollout of the Victors Care Program.” According to the Victors Care website, services include “24 hour access to the patient’s physician or covering physician via telephone, text, or email, Same or next day appointments, Unhurried visits, A yearly executive style physical examination, Assistance with scheduling tests and specialty appointments, Minimal wait times (and) A written summary report detailing the doctor’s findings and recommendations from the yearly physical.” There are also several bullet points listed for “executive style physical examination.” The website specifically

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saw the corruption that many police departments suffer from, the unfair treatment, how it’s just so incredibly different — every single police department can really vary a lot.” Professor of Law Eve Primus, who teaches Criminal Procedure, a popular elective at the Law School, encourages her students to participate in ride-alongs , but does not require them to take part. “When courts interpret laws or interpret the constitution, and when the legislature makes laws, they do it in light of what they think are concerns that police officers face, so I think it’s important for students to have exposure and to meet with police officers to form their own judgments, whether they think those concerns are accurate, or valid, or things the law should or shouldn’t take into account,” Primus said. Law School student Thea Marriott said aside from providing legal perspective, ride-

alongs allow people to amend misconceptions about police officers. “I think it’s a really beneficial thing to do,” Marriott said. “I think a lot of people have sort of an imaginary idea in their head of what the police actually do, and a lot of it is more social-community work than policing robbers or something like that.” Law School student Asma Husain believes understanding how the police work is an important part of being a lawyer, because police officers are the facet of law enforcement that people interact with most often. “Criminal law and policing is the vast majority of the average person’s interaction with the legal system, and most people don’t interact with lawyers, they interact with the police,” Husain said. “I think it’s a responsibility of people who deal with the law to see (the legal system) from the perspective that people are most often going to, and being

aware of not just what police are doing for communities but the amount of power they have over communities and how they’re using the law.” In the Policing and Public Safety elective, about half of the students chose to participate in a ride-along. Jackson said that most of them had positive experiences, and it increased their respect for the work police do. “Some of my classmates expressed that they had a more negative perspective of the police, but after the ride-along, they still saw problems, and it didn’t completely change anything, but they had a little more respect and understanding for the work that police try to do, as imperfect as it can be,” Jackson said. One problem discussed frequently in the elective was the copious amount of discretion police have. “Police have so much discretion,” Jackson said. “You know, we have these laws, tons of laws, but they’re not perfectly

“The students struggled but then they excelled at end and created a great design,” Shih said. “Is this significant? Yes. You dream about your innovation being used by someone so it can enact change. Eventually it will happen, it hasn’t happened yet, but it is in the right pathway to reach an impact on health care.” Jeff Plott, a mechanical engineering research fellow and doctoral student in Shih’s lab, serves as the product development mentor on the project. Plott revealed the trials of the developmental process. “We started our design process with a ton of brainstorming by conjuring up many different ideas, and then started narrowing that down with a combination of what we think works versus what is feasible to make versus how is it going to get through the regulatory landscape? We then starting thinking more of it; it can be something that is commercially viable,” Plott said. “You’re kind of balancing all of those things. By the end of the semester, the students had prototyped a device that was a first proof of concept. It showed that it was possible to flip an artery over the pin and that is where we left off.” Plott then paired with other surgeons at the University to further evolve the concept and transform it into a product that could be monetized.

“That device made by the students was far away from being something that was usable by surgeons in the future and also something that was manufacturable and economically viable,” he said. “So, after that semester, I led the development of transforming the device into something that could meet all of these requirements.” In order to make the transition from idea to marketed technology, the Coulter Translational Research Partnership Program, a sector of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, provided funding for product design and testing. It also gave expert advice to fully develop the technology and place it into the hands of the health care business. Baxter then signed the licensing agreement with the University for the arterial everter to be accessible worldwide. However, Baxter will first need to file for Food and Drug Administration approval and other licenses. After working tirelessly with students, surgeons and engineers, Plott rejoices over the success of the technology. “This licensing agreement is a great validation of our idea. Our end goal, of course, is always to make a difference. This partnership will greatly accelerate that path and will enable us to get us there as quickly as possible,” he said.

“Nazis were lucky that they had so much of a rich history of scientific evidence and visual legacies to draw on to build a racial state that thankfully has not yet been paralleled,” Berg said. Associate professor Rudolph “Butch” Ware highlighted the roots of racism from an Islamic perspective in 18th century Africa. Despite the fact literacy rates were higher in regions of Africa than in any part of Europe, African people were nonetheless seen as slaves. Ware cited classical Islamic teachings that racism stems from pride, and urged the audience to set their pride aside and engage in dialogue to understand how white supremacy has occurred and what it has done. Several speakers also focused

on the historical inaccuracies from a national perspective. Assistant professor Matthew Spooner referenced the Haitian revolution and Rebecca J. Scott, a Charles Gibson Distinguished University professor of history, discussed the Reconstructionera government of Louisiana to highlight the lack of historical knowledge many hold, and how this ignorance warps views of current social problems. “If we can’t understand the past, we will be blind to the present,” Spooner said. Associate professors Stephen A. Berrey and assistant professor Allan Lumba made clear how historical interpretations of racial minorities in the United States has contributed to their treatment today. Berrey focused on the interpretations of African

Americans and Lumba on Asian Americans. Both Berrey and Lumba used narratives of racial hate crimes to showcase how easily the perpetrator can hide their motives, and how the real story can lie hidden for decades. “(This can be fixed) by telling our stories, challenging lies, hyperboles, half-truths, and fictions,” Barry said. Geoff Eley, a Karl Pohrt Distinguished University professor of contemporary history, and Prof. Rita Chin examined the roots of xenophobia and its current presence both globally and nationally. Chin discredited the widespread belief that xenophobia toward Muslims in Europe dates to before 9/11, and Eley explained how globalization has created anxieties it originally aimed to abolish. Eley argued

notes memberships purchased on or before June 30, 2018 will be available for $2,700, or $225 a month, until June 30, 2019. Starting July 1, memberships will increase to $3,600 per year. All memberships purchased will expire in July 2019, when the annual membership fee for all members will become the same. Membership fees are said to cover personalized care, take place of billing insurance for primary care visits and allow the organization to limit the number of patients physicians can treat. Drawing on the program description, grievances listed in the faculty letter include: being unaware in the content of the Victors Care program invitation letter, video and website; discriminating against the underserved; promotional materials suggesting Victors Care patients will “receive preferential treatment at Michigan Medicine based on ability to pay”; implication that if receiving Victors Care

is quality care, receiving care from traditional primary care physicians is not quality; and a concern that Victors Care promotional materials and website recommend care that is not evidence based. “We ask that the institution stop recruiting our patients to this program and advertising it as providing much better care than all the rest of our primary care clinics,” the letter reads. “Victors Care purports to offer ‘better’ health care to those with enough money to pay a large access fee. The University of Michigan is a public institution and our commitment is to serve the public, not a private few.” The letter also includes direct quotations from Michigan Medicine faculty, one of which notes: “This reinforces UM as an elitist institution catering to the wealthy.” The letter has since been signed by more than 200 Michigan Medicine faculty members. Masson, however, claims Victors Care supports equal

access to health care. “We’re committed to ethical, accessible care for all our patients and whatever programs we put in place should not diminish that in any way. This will not adversely affect the access of other patients to our outstanding health care system,” Masson wrote in her statement. Efforts to contact Runge and program organizer Kim Eagle, an Albion Walter Hewlett professor of internal medicine, were forwarded to Michigan Medicine spokespeople. “Some faculty and staff have raised concerns,” Masson wrote. “We’ve listened to them and are working together to come up with solutions that are mutually satisfactory for the benefit of our patients.” Daniel Berland, associate professor of internal medicine, voiced his disappointment in the program.

Thursday, March 8, 2018 — 3A enforced and unfortunately they’re often not evenly enforced. That’s the cynical view, and there’s a lot of truth to that. We literally don’t have the resources, no community, no police department, has the resources to fully enforce every single law, to catch every person speeding on the highway. So they have to make choices, and it’s interesting to see what forms those choices and to be aware of it and to speak up if you disagree.” In recent years, this amount of discretion has come under fire, with activists suggesting it disproportionately harms communities of color. AAPD has recently been the subject of public scrutiny as the city attempts to implement accountability measures—almost four years ago, a white AAPD officer shot and killed Aura Rosser, a Black Ann Arbor resident. Earlier in February, City Council passed a resolution allowing for citizen oversight over the formation of a police review board.

LSA SG From Page 1A LSA SG President Nicholas Fadanelli, an LSA senior, sponsored the resolution, citing the mission of the government to serve LSA students and their concerns. “Part of this is not only to establish what our stance should be, especially given that our mission is to actively seek the voice of LSA students and their interests, but also to grant students something where they do have a say regarding this,” Fadanelli said. Counsel Nathan Wilson, an LSA junior, was also in support of the resolution. “I think there’s some disagreement about the question on the merit of changing Michigan time,” Wilson said. “The opposition that I’m understanding is getting bound up into having to oppose the replacement of Michigan time because of (an) instinctive reaction from students and that on the merit we should be opposing the change to Michigan time just for the sake of a guttural student instinct. I don’t think that this opposition holds true in the circumstances like these where it is not an issue that students are

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BRETT GRAHAM | COLUMN

Progressivism and pacing

ast week, the California Democrats convened in Sacramento to draft and vote on their statewide party platform in advance of the 2018 midterm elections. They adopted a platform not too different from the one Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ran on in 2016 — access to universal health care as a human right, a $15 minimum wage, corporate regulation and paid family leave. Other planks in the 28-page manifesto, however, were much less familiar. Sizing up this document in the context of where Democrats are winning right now underlines the single greatest obstacle for progressive politics in the U.S. today — pacing. According to the document, California Democrats will support “abolishing the Electoral College and (replacing it) with a national popular vote.” They will also seek full public funding of campaigns in local, state and federal elections to oppose the “culture of cronyism and corruption” as well as the immediate repeal of the post-9/11 legislation, Authorization for the Use of Military Force. Finally, they advocate for publicly-owned affordable housing projects and the creation of publicly-owned, “noncompetitive” Internet providers. As a progressive, my initial reaction is that whoever wrote this platform should be thrown a parade. Finally, a bold and articulate vision that is not only morally right, but one on which progressive candidates can win. In 2016, Democrats sold Hillary Rodham Clinton as President Barack Obama’s followup act, a continuation of everything that was going right in our country. This new progressive vision came in the rare absence of a predominant negative motivation, “Don’t vote for the clown who grabs women by the crotch.” Finally, some positive motivation to go to the polls. Voting for instead of voting against. Several hours later, as I was scrolling through Twitter, the political talking heads were fixated

on one thing: Texas turning blue. This included Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s momentum in his challenge for Ted Cruz’s Senate seat, demographic shifts in Texas and how Clinton lost the state by a smaller margin than any Democrat since 1996. Could this Republican Party stronghold finally be in play this year? This kind of speculation has been everywhere for the past two years, as Democrats make gains in unlikely places — Alabama, Georgia and even Oklahoma. Surely, running as a Democrat in California is wildly different from running as a Democrat anywhere in the South. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., cannot win with the progressivism of Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. So, what do these divergent positions mean for the Party, if and when it wins congressional majorities? What does it mean for the selection of a presidential candidate in two years’ time? Two kinds of Democrats are starting to emerge, both drawing from Sanders’ rhetoric and style, but wildly different in terms of pacing. On the one hand, there are the motivated progressives, in places like California, Oregon, New Jersey and Massachusetts. They’re ready to staple this platform to their foreheads and move fullsteam ahead. On the other, there are popular progressives, in places that are not quite ready for everything in the 28 pages of the California platform but who will be ready to take steps in that direction. These were Sanders voters in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio — the people who can be sold on single-payer health care and legalized marijuana, but need a little time. Reactionary instincts to too much change in too little time are real. It is not a coincidence that a presidential campaign based on making America great again came on the heels of our first Black president and eight years that saw the legalization of gay marriage, mainstream

JOE IOVINO | CONTACT AT JIOVINO@UMICH.EDU.

portrayals of transgender people and a spotlight on safe spaces on college campuses. For a lot of people, it was overwhelming and the world motivated progressives are pushing for threatens to have the exact same effect. Agree with it as you like, but no one can deny the contents of that document represents substantial change to how we think about rights, the differences between public or private, and how elections work in this country. So, if you were the grand marshal of American progressives, what would you do? Lean into this 28-page left-wing dream of a mission statement and risk alienating potential voters in states showing signs of progress? Or pump the brakes and wait for the popular progressives to catch up, despite the fact this is somewhat counterintuitive to what you stand for? Fundamentally, 2018 is an exciting year to be a progressive. The platform is exciting and has so much potential. What was once a subset of the Democratic Party is now its vanguard, pushing left and angling for congressional majorities. At the same time, liberal candidates seem poised to win in places they haven’t won in half a century. For now, I see no problem with offering this document to the 468 congressional candidates who will have D’s next to their names this fall as a sort of buffet. Pick and choose. Find the pace that is right for your state or your district. But set a tone. Make change at the local level that starts the wave, slow and steady. Because very soon, we’re going to see a major presidential nominee with this platform stapled to his or her forehead, ready to spread it to all 50 states. And if these two brands of progressivism are too far out of step, that could spell trouble. Brett Graham can be reached at btgraham@umich.edu.

Let Spencer speak

s of late, few topics have stirred more controversy and ignited more debate here at the University of Michigan than free speech. However, the real fight has only begun, as figures like Richard Spencer expose an increasingly dangerous shift in American opinion regarding hate speech. While calls to deny Spencer’s request to speak at the University aim to prevent the elevation of his vile white supremacist ideology, they also represent a far larger threat to the First Amendment. The First Amendment, though often touted in defense of personal opinion and creative expression, was not written with the comfort of individuals, or even the majority of individuals, in mind. On the contrary, it protects even reprehensible and unpopular opinions, precisely because the authors of the Constitution understood the protection of all speech as contingent to the survival of free society. Therefore, while suppressing Spencer may be the more palatable option for the University community today, it would create a slippery slope enabling the government to later strangle other ideas and beliefs. To anyone claiming the government could indeed aptly define and exclude “hate” while still protecting “valid” forms of expression, consider that the most prominent white supremacist groups in America currently muster a combined membership of slightly under 15,000, most definitely representing an unpopular set of beliefs in a country of over 320 million citizens. Comparably, in 1950, only about 50,000 Americans were registered members of the Communist Party. Considering the context of the Cold War at the time, communism in 1950 possessed similar minority standing and attracted similar antipathy as white supremacist ideology does today in America (notwithstanding implicit endorsement by the president, but that’s a matter for another Op-Ed).

Then, as is the case today, Americans were faced with the option of marginalizing and stymieing the minority ideology, with the unpopularity and rarity of communist faith providing the motive and the means to do so. The unchecked and destructive violation of privacy rights and ideological freedom that followed clearly illustrates the consequences of labeling unpopular, even harmful, beliefs as unworthy of protection. Opponents of Spencer’s right to speak at the University may, however, single out the University as entirely different from other public domains, emphasizing that the University must serve the needs of its students first. These “needs” would assumedly preclude the presence of emotionally burdensome hate speech and the onus of additional security costs that accompany controversial speakers like Spencer. While not inherently unfounded, as limitations on certain forms of speech do exist when other rights are harmed, these “needs” do not serve a higher public interest than the protection of speech. In addition to having absolutely no constitutional basis, protection from the content of speech alone reflects a disturbing trend in public opinion. Past decades saw progressive Americans rally against censorship by university administrations, in the hope that students would enjoy the diversity of thought conducive to a liberal education. Among other factors, the increasing dominance of intellectual spheres by identity politics has created a college student body that is now overly sensitive to differing viewpoints. This might help explain the shocking two-fifths of Americans who believe the government should take action to prevent hate speech. Not only does this statistic reflect a distorted conception of the First Amendment, but it reveals a misguided approach to addressing hate.

While the First Amendment protects hate speech, it simultaneously equips society with the ability to address and defeat these flawed ideologies by providing an open forum for rational argument. The only way Spencer’s views can possibly be dismantled is if those equipped to defeat him are open for debate, not closed off to it. Other calls for censorship center on the potential for Spencer’s speech to inspire future violence and discrimination, but fail to address the distinction between speech that directly and immediately incites illegal activity, which is already prohibited, and simply hateful rhetoric, which enjoys the protection from liability that includes all other forms of legal speech. Morever, the onus of additional security costs for any speech by Spencer, though potentially hefty, still fails to present a compelling argument for limiting his rights. As a public university, the University of Michigan does not only have a paternalistic obligation to its students, but also an obligation to assist in protecting vested public interests, including free speech. Security costs can be mitigated in a variety of ways, and the University has been well within its right as it has pursued such restraints on Spencer as selection of date and location for his speech. Protecting civil liberties does not always come cheap. It is easy to defend speech when it is normal, popular or uplifting, but society is tested when the speech in question is despised, offensive or even hateful. Spencer’s request to speak at this University is a test of our will to maintain the sanctity of free speech enshrined in the Constitution. Calls for Spencer to be denied, however wellintentioned, fail to realize that the First Amendment’s contribution to democracy lies in its universal application. Let Spencer speak. Ethan Kessler is an LSA sophmore.

STEVE SMITH | OP-ED

The complicity of silence

n today’s world, we’ve arrived at a place where our opinions and values are interpreted through the lens of “right versus left” or “liberal versus conservative.” We allow these lenses to force us to pick a side, and in picking a side we forget that dialogue occurs so we can grow, exchange ideas and possibly contribute to society’s advancement. Before becoming a graduate student at the University of Michigan, I directed a successful state representative (Republican) campaign in Northern Michigan. I’ve voted for Democrats (including for President Barack Obama twice and Hillary Clinton). I’m all about pro-choice, fixing health care and infrastructure, supporting unions, equal rights/pay and moving society forward. I’m also a veteran who spent almost eight years on active duty, who had to carry a gun on occasion and respected the privilege of carrying that power by my side. Now that I’ve said all that, I need to say this: Your silence on gun control or your support of the current administration’s performance is a form of complicity. It’s not a right versus left issue. The controversy in our country surrounding guns is on each of us. It’s not about being proSecond Amendment. It’s about us moving toward a better society and taking care of those we care about. By that nature, if we make a choice not to participate in this discussion, not to play an active role in bettering our society, then we are the complicit in lives that are lost. Our silence is complicity. In the military, across the five armed service branches, over the last 10 years, there’s been a huge emphasis on preventing sexual assault. It’s a good focus with a solid message. The military is working to change its culture. In doing so, one of the messages that exists is if you see something and you don’t say something, you’re a part of the guilty party. You could even be charged by the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. If you could’ve prevented a sexual assault and you didn’t, then you were a part of what went wrong. I am saying here if we don’t do what we can to change our

culture in America, then we’re a part of what’s wrong. In the same way, if you vote for someone who refuses to lift a finger to change the gun culture of America, then there is blood on their hands, and by the very nature of your silence or support, your compliance and refusal to act, there is blood on yours too. We’ve come to a place in America where we need to examine our conscience and our priorities. Can you imagine having a child and sending them to school, and then one day hearing the place they went to learn and grow was shot up? Can you imagine the dread? The helplessness? The fear? I cannot. We need to examine our priorities — the right to bear arms had some great thought behind it when it was originally created, but let’s take a minute to think about what that means today. If you’re an avid supporter of this ‘right,’ you might believe it exists so you can protect yourself from the ‘government.’ I have to ask, do you have any idea how we wage wars today? Through drones and computer technology. In addition, let’s take a look at a few historical examples of social change over the last 100 years: the Civil Rights era in America; South Africa, Nelson Mandela and the end of Apartheid; and India’s Independence and Mahatma Gandhi. Guns did not accomplish any of these. I agree with the idea of creating more funding for mental health support. I also despise the arguments that “criminals will get guns regardless.” Just because someone will find their way around certain roadblocks doesn’t mean society stops trying to advance as a whole. It doesn’t mean we stop trying to improve lives. Do we stop trying to cure cancer because people will die in the meantime? Do we stop wearing seatbelts because people will get into car accidents? Do we stop fighting racism and classism because it’s institutionalized? Do we stop trying to save the planet because we’re killing it? As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “We will never be satisfied.” According to the Oxford dictionary, the word “civilize” means, “to bring (a place or people)

to a stage of social, cultural and moral development considered to be more advanced.” We are supposed to be a ‘civilized’ society — which means we are supposed to be advanced. Advancing, by the very nature of the word, means to never actually stop. You don’t stop advancing, you don’t stop growing. If you do, you perish. Whether as a person or a society, that’s why social progressivism has worked. People and societies, by their very nature, must advance to survive. We have to change our thinking and the laws in this country in regard to guns so we as a society can provide a better life for those we care about. We need to understand that to reload a weapon 250 years ago could have taken more than 90 seconds after a single shot, whereas today it’s different. We need to civilize. And do you know why? Because the right to shoot 45 rounds per minute does not negate the right for a beautiful little person to go to school without fear. Because our children, our sisters and brothers, our cousins, our friends and our families are counting on us to get this right. We’ve stopped listening to each other in the name of our ideological stances, but not all issues have be right versus left. Survival and advancement shouldn’t be right versus left. If there’s elected leadership that refuses to take action to make our country a better, safer place, then it is our responsibility to lead that change. We have to work to create a more perfect union. That work never stops, and it doesn’t start with arming teachers, putting veterans at every school or surrounding schools with police officers. None of that forces us to take a look at ourselves. Guns are playing a role in the deaths of our children at schools. Read that again. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Our silence is perpetuating our insanity; our complicity is allowing our insanity to wreak havoc on our country. How long will we remain complicit? Steve Smith is a Rackham graduate student in Sports Management.

Sports

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Thursday, March 8, 2018— 5A

After frustrating season, Johnson emerges as key scorer for Wolverines The sophomore guard has recovered from two torn ACLs in the past three seasons and now plays a big role for Michigan With the sole exception of a midseason stretch filled mostly with non-conference blowouts, Johnson played sparingly. Whether she got on the floor for one minute or 20, though, her parents gave her feedback. If possible, Johnson would watch back the tape with them. If not, they’d watch it and give her feedback — constantly reminding Johnson of how far she’d come to be on the court at all. “It’s like a really positive thing and they just wanna keep my head up,” Johnson said. “Because sometimes, you know, you get down on yourself if you don’t play.” After taking off against Minnesota, Johnson has stayed in orbit. She played the hero on Senior Night, hitting a 3-point dagger against then-No. 13 Maryland to cap a 17-point performance, a shot she says she knew was going in before ever touching the ball. Johnson joked that night her success was because the Terrapins hadn’t included her on the scouting report. At the Big Ten Tournament, Penn State’s players shouted “Right driver!” every time she touched the ball. Johnson scored 13 on 5-of-9 shooting in a blowout victory for the Wolverines anyway, driving whichever way she pleased. Now, there are no more frustrations. Johnson has an easygoing demeanor about her as she sits in the Crisler Center’s media room after practice. “I know that I can get to the basket either if they know what I’m gonna do or not,” she says. “... I know that I can score.”

ETHAN SEARS

Daily Sports Writer

Akienreh Johnson was ready to let her frustration out into the open. Johnson had torn her ACL in the midst of the 2016-17 season, then gotten cleared in time for the start of the season. She had put in the work in practice and extra workouts. And she wasn’t seeing the results. The sophomore guard met with Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico not about playing time, but about finding a way to start seeing the returns on those hours. “AK, you’re doing great,” she recalled being assured by Barnes Arico and assistant coach Melanie Moore. “Just keep working, like, your time will come.” Cliches and platitudes aren’t the most reassuring thing. There turned out to be some truth to them this time. The door opened for Johnson the following week at Breslin Center, in the midst of an upset loss to Michigan State. Freshman forward Hailey Brown went down with a leg injury and Johnson’s name was called as much out of necessity as want. Three days later, at Minnesota, she would be in the rotation. Johnson had played just 12 minutes in the last six games, sitting on the bench for the duration of four. When she got on the floor during that span, it was a stream of errors — a turnover, a missed shot, a long walk back to the bench. “Okay, I know I haven’t been playing but I have to make sure I know the plays,” Johnson told herself before the trip to Minneapolis. “Have to make sure I know multiple positions, have to make sure I was ready.” 26 minutes and 19 points later,

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Sophomore guard Akienreh Johnson has developed into a potent scoring threat for Michigan down the final stretch of this season.

it was clear she had done at least that much. As the Wolverines await a likely bid to the NCAA Tournament, Johnson has emerged seemingly out of nowhere as a go-to scorer. The contest against the Golden Gophers was the first sign. After the game — a 93-87 loss for the Michigan women’s basketball team — Johnson’s teammates were

impressed her output. She didn’t even realize how well she had played. “All I know is that we lost,” Johnson said. “So after the game, my teammates told me, they said, ‘You know you had 19 points.’ And I was like, ‘Really?’ I thought I had like, seven or eight.” With that, something clicked. Johnson was already coning

She didn’t even realize how well she had played.

off a torn ACL when she came to Michigan, having suffered the same injury during her senior year at Rogers High School. When her knee twisted the wrong way during an early morning practice in 2016, she didn’t even realize she had torn it again. “I went like a week walking around on it thinking I was gonna come back to playing,” Johnson said. “Until I got my MRI.” The second time around, Johnson’s rehab was longer than before, but she knew what was coming. When her knee didn’t bend, she knew it eventually

would. When she still couldn’t walk, she knew she eventually would. Even so, there were anxieties in returning. It took Johnson time to trust a knee that had twice suffered such a serious injury. “I would like fall — and I’d be completely fine, like I wouldn’t be hurt — I would just fall,” Johnson said. “And I would have to sit out (of practice) because I was just nervous.”

“I would have to sit out because I was just nervous.”

Final stretch leads back to Ohio State With NCAA Tournament bid all but sealed up, Wolverines looking for elusive first win against rival Buckeyes

redictions are a funny thing. Of course, they must first be based off some prior knowledge, otherwise they would have little credibility. Before the season ANNA started, the MARCUS odds were not in the Michigan hockey team’s favor. After an ugly 2016-17 season, in addition to a head coaching change for the first time in 33 years, the team seemed likely to head into a transition year. In that regard, the Wolverines’ projected finish of second-tolast in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll was a fair one. At the same time, predictions are, at best, guesses. And with a season as long as that of collegiate hockey — a late-September to April marathon for teams who make the postseason — these forecasts seem even more arbitrary. But from the start, despite scrutiny, this team was always the biggest advocate for itself. “Coming into the season, we knew we were going to be good,” said senior forward Dexter Dancs. “I know a lot of people in the media and outsiders were kind of saying ‘This is a transition year.’ ... But that’s not what we were thinking. We were thinking we were going to be in the spot that we are now.” And ‘transition’ certainly wasn’t in this team’s vocabulary. Come January, any remaining critics had been quieted after Michigan rattled off four straight wins against ranked opponents in Minnesota and Penn State. Come February, it had swept Notre Dame, the then-No. 1 team in the nation, and become a relevant player in the NCAA tournament conversation.

The Wolverines have done what they came to do this season, all while shocking those who watched an accelerated transformation unfold, particularly with the offensive unit. Tony Calderone led the Wolverines’ offense last season with a mere 15 goals. This year, the senior forward has already scored 23 goals among his 39 total points. Calderone is bested by junior linemate Cooper Marody who led the Big Ten with 44 points — an amount over double that of any individual on the roster last season. Michigan, which finished 37th in the PairWise Rankings last season, now sits tied for No. 7 — a position that almost assuredly locks in a tournament bid come the Selection Show on March 18. But make no mistake — while the Wolverines’ season won’t come to an end regardless of what happens this weekend, by no means does that make it any less important. There is only one Big Ten team Michigan hasn’t defeated yet this season. It is the same team it will face Saturday in the semifinal round of the Big Ten Tournament. Oh, and it happens to be the Wolverines’ most notorious rival, as well. Don’t get me wrong, Michigan doesn’t have to do anything more to prove itself this season. It will, barring an unforeseen circumstance, have a chance at a run in the NCAA Tournament. An exit in the semifinal round of the conference tournament certainly would not mar their already rewarding season. But defeating Ohio State this weekend would put the Wolverines over one final hump. A victory in the first

round of single-elimination play would undoubtedly spur postseason momentum. A victory would put them one game away from a Big Ten Tournament championship. And as Michigan has defeated both the Nittany Lions and Fighting Irish this season, claiming the title would hardly be inconceivable at that point. Getting through this weekend, though, is going to be a taller task. The Buckeyes have defeated the Wolverines in all four of their meetings during the regular season, mostly doing so with ease. But as the cliché goes, the postseason is a whole different ballgame. At practice this week, Mel Pearson provided his team with a personal anecdote to highlight this phenomenon. During his tenure as an assistant coach for Michigan, Pearson recalled the senior year of Brian Wiseman and Steve Shields — two members of his current coaching staff. The Wolverines had played and defeated Lake Superior State five times during the regular season. “We played them again in the regional final, up at Munn Ice Arena in Lansing, and the winner went on to the Frozen Four,” Pearson described. “And they beat us in overtime. … Lake Superior went onto win the national championship, and we had beaten them five times. “We know we haven’t beaten (Ohio State), but we get another kick at the can.” Maybe the fifth time will be the charm.

“Coming into the season, we knew we were going to be good.”

Anna Marcus can be reached at annahm@umich.edu or on Twitter @Anna_H_Marcus.

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RELEASE DATE– Thursday, March 8, 2018

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Vaccine pioneer Salk 6 Biblical verb 10 Sever, with “off” 13 “The Good Wife” wife 15 Irrawaddy River locale 16 Hubbub 17 Grilled sandwich 18 *Hobbyist’s broadcasting equipment 20 Checked out 21 Gather 23 Domestic sock eater? 24 Storied climber 26 Little limb 27 *Drama in the Nielsen top 10 four times during the ’70s 32 Special __ 35 Mets modifier of 1969 36 Noggin 37 Case in Lat. grammar 38 Twit 39 Cuts and pastes, say 41 Trellis climber 42 Corner PC key 43 Expert 44 Mysterious girl on “Stranger Things” 46 “Zip it!” 47 *Ball of fire 49 “No __!”: “Sure!” 51 Lose one’s coat 52 Moves to the melody 54 “__ Encounter”: SeaWorld show 56 Shakespearean “You as well?” 60 *“Oh boy, it’s starting!” 62 First words 64 Muffin grain 65 Believe 66 Wind farm blades 67 Like some grins 68 People 69 Liquid whose chemical formula is a homophonic hint to the answers to starred clues

DOWN 1 Zinger 2 Body wash brand 3 Largest singledigit square 4 Genre incorporating elements of funk and hip-hop 5 Transgression 6 “LOL” 7 “Right away!” 8 Dickens boy 9 Taxing and successful 10 Coventry rider 11 Dog that licks Garfield 12 Low-quality 14 Where many missed connections occur 19 MLB’s D-backs 22 2003 holiday film 25 IV lead? 26 Bouffant feature 27 Flame-haired villain in Disney’s “Hercules” 28 Mennonite sect 29 Super Bowl gathering, e.g.

30 Mediterranean vacation island 31 Zoo doc 33 “The Hunger Games” land 34 __ pad 40 Barely lit 41 Blood feud 43 List of notables 45 Soap chemical 48 Defense advisory gp.

50 __ whiskey 52 Thing to put on 53 Put on 54 Look bad? 55 Slender cylinders 57 Budweiser Clydesdales’ pace 58 Shredded 59 TASS country 61 Many years 63 “Spring the trap!”

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

03/08/18

Sports

6A — Thursday, March 8, 2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Notebook: Livers OK after ankle injury, ‘M’ moving up in bracket projections MAX MARCOVITCH Daily Sports Editor

Asked about where he thinks Michigan deserves to be seeded, fifth-year senior forward Duncan Robinson instead summoned a different sport — with a much smaller ball — for comparison. “There’s a week left, so there’s a lot of moving pieces still,” Robinson said after winning the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday evening. “But we’re in the clubhouse, I guess you could say.” And if the No. 7 Michigan men’s basketball team is comfortably perched in the clubhouse, it is waiting anxiously as the rest of college hoops makes the turn down the back nine. Sunday evening, the 68-team NCAA Tournament field will be unveiled, and the Wolverines will head back out on the course. And after a torrid run through the Big Ten Tournament last week, their stock is soaring in many bracket projections. Joe Lunardi, ESPN’s leading bracketologist, has Michigan as a 3 seed in the East region. Jerry Palm of CBS Sports penciled in the Wolverines as a 4 seed in the South region. BracketMatrix.com — a website that compiles a total of 102 different bracket projections — currently lists Michigan as the final No. 3 seed, with an average seeding of 3.22. Michigan currently sits at 13th in RPI with a 6-5 record in “Quadrant I” games — matchups against RPI top-25 teams at home, top-50 on neutral sites and top-75 on the road. The quadrant system is a new criteria the committee is expected to utilize this season for the first time — a quantitative way to evaluate “good wins” and “bad losses” and place a weighted value on winning away from home. Regardless of the seed line, though, the Wolverines will be a group any NCAA Tournamentbound teams will hope to avoid in their bracket come Sunday evening. “We have Michigan as a No. 3

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Freshman forward Isaiah Livers suffered an ankle injury for the second time this season in the Big Ten Tournament Championship against Purdue.

seed,” Sports Illustrated’s current bracket projection reads, “but even if they end up as a No. 4, or somehow a No. 5, they’re going to be a team no top seed will want to see in its region.” Livers (ankle) expects to be ready for the NCAA Tournament When freshman forward Isaiah Livers lay near midcourt just over a minute into the second half against Purdue, the worst-case scenario rushed to mind. Cutting toward the ball to receive an inbounds pass, Livers stepped on the foot of Boilermaker forward Vincent Edwards and immediately fell to the ground, grabbing his left ankle, clearly in agonizing pain. “I must have overstrided,” Livers said after the game, “and I stepped on his foot and pushed off.” Livers made his way to the locker room shortly after, limping

noticeably on his way down the tunnel. The freshman first sprained his ankle in an early February loss at Northwestern. He returned eight days later against Iowa, missing only one game. The trainers told him Sunday’s injury was similar to the one he suffered against the Wildcats, though he told reporters the pain was worse. And while instant reactions seemed grim, it seems the injury is not as bad as it may have initially seemed. Livers came back to the bench midway through the second half, though he did not play the final 19 minutes of the championship bout. “I could (have gone back in),” Livers said. “Duncan (Robinson) was just playing good.” After the game, Livers vowed to be ready for the NCAA Tournament. Aided by the extra

week off, he will, at minimum, have 10 days to regain his health in preparation for the Tournament. Livers took over as the starter at the ‘4’ in mid-January against Michigan State and hasn’t relinquished it since. While he remains the starter — and likely will the rest of the season, health permitting — due to his defensive capabilities and rebounding prowess, the freshman has increasingly ceded minutes to fifth-year senior Duncan Robinson. Robinson has eclipsed Livers’ total in minutes in all of the last 12 games, including each Big Ten Tournament contest. The case for Detroit The third round of MichiganMichigan State might be slated for Sunday afternoon, just not on the court this time. The Wolverines dispatched the Spartans in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal Saturday

afternoon, completing the sweep of their in-state foe. But with Detroit slated to be one of the first-round sites of the NCAA Tournament next weekend, the battle of the two résumés may determine who gets to trek tens of miles to Little Caesars Arena instead of hundreds or even thousands. This year, the NCAA has re-emphasized a desire to accomodate teams and their most convenient travel situations. Lunardi affirmed this in his Bracketology page FAQ. “For the 16th time, the NCAA men’s basketball committee will not predetermine the regional designation of each of the eight sub-regional sites (what it calls the “pod” system),” Lunardi writes. “This gives the committee increased flexibility to reduce travel for teams and fans, as well as create more local interest at

sub-regional sites that may not be traditional basketball areas. For example, the sub regional site in Pittsburgh could send its winners to Los Angeles (West Regional) instead of, say, the East Regional in Boston, if the committee thinks it makes more geographic sense for the teams involved.” But given Xavier and Purdue’s proximity to Detroit as well, it may come down to Michigan and Michigan State for that final preferential spot. The Wolverines, of course, have beaten the Spartans headto-head twice this season, both games away from Ann Arbor. They are currently 13th in RPI to the Spartans’ 15th, have six Quadrant I wins to the Spartans’ three, played the toughest schedule in the Big Ten this year to Spartans’ 13th-ranked conference strength of schedule and, of course, won the Big Ten Tournament title. But it’s not that simple. Most bracket projections still list Michigan State ahead — with that coveted spot in Detroit — for a few reasons. For one, the Spartans lost just four games all year en route to compiling a sparkling 29-4 record and the regular season Big Ten title. Michigan State played a far tougher nonconference schedule, including a more notable non-conference win over North Carolina, a team the Wolverines lost to handily. And to top it off, the Spartans haven’t lost a game outside Quadrant I all year. Michigan State’s marquee nonconference win is better and they have no bad losses, in short. All of this comes down to what the committee values and doesn’t, a fruitless task to even ponder. If they choose to look at the head-to-head matchups and/or RPI, Michigan will take precedent. If they want the more consistent team, it will be Michigan State. But if you know how the selection committee will evaluate this — and every — decision, maybe you should stop focusing on college basketball and start playing the lottery.

Film study: If Hurst is healthy, he can be NFL star ETHAN SEARS

Daily Sports Writer

Maurice Hurst’s NFL Draft Combine didn’t go the way he planned. The former Michigan defensive

tackle didn’t run the 40-yard dash or get on the bench press. He was held out of every drill due to an irregular electrocardiogram, which measures electrical activity in the heart. Despite being cleared from the same

issue by the Wolverines, per NFL Network, Hurst’s draft stock has, at least temporarily, taken a hit. That much is out of his control. If Hurst is eventually cleared, as he expects, according to Kim Jones, the part he can control —

his play on the field — makes him a first-round pick. Hurst has elite get-off speed and a quick twitch from the line of scrimmage. His 6-foot-1 height ranks in the 17th percentile for incoming defensive tackles, his 292-pound weight the 15th, per MockDraftable, but Hurst has turned it into an asset. He can fire off the line of scrimmage with gusto, consistently creating easy leverage that turns into pressure. Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown utilized Hurst last season by consistently moving him around the line of scrimmage and stunting — having him start a play lining up over one gap, then moving to another after the ball was snapped. Hurst’s versatility is a major asset at the next level. Though I’d argue he fits best playing at 1-technique — shading the inside shoulder of the guard — you could easily get away with playing him at 3-technique, on the outside shoulder of the guard. Brown did both and got results, as well as lining Hurst up at nose tackle regularly and 4i-technique on occasion. Hurst’s run defense is a tad more refined than his pass rushing. Once he gets leverage, Hurst can easily control any blocker, putting in grade-A work

with his hands and moving off linemen when the time comes. His most impressive plays on tape last year came when opponents ran inside zone, which calls for double-teaming interior linemen. Hurst often plowed through the double-team and stuffed the running back before he could get anywhere. That could change in the NFL, where the linemen are bigger and more precise with their blocks, falling off less often, but Hurst has still shown an uncanny ability to shed double teams throughout his career. It’s hard to find a flaw in Hurst’s run defense. His size may give teams some pause as to whether he can fill space in the middle of the line the way a 1-technique traditionally does. Compare him to 6-foot-5, 332pound Vita Vea — the likely top pick at defensive tackle — and that’s understandable. But it didn’t seem to matter on tape. Hurst’s speed allows him to make plays you rarely see from interior linemen. He can fly across the field to shut down a screen and has the sort of determination scouts love, never giving up on a play. As a pass rusher, there’s some development left for Hurst. He consistently goes to the same tune

— firing into the A or B-gap and hitting some poor unsuspecting guard with a swim move or handswipe. That worked wonders for him in college. In the NFL, though, opposing linemen will be ready for it. That doesn’t mean the swim move won’t work in the NFL. You could make a mixtape from the success Hurst had with it in college, and it’s completely unstoppable if the guard can’t shuffle to the gap quickly enough. When Hurst did break out other moves, he had varied success. He could easily turn his bull rush into a weapon, but it isn’t there yet. Whether the bull rush develops will depend on whether Hurst learns to convert speed into power. Right now, it’s an area where being undersized makes a difference, as it’s tough for Hurst to create leverage rushing with the sheer force a bull rush requires. Hurst is going to have success in the NFL, assuming his medical situation gets sorted out. He should be an effective run defender almost immediately. Size will keep him from going too high in the first round, but if he turns out to be the best defensive tackle in this draft class, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Former defensive tackle Maurice Hurst Jr. was one of the nation’s most productive defensive linemen this past season.

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Coming out of our cage: Fifteen years later, the ‘Mr. Brightside’ phenomenon persists on campuses SAM ROSENBERG Senior Arts Editor

As I walked toward the Greenwood block party last September, just as it seemed like it was about over, a familiar sound caught my ear. Amid the echoes of jubilant laughter and delirious chatter, I heard the unmistakable opening notes of “Mr. Brightside,” the debut single from Las Vegas quartet The Killers. The cluster of students streaming out of the neighborhood belted every single lyric, word for word, in nearly immaculate unison. It was mesmerizing, to say the least, though not unexpected. Since I entered college, “Mr. Brightside” was considered the go-to anthem catered for every and any kind of social gathering. There are other iconic party jams that remain staples within college party culture — Fountains of Wayne’s “Stacy’s Mom,” Bowling for Soup’s “1985” and R. Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)” are some well-known favorites. But no matter the venue or the time of day, “Mr. Brightside” is incomparable in how easily it can provoke a crowd of people to practically lose their shit and maintain that level of insanity throughout its duration. While “Mr. Brightside” has been in existence since the early 2000s, its timelessness has transformed it into a fascinating and somewhat confounding phenomenon. A theatrical, triumphant anthem about unrequited love is now considered by many young people to be a millennial classic. In addition to being a musical marvel, “Mr. Brightside” has woven its way into other realms of pop culture, most notably on Twitter as a series of viral memes. It was featured in a scene from the 2006 rom-com “The Holiday,” where Cameron Diaz (“The Mask”) screams the lyrics to forget about her boyfriend’s infidelity, as well as a memorable sequence from the second season of “The O.C.,” where three of the show’s central couples confront one another at a rock concert — The Killers themselves make an appearance. The band continues to perform the song on tour, unabashedly and vigorously so, still capturing the hearts of their devoted fans, including “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. Considering the social, cultural and sonic factors at play in the song’s runaway success, I decided to investigate what makes “Mr. Brightside” one of the most memorable and perennial tracks of the 21st century and what its significance might say about the people who cherish it the most. “How did it end up like this?”: A brief history of “Mr. Brightside.” The magnitude of the song’s appeal can be traced all the way back to its beginning. In late 2001, The Killers’s frontman Brandon Flowers co-wrote the song with the band’s lead guitarist Dave Keuning. Inspired by a real-life situation in which Flowers discovered his then-girlfriend had cheated on him, “Mr. Brightside” follows a jealous guy and his attempt to reconcile with knowing his lover has left him for another man. Flowers and Keuning performed the song for the first time at an open mic night in Las Vegas’s Cafe Roma, a performance that Flowers described as “terrible” and “awful” in a 2005 Rolling Stone interview. Still, that didn’t stop the two from recording the song’s demo in 2002 (which was much grainier and more distorted than the original), and signing with UK indie label Lizard King Records. Initially, The Killers achieved more success in the United Kingdom, similar to how Jimi Hendrix found his commercial niche in England with his band’s 1967 debut Are You Experienced. Once the song was

re-recorded and re-released on the band’s 2004 debut Hot Fuss, “Mr. Brightside” finally found its calling in the United States. The song climbed to number 10 on the U.S. Billboard charts and became the ninth most downloaded song on iTunes in 2005. The Killers had officially been propelled into the mainstream limelight. To this day, the song continues to be a chart topper; according to Noisey, it spent 35 consecutive weeks on the U.K. Billboard Charts between July 2016 and Mar. 2017, reaching its peak in three years at number 49 in Jan. 2017. The fact “Mr. Brightside” has endured years later and resonated with music listeners on an international scale remains a captivating enigma. Much like how the protagonist of the song prevails against the pain and suffering from losing his girlfriend, “Mr. Brightside” seems to have prevailed against its tumultuous start as well. Perhaps the song has maintained its success because of its unrelenting optimism, its ingenuity for its time or, most likely, the universal appeal of the underdog story at its center. Perhaps it’s all those things, but it’s worth noting “Mr. Brightside” would not be nearly as massive without the unforgettable lyrics and the propulsive beat that drive it. “Gotta gotta be down because I want it all”: The lyrics and sound of “Mr. Brightside.” To further understand the song’s spellbinding allure, I spoke with Ryan Bodiford, a University professor who teaches Introduction to Popular Music this semester and specializes in musicology, a field that explores the relationships between music and its social significance. Though the song has a relatively conventional structure, Bodiford contends its attractiveness lies within the setup and payoff of its sound. “The whole tune is based around a build-up of momentum,” Bodiford said. “That bridge section is gaining momentum, the melody increases in pitch. The harmonies of the tune are building a certain tension that is released in this massive payout of the chorus.” He also remarks the song draws on familiar styles, like British rock, pop and new wave music. This makes sense, especially because at the time of the song’s release, The Killers’s competition — The Strokes, Interpol, LCD Soundsystem and Yeah Yeah Yeahs — incorporated those genres as well as part of the growing NYC rock revival scene. But “Mr. Brightside” stands out not just for the texture of its production, but for the wistful feelings it elicits. Jeff Peretz, an assistant arts professor at the New York University Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, spoke about the song’s nostalgia and how its themes on paranoia, heartbreak and jealousy can translate into such a satisfying emotional release. “I think (“Mr. Brightside”w) gives permission to explore those kind of feelings,” Peretz said. “We all go through something similar and to be able to shout it out at a party out loud has got to be cathartic. It gives people a chance to celebrate that they’ve been through this.” It’s no wonder, then, why “Mr. Brightside” is considered such a desirable tune among college students. The combination of Flowers’s lyrical wordplay (“Jealousy, turning saints into the sea / Swimming through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis”) with the invigorating, major-key rhythm, comprised of fiery synths and booming, majestic guitar riffs, empowers and reassures its audience to remain optimistic even in the face of rejection, something that most young people arguably experience on a weekly basis.

That being said, millennials aren’t the only ones who consider “Mr. Brightside” a masterful earworm. In Mar. 2016, 45-year-old Brian O’Sullivan led a raucous, emotional rendition of the song at an Irish pub in honor of his best friend who had died the previous week. The video that captured the scene went viral, even leading The Killers to post about it on Twitter, blessing O’Sullivan with their seal of approval. In a way, this kind of occurrence speaks to the song’s remarkable ability to transcend intergenerational barriers. Everyone, no matter what age, experiences some form of heartbreak over losing something or someone at some point in life. “People feel more open and brave to express those kind of things,” Peretz said. “Whereas maybe they would be the kind of things you would keep to yourself if it wasn’t for a song like this.” The song’s distinctive repetition also contributes to its infectiousness. Elizabeth Margulis, a music researcher based at the University of Arkansas, discussed the cognitive implications of repetition in pop music in a recent Vox video. At one point in the clip, Margulis deconstructs this idea of a “speech to song illusion.” “You can take a little bit of speech, repeat it a number of times and for many people, there’s this very salient transformation where what initially just sounded like somebody talking to you sounds like someone singing,” she said. “Mr. Brightside” works in a similar way; Flowers shouts the first verse, pre-chorus and chorus, then repeats them in the song’s second half, and finally ends by wailing “I never” four times in a row. According to the science behind the “speech to song illusion,” the more the lyrics are repeated, the catchier the track is. It’s why, as Vox contributor Estelle Caswell remarks in the video, songs like Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” Beyoncé’s “Formation” and Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” have become such addictive pop songs. “Repetition doesn’t just make the song memorable,” Caldwell said when alluding to “Formation,” “it reinforces its central message.” The same can be said about “Mr. Brightside”; the song’s repetition supports this idea that no matter how difficult your circumstances may be, everything will be alright in the end. “Destiny is calling me”: The cultural impact of “Mr. Brightside.” Even with all this in mind, it’s still difficult to ascertain just how and why “Mr. Brightside” has stayed so popular for so long. Why haven’t, say, Hot Fuss’s deep cuts “Smile Like You Mean It” and “Somebody Told Me” or “When You Were Young” from 2006’s Sam’s Town or “Human” from 2008’s Day and Age achieved the same level of playability? Why “Mr. Brightside” specifically? Some have theorized “Mr. Brightside” has accumulated so much commercial and cultural capital because our parents played it for us when we were younger. It’s entirely probable that listening to “Mr. Brightside” could be some unconscious form of reclaiming that part of our childhood. And if not reclaiming our childhood, then maybe some type of psychological liberation. Others believe the song’s long-lasting success is due to the trend of post-ironic Spotify DJing, the comfort of nostalgia or simply because it’s a good song. One might also think millennials relate to the song’s themes of infidelity and jealousy because they are more prone to cheat on their partners, though there exists evidence that both supports and refutes this claim. “Popularity is truly elusive,” Bodiford said. “There are

things that nobody would’ve expected to become massively popular. In that case, you have to look at social aspects. Is it connected to a particular moment in time?” Considering the turbulent social moment we’re currently living in, “Mr. Brightside” can certainly be an antidote to the unshakable anxiety that pervades youth and society at large today. By recontextualizing it as a party song, “Mr. Brightside” gives its listeners the agency and control that is so desperately needed during these times. Though the future remains unpredictable, the song’s legacy will hopefully stay intact. “When the song first came out, I was like, ‘This is kind of cool.’ No one knew which one of

those bands from that era was going to stick around,” Peretz recalled. “But this summer, at one of the festivals in the city (the Global Citizen Festival), they played the song and everybody went nuts for it. I remember being moved by how much people appreciated that song.” “Youth is kind of inherently optimistic,” Bodiford said. “As you get older, you tend to get more jaded. Having a very uplifting theme that’s connected to music that’s also very optimistic and major-key and life-affirming … it resonates with a common outlook for a lot of University students that are getting ready to go out in the world.” During the annual Michigan State University game last Oct.,

I witnessed this first-hand. The Big House decided to play “Mr. Brightside” for more than 100,000 people. Instead of cutting off the song, as they tend to do before the next play of the football game, they played it all the way through, letting it reverberate into the night as a horde of students roared along to the words. Again, it was a captivating sight to see — the rainstorm that suddenly washed over the crowd made it feel all the more epic — but it felt appropriate in this context. Despite the fact that Michigan was losing against MSU, “Mr. Brightside” pushed us away from the lure of impending disappointment. It opened up our eager eyes and reminded us that we were doing just fine.

ISLAND RECORDS

FILM NOTEBOOK

The magic community of midnight film screenings MEGHAN CHOU Daily Arts Writer

My first (and only) experience of a midnight screening was for “The Room” last fall at the Michigan Theater in anticipation of the release of “The Disaster Artist.” “The Disaster Artist” adapts the memoir by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell about their time on the set of “The Room” at the mercy of the eccentric Tommy Wiseau. As I waited in the jam-packed theater for the movie to begin, I could tell right away that the atmosphere was something extraordinary: Loud recitations of notorious scenes filled the room, several people tried to sell me plastic spoons (since the Friday-night crowd cleaned house at the nearby Walgreens), the musty scent of alcohol and marijuana came from all directions. Usually, only the bottom floor of the main auditorium has customers, consisting largely of senior citizens and film students with plenty of seats open. But that night, even the balcony level sold out. Once the film started, the noise did not die down. Instead, people shouted along to the dialogue and chucked their precious plastic spoons towards the front, inevitably hitting a lot of heads. I started to pick up on the bizarre traditions that everyone bought into: If you see a spoon in the movie, throw a real one; if there’s an extended sex scene, count the absurd number of gyrations; or you yell, “Go! Go! Go!” as the camera pans across the Golden Gate Bridge — the list goes on. At some point, people in the back ran out of their arsenal of plastic spoons and started racing through the aisles and diving onto the stage to retrieve more. All this passion and frenzy and excitement for truly the worst movie ever made. In other words, a straight-up phenomenon. Midnight movies, synonymous with cult films, began their rise in popularity where most

would expect: New York City. The independent film scene revolved mostly around certain iconic, and now almost all closed, arthouse theaters like the Elgin, the Waverly and the St. Marks. Selections often included cheap B-movies, corny Westerns or sultry features that addressed fetishes and other counterculture topics. Most associate the Mexican

Like all counterculture, midnight screenings have become a rite of passage, no longer confined to an unorthodox, marginalized community western “El Topo” as the first midnight movie, played back in 1970 to crowded audiences. From “El Topo,” the phenomenon spread to embrace dark comedies, politically-charged thrillers and, oddly enough, a number of movies that John Lennon of The Beatles loved. However, like all trends, the fascination shifted to something else, except for one film which has outlasted even the theater that coaxed it to cult status: “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is the longest running movie in history with a Cinderella tale to accompany its cementation in popular culture. What started as a small theater production

transformed into an Hollywood flop and, miraculously, re-emerged as the symbol of fringe society. Similar to “The Room,” audience participation drives the showings with traditions that force places like the Michigan Theater to issue a ban on rice, confetti, water guns, candles, lighters, whole rolls of toilet paper, prunes and hot dogs. At locations that run the special every week, some actors make a career participating in Rocky Horror shadowcasts. In fact, the state of Mich. has three shadowcasts that roam around performing for riotous fans. As the 1975 motion picture plays on a screen, actors dressed as the characters dance below and react to improved and repeated-so-many-times-it’sscripted lines from the audience. As film critic Roger Ebert wrote, “‘THe Rocky Horror Picture Show’ is not so much a movie as more of a long-running social phenomenon,” since “the fans put on a better show than anything on the screen.” Like all counterculture, midnight screenings have become a rite of passage, no longer confined to an unorthodox, marginalized community. Just as aspects of hippie and punk subcultures infiltrate our everyday lives, so do references to cult films: Someone humming “The Time Warp,” someone patting a puppy’s head to say “Hi, doggy.” Who knows what films decades later will be staples of our culture? Great movies nominated for Oscars and Golden Globes fall to obscurity, but somehow the red lips of “THe Rocky Horror Picture Show” and the bonkers accent of Johnny from “The Room” will live on in grungy corners of the country or the most mainstream theaters. Midnight movies have a timeless power over audiences. They entrance us, they push the envelope, they don’t shy from a deeper truth, but most importantly, they welcome. They provide a feeling of camaraderie and unity, and once you get a taste, you’re already in too deep.

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Thursday, March 8, 2018 — 3B

STYLE NOTEBOOK

DOMINIC POLSINELLI / DAILY

FLICKR

Vinyl is back, but why? The never ending cycle Vinyl is making a comeback in today’s art culture, so The of today’s sneaker culture Daily investigated this phenomena at Encore Records MARGARET SHERIDAN MIKE WATKINS Daily Arts Writer

You’re a teenager and it’s your first day back at school after a wonderful summer vacation. The air is still warm and your excitement about the coming year dominates any malevolent feelings you may have toward the early mornings and the monotonous schedule of lower

Dwyer also pointed toward the cyclical nature of culture, i.e., “everything old is new again,” to explain vinyl’s comeback. We all know this generational trend; vintage has an appeal — just ask any hipster. Today, it’s simply cool to have and play a record

education. In the fire drill line, you notice Vinny from math class last year. But this isn’t the same Vinny. He looks different, handsomer. Maybe it’s the summer tan — who knows. Either way, Vinny is the new talk of the town, and you give your best 007 impression to sneakily slide up a few spots in line to ask him about his summer. In elementary school, everyone wanted Vinny; however, once the middle school years hit, Cam was the prize and poor Vinny’s stock took a tumble. But with this new Vinny — this rugged, mysterious Vinny who wears flannels and has a five o’clock shadow — people begin to lose interest in clean-cut Cam and his hard-parted undercut and American Eagle graphic tees. Vinny is back on top. He has a warm, honest persona that fake Cam simply can’t pull off, and he’s just off beat enough to be cool. Vinny’s return to glory can be equated to the phoenix-like rise of another v-word (how convenient): vinyl. Since 2009, the vintage music format has experienced a 260 percent growth in sales. The scene inside any Urban Outfitters store has enough evidence of the

phenomenon: walls lined with both modern and classic vinyl, from Led Zeppelin to Kendrick Lamar, with record players on sale to match. But what’s behind the spontaneous resurgence of vinyl in recent years? The answer to this question is a little more complex than the acne cream and good ol’ maturation of Vinny’s case. To provide some insight, The Daily enlisted co-owner of Ann Arbor’s Encore Records, Jim Dwyer. According to Dwyer, the driving force behind vinyl’s rebirth is sound quality. When CDs were introduced, they were marketed as a cleaner-sounding alternative to vinyl that wasn’t prone to the warping or scratching which plagued records. As audiophiles began to have their way with the digital format, however, they noticed this marketed “clean” sound was cold and compressed in reality. Dwyer explained the vinyl sound is simply more palatable. “When you have a room with microphones and a band, the air is vibrating and it goes into the microphone. When the process is reversed, you put a needle on the record and the vibrations the microphone picked up are now coming out of your speaker,” he said. Conversely, with a CD, a recording is digitized into a string of zeros and ones that is etched into a disc as a series of bumps and non-bumps. A CD player shoots laser light at the disc to reveal these etchings and play their respective sounds. This electronic process results in a smooth and samely sound that lacks the warmth and authenticity of a mechanically engineered and played record, and people have begun to notice. Dwyer also pointed toward the cyclical nature of culture, i.e., “everything old is new again,” to explain vinyl’s comeback. We all know this generational trend; vintage has an appeal — just ask any hipster. Today, it’s simply cool to have and play a record. What’s more, records aren’t “old” for millennials; vinyl is a novelty to young adults, as they grew up in a digital age dominated by CDs, iTunes and streaming services. Additionally, vinyl provides a listening experience that has been lacking in the digital age. To start, a listener can actually see and interact with the cover art, an aspect of albums that has become virtually obsolete due to thumbnail images of album covers and technology’s size limitations. Playing records also ensures the listener experiences the tracks of an album in their intended sequence, as opposed to blasphemously shuffling or adding singles to a playlist. As it pertains to Ann Arbor, Dwyer mentioned vinyl’s resurgence has not been as dramatic because records never really died out in the first place. A hip college town, Ann Arbor has always hosted students and non-students eager to experience the listening culture of yesteryear. With that said, there was a brief period in the ’90s when Encore experienced dwindling demand for records and converted much of its

inventory to CDs. The digital disease ran rampant, and even the mightiest of record stores stumbled. But thanks to vinyl’s renewed appeal, Encore is thriving once again. “Customers come in from outside the area and say, ‘Oh boy, there’s nothing like this where we live,’ and they’re always shocked when I tell them that Ann Arbor actually has four record stores. So, we’re

“I’ve begun to realize that, at the end of the day, nobody gets to keep their records. You’re the caretaker of those records, and then when your turn to let it go comes, somebody else becomes the caretaker of that record”

lucky,” Dwyer said. Conveniently paired with vinyl’s revival is the influx of records into the vinyl vortex due to the inevitable aging of Baby Boomers, the original record collectors. Dwyer ended our conversation on this point, analogizing the vinyl experience to casual fishing, during which one catches a fish, basks in the triumph and returns the fish to the water to be caught by another triumphant person in the future. Like fishermen, he explained, vinyl collectors never really own their records; they borrow them, experience them and return them to the listening community, either at the end of the week or at the end of their lives. “I’ve begun to realize that, at the end of the day, nobody gets to keep their records. You’re the caretaker of those records, and then when your turn to let it go comes, somebody else becomes the caretaker of that record,” he said. Fundamentally, it is this personalized, rich, cherishable experience that has brought listeners back to vinyl after far too many years of digitized, purified, impersonal sound — just like your revamped attraction to Vinny from math class.

Daily Arts Writer

While shamelessly analyzing the outfit of someone across the room or on the streets, how is it that so much emphasis falls on the aspect of an outfit that is viewed last? Forget the shirt, jeans or jacket that blend with this accessory — or maybe they don’t even blend. Often times, outfits are centered around just one aspect: sneakers. Yes, that’s right: those Nikes, Adidas, Vans, Pumas, Reeboks, Converse or any other brand that you feel are almost a part of you. This is the aspect of fashion that more than anything seems to take the spotlight of streetstyle and beyond. In fact, it is this idea that seems to drive the world that is sneaker culture. The integration of seemingly effortless athletic looks into everyday settings is one that truly is revolutionizing the fashion game. However, it is this emphasis on effortless, thrown together “athlesiure” that saturates the premise of sneaker culture with irony. In all honesty, keeping up with sneaker culture is really not effortless at all. It’s a ton of work. Perhaps it’s the apparent brand orientation that innately comes with shoes or the way sneakers have transcended culture beyond just gym floors,

but the focus on having the latest and greatest is at the base of sneaker culture. Historically used for more pragmatic purposes, sneakers started as just another shoe worn for athletics. Take Converse high

Sneaker culture is built on this craving, this need for the new styles and new options

tops, for example. The iconic red, white and blue, identifiable from anywhere, were once worn by basketball players in gyms across the United States. Stan Smiths too were inspired by the need for a pragmatic shoe on tennis courts. With an emphasis on simply fulfilling a task, sneakers have not always been the spectacle we view them as today. As society has become a world of consumers, a world centered around media and material, sneakers made their way out of the gym, onto the streets and into the aesthetics of everyday life. With a twisted form of pragmatics in mind, sneaker culture serves

as blatantly ignored source of complete consumerism. While it is often common that sneaker fans are loyal to one style or brand — those old Air Force 1s or checkerboard Vans — a huge pressure to have the latest version, the next best thing, is ever present. Even though each of us claim we have an old, beat up pair of sneakers we are loyal to, we still desire the next model, the next trend, whether it be within or beyond the designs of our favorite brands. These companies know sneaker fans will fall victim to this. How is it that one could feel the need to own Air Force 1s in high top and low top, or the same Pumas in a platform and regular sole? This is sneaker culture. It’s in the details. It’s in the constant changing of designs that we will never, no matter how hard we try, be able to keep up with. So yes, stay loyal to those Adidas or Nikes that have quite literally been with you through it all. There’s just no denying that new styles and collaborations put out by these brands won’t be tempting or eat away at your inner “sneakerhead” as you convince yourself the latest Nikes are an absolute necessity to your shoe closet. Sneaker culture is built on this craving, this need for the new styles and new options. And scarily enough, without complaint, consumers do not appear to be running out of options anytime soon.

SINGLE REVIEW: ‘‘TIL IT’S OVER’

APPLE MUSIC

No one does summer romance better than Anderson .Paak. His expertly crafted mix of hip hop, funk and neo-soul sounds best when paired with a bottle of champagne sometime in mid-July; the multi-instrumental pop and fizzle of albums Malibu and Venice speak to long stretches of golden beaches and all the heated passion that comes with warm weather f lings. It’s music that quite literally bursts with charisma — a breezy personability that is mirrored by .Paak himself, if his Tiny Desk performance is anything to go by — and the reason why we all were eagerly anticipating the release of new music after 2016’s Yes Lawd!

It’s 2018, a new single has finally been released and it does not disappoint. Released as part of a

“Til It’s Over” Anderson .Paak Apple Music Spike Jonze-directed Apple ad, “’Til It’s Over” takes all the sunny, shimmering vibrancy that .Paak is known for and adds a hypnotic twist. The song finds .Paak stretching to savor the last few moments of a relationship. The end is in sight, yet .Paak holds no regret, softly singing, “Only one more night in Los

Angeles / I really thought I could handle it,” over an R&B groove that is reminiscent of older songs “The City” and “Room in Here.” The beat rises until .Paak utters the words, “Imma ride it ’til it’s over,” and then all noises cease. The only thing that is left to echo around in the cavity left behind is an ambient synth progression, growing and building on itself until the song seems to take a life of its own — organically shifting from one verse to the next. “’Til It’s Over” is a psychedelic daydream that you can’t help but be pulled into. - Shima Sadaghiyani, Daily Music Editor

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MUSIC

Joni Mitchell, the summer of ’69 and the Woodstock cultural phenomenon The Woodstock Music and Art Festival during the summer of 1969 was a pivotal moment in art, culture and history CLARA SCOTT Daily Arts Writer

It was 1969 at a dairy farm in the Catskills of New York, the Aug. sun glaring heavily down on the backs of 400,000 patrons. The small town of Bethel was overrun with young people; they were there for the Woodstock Music and Art Festival, whose organizers originally only expected 50,000 to come. Instead, the three days of the festival marked a pivotal moment in American cultural history — Woodstock became a symbol of freedom which encompassed some of the most iconic moments in music during that time. Carlos Santana climbed the stage scaffolding, the Grateful Dead performed until they blew out their amps and legends like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix inspired generations to come. Struck by the event, Joni Mitchell wrote her masterpiece “Woodstock,” which she shared with thenboyfriend Graham Nash to perform at the festival. The song became a lasting image of those three days, but also an anthem of the phenomenon that is that era’s counterculture; a piece of the

Aquarian age which serves as a window into the past. The real power of the song comes with its timelessness —

The three days of the festival marked a pivotal moment in American cultural history — Woodstock became a symbol of freedom which encompassed some of the most iconic moments in music during that time Mitchell’s core sentiment of “getting back to the garden” is

a universal desire, especially for those who work towards change. Her lyrics go beyond the tune itself, functioning as a poetic ref lection on the festival’s meaning within the late 1960s zeitgeist. To Mitchell, we are all “stardust,” “golden,” “billion year old carbon,” all the same in the dream to move forward in our lives and societies. Woodstock ’69 was the tipping point for this movement in music culture, an event which united thousands of young people to collectively celebrate the art of their time. This unification was made even more poignant by the looming presence of Vietnam, as anti-war efforts reached a fever pitch within counterculture and the general population alike. Mitchell even weaves the war into “Woodstock,” seeing “bombers turning into butterf lies” in the skies above her. Though it seems like a blip in history from the present perspective, Woodstock was a phenomenon which meant more than just what occurred during those three days. It was an incredible collection of the era’s most famous and culturally pervasive musicians, poster children for the “free love” movement,

REPRISE RECORDS

the rebirth of folk, the height of rock ‘n’ roll and the rise of funk. Even with this, the legacy of Woodstock ’69 goes beyond its iconic music, and instead lies within the intention of the thousands who attended. The festival was a unique moment to come together in a time of political and social turmoil, an opportunity to collectively shout against the powers which held back America’s inevitable evolution. It was an effort to rebuild the country’s soul, or at least mark a turning point clearly within cultural history — a chance for thousands of young people to be, as Mitchell sings, a “cog in something turning.” In a time where music festivals saturate the popular sphere, it’s important to remember Woodstock as a benchmark for what they can truly offer to society. Though festivals like Coachella and Lollapalooza are slowly being lost to commercialism, there is still a nugget of cultural importance in the idea that

It was an incredible collection of the era’s most famous and culturally pervasive musicians, poster children for the “free love” movement, the rebirth of folk, the height of rock ‘n’ roll and the rise of funk

they are built on. When that many young, interested and musically savvy people gather in one place, there is always the potential for social and artistic change. Woodstock ’69 held incredible meaning during its time and still does today, reminding us of the power that unity in art and culture can have in periods of chaos. As Mitchell writes, our country is too often “caught in the devil’s bargain” of greed and disillusionment — it’s the responsibility of counterculture to reel against this bargain through a collision of innovative art and social awareness, no matter how hard it may seem. Woodstock’s status as one of, if not the most famous festival in American music history acts as evidence that unity and the celebration of art can truly shift the course of culture to pursue a different future — that festivals have the potential to help us find “the garden” of change we all seek.

MUSIC

On the road again and again, the music never ends LAURA DZUBAY Daily Arts Writer

When I’m going on a road trip with friends, one of the first things we sort out after piling into the car is who’s going to get the first turn on the aux cord. I know this isn’t uncommon; the concept of being handed the aux cord has become so universal that it’s given way to a song called “Aux Cord,” several playlists with aux-related titles and, predictably, a score of relevant memes. This especially makes sense in the context of car trips, because music for a while now has been tied to notions of travel, adventure and freedom. Could this be why there are so many well-known songs called “On the Road Again”? It’s true. The adventureanxious “On the Road Again” track is a mysterious torch that has been handed down throughout history by such high-profile artists

as Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan and the Memphis Jug Band. Upon first glance, these songs don’t seem entirely related, apart from the shared title. But it’s a telling title, and it reveals an important commonality that these artists share even across different genres — an appreciation for music as the spirit of the traveler. In order to make sense of this, let’s go back to the beginning. The seminal “On the Road Again” was the version by the Memphis Jug Band, which was recorded in 1928. Characteristic of the Memphis Jug Band, the sound resembles acoustic blues mixed with early folk. Nas recorded a cover of the song last year as a part of the roots-focused “American Epic” TV series, as well as an interview in which he discussed the impact that songs like “On the Road Again” had on the influence of hip hop. In both versions, the song relates the plight of a man whose

lover keeps cheating on him with other men. There’s nothing fun about being cheated on in real life, but the song itself is nonnegotiable fun, largely due to its keeping focus on the carefree adventures of the cheating woman herself. The original recording comes across at times like a shouted exchange between the lead singer and the rest of the band, with the help of a characteristically wide variety of instruments and an unshakable melody. By the time the chorus hits with the lyrics, “She’s on the road again, just as sure as you’re born / Lord, a natural-born Eastman on the road again,” it’s practically impossible not to sing along. The next notable “On the Road Again” came in 1965 from a different folk figurehead, Bob Dylan. The narrator sings about a home that he finds distasteful, with “fistfights in the kitchen” and “a hole where my stomach

disappeared,” and expresses his disbelief that anybody would ever expect him to stay there: “You ask why I don’t live here / Honey, how come you don’t move?” It’s descriptive, accusatory and deliciously spiteful. The song itself doesn’t actually even use the phrase “on the road again,” but it’s clear from the disdainful lyrics what the title phrase is referring to: The narrator is abandoning a lifestyle and a group of people he dislikes, back on the road to try to find something better. Five years later, Canned Heat released their take on the phrase with a track of softcore, paranoid rock. The 1970 “On the Road Again,” which Slackwax covered in 2012, is full of bluesy repetitions: “But I ain’t going down that long, old lonesome road all by myself / But I ain’t going down that long, old lonesome road all by myself / I can’t carry you, baby, gonna carry somebody else.” Like Dylan’s version, it’s

COLUMBIA RECCORDS

a song about getting away from one’s problems, mournful in the style of many blues songs but also tingling with a kind of dark optimism. Ten years after that, Willie Nelson released perhaps the bestknown “On the Road Again,” a carousing country rock song full of all-too-classic road trip images, like “makin’ music with my friends” and “goin’ places that I’ve never been.” It’s freespirited, both in its lyrics and in its merry personality, and it’s one of those songs you can imagine a parent choosing as the first track on a mixtape just before setting out on some early childhood road trip. One of the intriguing things about it is the group aspect. When Nelson sings, “Our way is on the road again,” you feel like you’re included in the “our” — like you’re one of a group of people whose way is to keep going, always exploring, always seeking out someplace new and better. The most recent major “On the Road Again” is from 2015: a weird, electronic psytrance instrumental from Israeli duo Infected Mushroom. However, I’m going to close out this article with a slightly older iteration: 2005’s “On the Road Again” from hip-hop artist Sheek Louch. It’s a track full of blistering confidence, from boasts about the artist himself to comparisons between himself and other rappers (“I got a thousand songs like ’Pac and them”). Superficially, the sound itself is distinct from some of the other songs I’ve listed, in the way that they’re distinct from each other — for instance, you might not find Infected Mushroom and Bob Dylan on the same playlist, or the Memphis Jug Band and Canned Heat, unless it was a playlist (like the one I made the other day) entitled “Songs Called ‘On The Road Again.’” But when you get right down to it, Sheek’s version, just like Nelson’s and Dylan’s, is a song about personal progress, a song that says “full steam ahead.” He sings, “Anyway, back to the drawin’ board / I’m independent now, whoever with me, all aboard.” He visits and revisits a chorus that proclaims, “I’ve

got my money, my passport, my gun is loaded,” and promises us, “A lot of shit about to change.” I’m willing to bet that if you’re

Maybe we keep returning to roads and cars and trains for a reason. Maybe this is what music means to us, or at least a part of it

handed the aux cord, whether you start blasting Sheek Louch or Willie Nelson, you’re doing it for similar reasons: You’re hitting the road, and you’re ready to feel good about it, and about yourself. Music has always been one of the primary languages of transition, whether it’s between physical or geographical places (i.e. road tripping) or between one state of mind and another. And sure, maybe this is taking the whole “On the Road Again” thing a little too deep. After all, I don’t really think most of these artists were echoing one another on purpose. But in a way, that makes the common thread between them even stronger, because maybe we keep returning to roads and cars and trains for a reason. Maybe this is what music means to us, or at least a part of it. It’s about lamenting what you’ve lost — an unreliable lover, an unhealthy household, a company stolen away or gone sour — and then saying, “Well, back to it,” after everything. It’s about getting away from your problems while also heading toward something new, something for now only sensed — like following the length of a thread in a darkened room, or driving down a highway in no direction at all.

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b-side the Richard Rogers theatre (and countless other theatres around the country, now that the show has begun its national tour) as the house lights dim. But the physical performance isn’t the most

FILM NOTEBOOK

SUMMIT

Ten years later, ‘Twilight’ is still really important ASIF BECHER

Daily Books Editor

The director, author, screenwriter and star of “Twilight” were all women. It was created and marketed specifically for women, and it was overwhelmingly consumed by women. “Twilight” is a women’s story, through and through, and we can’t talk about “Twilight” without talking about that first. Let’s be clear: The fact that it’s a women’s story doesn’t make it a feminist story, but I think the process of either blacklisting media or giving it the feminist stamp of approval undercuts the fact that feminism is complicated and messy and it’s not an all-or-nothing, yes-orno statement of fact. Feminism is a movement, not a label, and we should treat it as such, otherwise everyone would be too scared of relinquishing our Good Feminist Credentials (not a thing) to admit that we enjoy really undeniably amazing things like the scene where the vampires play baseball as Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole” plays. I don’t particularly think it matters if “Twilight” is “feminist” or “empowering” or any other words that don’t actually represent one side of a good/bad binary, even though people on the internet sure do try to convince you that they do. What does matter is the fact that I saw the first “Twilight” movie in the most crowded theater in my life to date, and apart from a couple of disgruntled dads and boyfriends, it was filled entirely by women and young girls. The energy in the room was palpable — girls screaming at the first sight of R-Patz (God, that hair), and reciting their favorite lines from the book (“I was unconditionally,

Thursday, March 8, 2018 — 5B

irrevocably in love with him”). Maybe it wasn’t necessarily “empowering” (whatever that means), but it was powerful, and I don’t mean emotionally powerful, I mean it represented a tangible cultural power. For a few years, one of the biggest blockbuster franchises that completely saturated the media and its surrounding discourse was a story about a teenage girl’s supernatural romance. That’s some honest-to-God real power: Young women, harnessing their collective cultural capital to dominate the zeitgeist in a way that I don’t think has been replicated in the years since. Over the years, there’s been a lot of thoughtful criticism of the way “Twilight” makes abuse seem romantic, in the way it reinforces both backwards gender roles and the damaging effect a culture filled with this kind of media can have on young girls. But accompanying those careful, necessary responses was an undeniable vitriol towards “Twilight,” its author and its fanbase. Any earnest criticism was immediately drowned out by the seemingly endless sea of trolls on the Internet flooding message boards and comment sections with long-winded screeds nitpicking stupid plot details, trashing the characters and sending Stephenie Meyer death threats. For a while, “Twilight” was treated like the end of literature, feminism, feminist literature and America’s conscience (or whatever other theories the people who are absolutely no fun at parties talk about). I’m not saying critiques of “Twilight” are sexist — those made in good faith are usually the opposite — and there’s obviously a distinction between the faceless horde of the internet and the thoughtful critics who honestly had something to say.

But ultimately it didn’t matter the intentions, because the result was a massive dogpile effect, and the people who got hurt or targeted ended up being the young girls of “Twilight”’s audience, made to feel stupid and ashamed for indulging in a fun, romantic fantasy. This is nothing new. There’s a long and storied tradition of talking down to teenage girls, assuming they’re mindless sycophants who can’t think for themselves and don’t know what’s good for them, all the while dismissing their interests as dumb and frivolous and not worth Important Male Validation. It’s a stupid and frankly insulting perspective to have towards art in general, but it’s especially egregious for a work like “Twilight.” Why does something made so specifically for female attention need to be validated as worthy of men’s attention too? “Twilight” isn’t for everybody, but that’s not a mistake — it’s by design. The mean-spirited backlash to “Twilight” was, I think, mostly informed by the fact that to experience “Twilight,” you have to engage with a women’s space, with a work that was created for the express purpose of indulging teenage girls’ fantasies and making them happy. And you know what? It worked. There was joy in that movie theater in 2008, and I think that matters. The fact that “Twilight” tapped into the essence of the teenage experience in a way that felt true, and in a way that brought happiness to so many people matters, because even if the story is sparkly and silly, the resulting joy isn’t something to be taken lightly. “Twilight” is important because teenage girls loved it deeply, in the way only teenage girls can: unconditionally and irrevocably.

I wasn’t expecting the experience I had, and quite frankly, had never seen anything like it before

insane part of the experience. What’s crazier, for those brave enough to venture to the stage door, is the scene as the stars come out to meet and greet fans and audience members. Picture news coverage on the morning of Black Friday — year after year, huge swarms of people high on caffeine and adrenaline charge a Super Walmart in suburban Pennsylvania to fight to the death over a $49.99 Xbox. Sub out the middle-aged mothers for theatre kids and the Xbox for a Lin-Manuel Miranda autograph, and you’ve got the Hamilton stage door. Of course, being the devoted fan I am, with stars in my eyes and dried tears on my cheeks (the last scene is an absolute heartbreak), I joined the other 5,000 fans, both those who got to see the show on that Mar. evening and those coming out just hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite star, at the stage door. I wasn’t expecting the experience I had, and quite frankly, had never seen anything like it before. The entire block was barricaded, and the sidewalk begged for more space, pushing into the “Les Mis”’s theatre corner threateningly. Security guards stationed themselves around the gates and near the door — a no-mess bunch. The fans crowded, threw elbows, yelled and shrieked. It was like being brought back to the mosh pit at the emo concert I attended in ninth grade during my brief indie stage, except on the streets of New York City. The people around me grew restless and eventually rude, taking away from the

camaraderie and experience of the after-show stage door, something so unique and special to the theatre. The crowd expected something from the cast and felt entitled to each member making an appearance, not thinking of the three-hour marathon they just sang, danced and emotionally invested themselves in (sometimes twice each day). Rather, just of the blurry picture and scribbled autograph that would eventually move from coffee table to a box under the bed. In short, diehard “Hamilton” fans are a rare breed. To me, there’s something really special about going to a stage door after a performance. There’s nothing like the “stage door” experience in any other form of art. After a concert, artists don’t usually stage door and you can’t meet the stars of your favorite movies and television shows upon completion of an episode or film. They stay on the other side of the screen, stage and radio. But in the theatre, especially in New York City, we are blessed with the gift of being able to meet the cast after they perform. Praising them, asking questions and enjoying a human moment from Broadway star to audience member — something Hamilton fans really seem to have redefined and taken for granted. As a whole, the group was rambunxious and obnoxious, throwing themselves and their iPhones at the barricade and against other people — creating not a space to share in the revelry of live theatre, but rather a hostile scenario for everyone involved. Beckoning where certain actors and creative team members were, when perhaps, those people just wanted to head home and eat a bowl of cereal, make a pot of tea and go to sleep. Of course, we are lucky that “Hamilton” has had the great effect and inf luence that it has, that it has touched so many people and had such a wonderful reaction to the public. Any piece of pop culture with such magnitude in the 21st century will generate some form of a cult-like following or large grouping of crazy fans — but respecting the performers and creative team, in addition to the piece of theatre itself, should be all these fans’ first priority. Unfortunately, this really doesn’t seem to be the case. Instead of remembering the base of their love and devotion to “Hamilton,” the fans I encountered at the stage door that night seemed rather

selfish and disrespectful. I know I’m not the only one who thinks so, as LinManuel Miranda used to get strings of hate tweets and harsh Twitter attacks for not visiting the stage door after his performances. Eight shows a week is a feat, and Miranda, who also has a wife and child, sometimes just needed to head straight home to sleep. Instead of respecting that decision and realizing its implications, fans took to social media, criticizing and belittling him as a person. Being a part of a theatre fandom so large and intense, it can be easy to forget why you began to follow the particular show. However, it’s important to remember that no matter how passionate you are about

The wild group of “Hamilton” fans I encountered that night and other groups of “Hamilfans” around the country need to remember why they love the show, and to act appropriately, remembering what the theatre is for and why we love it the musical, its performers and creators, they’re real people too with lives beyond the stage. Despite my adoration of the show and idolization of its writer and star LinManuel Miranda, I always want to respect and admire them first. The wild group of “Hamilton” fans I encountered that night and other groups of “Hamilfans” around the country need to remember why they love the show, and to act appropriately, remembering what the theatre is for and why we love it.

MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW: ‘RIC FLAIR DRIP’

COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK

APPLE MUSIC

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Broadway’s cult following ELI RALLO

Daily Arts Writer

In Mar. of 2016, I finally had the opportunity to be in “the room where it happens” — or as most people say, to see “Hamilton” on Broadway. I had third row tickets since a year

prior and had scored them for only 100 dollars apiece, having been an avid fan since before the show met smash success. I guess you can say I “knew it before it was cool,” making me, inherently, one of the show’s most devoted followers known as ‘Hamilfans.’ The show was, in short,

everything and nothing I expected at once. It is breathtaking, life-changing, magic and certainly makes a major statement about race and diversity. It calls upon society as a whole to think deeper about what these things mean in the modern age. There’s a certain buzz in

Has anyone more genuinely enjoyed being in a music video more than Ric Flair in Offset and Metro Boomin’s new video for “Ric Flair Drip”? Released Mar. 1st, the video would be aggressively generic if it were not for the eponymous 69-year-old lending a prominent appearance, joining Offset, 21 Savage and Metro Boomin in their celebration of excess. The moment that the WWE legend hops out of the Rolls Royce with matching electric blue loafers and pants, you can tell this will

be no cursory cameo. His appearance is the focal point of the video, from his enthusiastic dancing (or at least, as enthusi-

“Ric Flair Drip” Offset and Metro Boomin Slaughter Gang astic as could be expected from an AARP-eligible man who just got out of the hospital months ago) to

the simply fantastic scene where he is presented with his choice of lavish clothing. It is no surprise that Ric Flair fits in well in this environment: A decent portion of his public image is built around his rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle and the embrace of excess (both drugs and personality). This video is well worth watching just for his performance, and the song is also pretty good, for what it’s worth. - Jonah Mendelson, Daily Arts Writer

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STYLE

The utterly absurd genius of Glossier’s marketing With perfect minimalism, Glossier creates an addictive aesthetic that is impossible to achieve with its products SOPHIA HUGHES Daily Arts Writer

I distinctly remember the day Glossier seized me with their talons. I had been nonchalantly going through my popular page on Instagram, and one post caught my eye. It was a close-up of a woman smiling in front of a millennial pink background, but the photo was so much more than that. Her skin was f lawless. Her hair, effortless and messy. Her eyes and lips completely free of makeup. And most importantly, the model was quite literally glowing. Her skin had a hue that was shiny but not in a sweaty way. In fact it was almost inhuman. To be frank, the photo was clearly unrealistic and no one would know it was selling a beauty product because the model was absolutely free of any trace of makeup. No, Glossier was selling an aesthetic. The brand had perfected minimalism and was roping innocent millennials into an endless cycle of unnecessary packaging, unrealistic expectations and unwarranted expenses. Founded in 2014 by Emily Weiss, Glossier is a makeup and skincare company that

The brand had perfected minimalism and was roping innocent millennials into an endless cycle of unnecessary packaging, unrealistic expectations and unwarranted expenses

prides itself in its thorough use of minimalism and overall aesthetic. Now, before I get started on my takedown of Glossier, I do have a confession. My laptop is decked out in Glossier stickers at this moment, and I may or may not have taken my pencils out of one of their infamous pink pouches. I am one of the millions of people who has been seduced by this

franchise, and I do not plan on curing my obsession any time soon. Does that make me biased in my criticism? Absolutely. Nevertheless, that doesn’t make my arguments any less valid. Glossier can be classified as makeup for people that are already pretty. Their goal and slogan are admirable — “Skin first, makeup second” — in order to advocate for the use of “barely-there” makeup. Nevertheless, they are clever in their advertisements as their models already have f lawless skin. Yes, Glossier, many people wish that they could feel absolutely stunning without the use of foundation or some eyeliner. However, it is not until they purchase Glossier’s perfecting skin tint (26 dollars) or the Wowder (setting powder priced at 22 dollars) that they realize it provides little to no coverage. Glossier, nonetheless, has already won the battle. The consumer has lost approximately 40 dollars and CEO Emily Weiss, with her abnormally radiant skin and charming smile, is laughing at them behind the scenes. Even so, this is not the consumer’s last encounter with Glossier. Their stickers are addictive, the packaging is beautiful and they heard that Boy Brow is life-changing, so they must purchase that as well. Be that as it may, Glossier does have some products that provide some coverage and serve the purpose of makeup. Many have fallen victim to their two products, Boy Brow and Cloud Paint, which admittedly are fairly effective. Boy Brow (16 dollars) is an eyebrow filler, while Cloud Paint (18 dollars) is a liquid blush. However, they are not groundbreaking in the slightest and absolutely not worthy of their high prices. These two items arguably provide the same quality of makeup as any drugstore product and yet buying both is a hit on one’s bank account. However, Glossier will attempt to cover their resemblance to drug-store products with their Body Hero campaign that displays them as more inclusive than the average drugstore brand. In this campaign for a moisturizer that comes in small packaging and is so utterly conventional, Glossier goes berserk with their advertisements that showcase women of all different body types and races. It is absolutely brilliant. In fact, Weiss almost tricked me into buying the moisturizer because I did appreciate the message they were putting out. I am nearly convinced she is an evil genius. Though I do love the Glossier packaging, I must admit that it is a little much. In one of my purchases of highlighter, I received a poster, a pack of stickers, a piece of cardboard

with a sample attached to it, a pink pouch, a box for the highlighter and, finally, the highlighter. This is something that most people probably would not argue against. Courtesy of Glossier

At this point, the fact that they are selling an aesthetic is so blatant that it is almost laughable. Glossier knows that they pull off millennial pink better than anyone else, and they are going to take advantage of that until their final days

The more goodies with every expensive purchase the better. Nonetheless, it marks Glossier as completely transparent in their marketing. At this point, the fact that they are selling an aesthetic is so blatant that it is almost laughable. Glossier knows that they pull off millennial pink better than anyone else, and they are going to take advantage of that until their final days. While I continue to love Glossier and will forever be heavily reliant on Boy Brow, I must admit that the company is, simply put, bullshit. CVS has a few very worthy substitutes such as the Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara, the Cucumber Cooling Peel-Off Facial Mask, the Neutrogena Clear Pore Cleanser, and the Freeman Facial Charcoal & Black Sugar Polish Mask. At some point, millennials need to find the will to separate themselves from the adorable stickers we all know and love and make CVS our new Glossier, because frankly, the two are practically synonymous in quality.

Courtesy of Glossier

TV SERIES

Revisiting : ‘Sex and the City’ and its glory days ARYA NAIDU

Senior Arts Editor

“Sex and the City” is wild. Darren Star’s (“Younger”) HBO romantic dramedy that ran from 1998-2004 was, and still is, a cultural phenomenon. It had a throng of devoted fans (my mother, a “Miranda,” included), all putting themselves in the heels of the show’s four leading ladies. “Sex and the City” went through its prime when I was a baby, and I kept having to remind myself of this as I streamed it on Amazon. Its six seasons are filled with quips and one-liners that just aren’t OK anymore. Jokes like bisexuality being a “layover on the way to Gay Town” and the constant slut-shaming directed at Samantha don’t hold up, and they shouldn’t. Still, when I sat down to inhale the series, I found myself thinking it was open-minded for its time. Our heroines are unapologetically themselves, and, despite the occasional cringe and frequent “yikes,” I loved every second of it. Miranda challenged me, Carrie excited me, Charlotte pushed me and Samantha kind of scared me. I rooted for each of them, through all of their self-induced difficulties and horrifying blunders. I knew the show was equal parts progressive and problematic before I started watching, but I wanted to watch it nonetheless. I couldn’t help but wonder: What have I been missing? “Ex and the City,” season two, episode 18 The end of this episode is perfect. It’s one of the most perfect endings in the whole series. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker, “Divorce”) gets an invite to Big’s (Chris Noth, “Gone”) engagement brunch, and watching her open that letter, curled up on her bed, I felt her change. I felt her fall deeper in love with a man who couldn’t give her what she wanted, and I felt her clinging to every last ounce of the faltering faith she had in him. She doesn’t say anything, but when the arch of her foot slowly slides the envelope off the edge of her duvet, she has a clearer head than she did five minutes ago. She’s free by default. Cut to the last few minutes of the episode, when season two closes in the most K-K-K-Katie way. Our gals are out for drinks,

and they’re angry at Big for hurting Carrie, hurting the rest of them in tandem. He’s marrying a simple girl with straight hair, and as the women gush over “The Way We Were,” the show makes it very, very evident that Carrie is not a simple girl. None of them are. They use their Manolo Blahnik’s to stomp out the “free by default” narrative to nothing but dust on a Manhattan sidewalk. Carrie saunters her way to Big’s brunch, meeting him in front of the hotel to brush hair from his face and finally make him understand that he never understood. She reclaims herself, letting the wind run her curls wild and release her (for now, at least) from Big. It’s the most “Carrie” that Carrie has ever been. “I Heart NY,” season four, episode 18 After shutting a small door on Big and opening a big one for Aidan (John Corbett, “Still the King”), season three takes us through the rise and fall of Carrie’s flared-jean, turquoise-ringed relationship with everyone’s favorite furniture craftsman. Season four is a recovery from this (a temporary one, of course, because does Carrie ever fully recover from anything?). Big announces he’s moving to the West Coast, and they dance in his packed-away living room to a “Moon River” record that’s just as broken and cyclic as their relationship. It’s sweet until it’s absolutely devastating, and the rest of the episode follows suit. Charlotte (Kristin Davis, “Bad Teacher”) continues to find grace in the aftermath of a draining marriage, and Samantha (Kim Cattrall, “Modus”) realizes she surrendered her heart to the wrong man. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon, “That’s Harassment”) and Steve (David Eigenberg, “Chicago Fire”) have their baby boy. It’s a season finale that highlights the utter complexities of losing yourself to love and living through the loss, which, ultimately, is what I think the show itself aimed to do: To propel the independence and resilience of these four women, as they fearlessly gave themselves to whatever, or whoever, their lives had in store for them. “The Ick Factor,” season six, episode 14 This is a very important episode, and not because Carrie doesn’t know how to cope with

romance. Yeah, it’s her show, whatever, but this is the episode where Miranda and Steve get married! Did you hear me? Did I yell loud enough? I’ve always preferred Miranda’s wheelhouse of men to Carrie’s revolving door, and Steve is the beating heart of this (yes, even movie-Steve, but I don’t want to get into that right now). “The Ick Factor” is a minefield, and their wedding is a blissful release from it. Charlotte is happy, and she’s happy with Harry, and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. Her arc has been littered with pain, and she needs this. She deserves this. Carrie comes to terms with the fact that a fancy French man wants to woo her (because apparently, that’s the kind of thing Carrie needs to come to terms with). Life is good for our girls, and then Samantha finds out she has breast cancer. She tells Carrie first and then Charlotte, trying to spare Miranda the news until her “special fucking day” is over. But they’re friends, sisters and soulmates, and Miranda knows that something is off. The last couple minutes of the episode are spent around a little square table at the back of Miranda’s wedding reception. The four women pool themselves together, filling a reservoir with strength to give to Samantha. This moment is everything, and it captures so elegantly what the women of “Sex and the City” were to one another. They were one, an irrevocable force of female friendship, a whirlwind of love. The show isn’t perfect, and neither are its heroines. Carrie really sucks sometimes (a lot of the time), and I wish Charlotte was as woke as her internet alter-ego. But what “Sex and the City” does, and does well, is show women supporting each other — unconditionally, unabashedly and unrelentingly. After six messy seasons (and many now frighteningly outdated jokes), the show remains beloved because of its women and their ownership over their sexuality. They found voices in themselves and laughed over the noise of people acting like their bodies weren’t their own to control. It’s radical in its own, elaborate way, and it’s so much fun to watch. Run to it in your favo rite Jimmy Choo’s — but watch out for the puddles.

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