2018-04-12 by The Michigan Daily

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Thursday, April 12, 2018

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CAMPUS LIFE

SAFE holds die-in at talk about Israel’s beginnings Israeli statesman, ex-IDF soldier presents on int’l relations despite demonstrations LEAH GRAHAM Daily Staff Reporter

CHUN SO/Daily

Emily Lawsin, Lecturer in American Culture (A/PIA Studies Program) and Women’s studies, speaks to concerns surrounding A/PIA Studies at the University during a panel highlighting the program Wednesday evening.

Students call attention to inequity against faculty in A/PIA studies

After discrimination lawsuit from A/PIA faculty, UAAO holds panel to discuss resolutions JORDYN BAKER Daily Staff Reporter

On Wednesday evening, the United Asian American Organizations at the University of Michigan hosted a panel to promote the Asian, Pacific Islander American studies program on campus and call attention to a 2017 lawsuit citing discrimination against program faculty. Panelists included graduate and undergraduate students, as well as Emily Lawsin, a lecturer

in American culture and women’s studies, and Scott Kurashige, a former professor in history and American culture. In 2017, Lawsin and Kurashige brought a lawsuit against the University under claims of racial discrimination and harassment, citing the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. Currently, Kurashige explained, “the Dean of LSA is working with the chairs of the departments of women’s studies and American culture to fire Emily.” Since the time of the

controversy, students and community members have showed strong solidarity with Lawsin and actively tried to rebuild the A/PIA studies program. Their efforts include circulating a petition for the University to fully restore the A/PIA studies program, as well as releasing op-eds calling out the University’s actions against Lawsin, one of which was written by state Rep. Stephanie Chang. As tensions surrounding employment and administrative responses mount, Lawsin and Kurashige have continued to

serve as activists fighting for improvement of the A/PIA studies program, which was founded in 1989 and offers courses and an academic minor. The program has gone from offering eight to 10 classes per semester to only two in a previous winter semester. Public Health sophomore Ciara Timban serves as the co-programming chair for UAAO and said she hopes the panel will bring attention to the opportunities available within the A/PIA studies program. See A/PIA, Page 3

Two dozen members of Students Allied for Freedom and Equalitydemonstrated at a lecture by Nadav Tamir, a prominent Israeli diplomat, Wednesday night in the Ford School of Public Policy. Tamir’s lecture marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel, but protesters called the event “ultra nationalistic” and insensitive in timing, pointing to the deaths of 17 Palestinianprotesters who were killed in clashes with Israel Defense Forces, Israel’s military, two weeks ago in Gaza. The demonstrators lined the back of the auditorium, holding posters condemning the IDF, of which Tamir was a decorated soldier. Several minutes into the lecture, three SAFE members staged a die-in. One SAFE member, who

asked to remain anonymous for safety concerns, said he wanted make sure “Palestinian voices are heard.” “We wanted to show that the people who died in the protests and the people who have died over the past years have not been forgotten,” he said. “We felt like this was not an appropriate event at the time, especially with how ultra nationalistic it was being portrayed as. We wanted to show that there is opposition.” The Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, Peres Center for Peace, WolvPAC and Michigan Hillel co-sponsored the lecture. The LSA Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies, was previously listed as a co-sponsor, but retracted its support following complaints about the branding of the event. In an email obtained by The Daily, CMENAS Director See SAFE, Page 3

Former top White House economists East Quad Facebook dining halls discuss female underrepresentation trials draw

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GOVERNMENT

to be more authentic

Ranking women in economics confirm discrimination and harassment in government

Lack of sensitivity for cultural food results in new cuisine offerings

Two months ago, University of Michigan research exposed significant female underrepresentation in economics. Top women economists convened at the Ford School Wednesday afternoon on the topic to confirm such discrimination and harassment at the highest levels of government. They also, however, lauded their peers’ work therein. The Education Policy Initiative of the Ford School of Public Policy’s panel titled “What female economists learned bringing research to White House policy making” featured a discussion with three panelists, all of whom were influential female economists with extensive experience in academia and public policy. The discussion was led by Susan Dynarski, the co-director of the Education Policy Initiative and a professor of economics, education and public policy at the University of Michigan. The other two panelists were Betsey Stevenson, an associate professor of public policy, and Sandra Black, an economics professor at the University of Texas, Austin. Stevenson and Black both served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 2015 to 2017. All three are research associates at the National Bureau of

AMARA SHAIKH Daily Staff Reporter

Much of public attention on the University of Michigan’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategic plan has focused on the classroom, administration or an incendiary stream of bias incidents, but students in East Quad are engaging with an even more every day component of the plan: food. Towards the end of last semester, the Hall Council of East Quad Residence Hall canceled an international food event due to complications and concerns around cultural sensitivity within Michigan Dining. The event now serves as a linchpin in changing the building’s attitudes towards food service and inclusion. Abeng Multicultural Council Co-Chair Josiah Walker, an LSA freshman, said the Hall Council director and resident advisers felt it was necessary to halt the event. “(Michigan) Dining took it upon themselves to plan the food they were going to serve, but what happened is they ended up mismatching the dishes,” See DINING, Page 3

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Economic Research. The panelists discussed a wide range of topics, focusing in particular on Stevenson and Black’s time at the White House. Stevenson and Black explained their roles during President Barack Obama’s administration and how their academic experience informed their work. “One of the core functions we do is link the academic

research to policy — to take that research and put it in a form that the president and policymakers can understand,” Black said. Stevenson and Black also discussed the difficulties of driving effective policy at the federal level, noting economists generally hold more centrist views than other policymakers working in Washington, D.C. Their ideas faced opposition at

some points from congressional Democrats, who wanted them to advocate for more interventionist economic policies. The dynamic in the field of economics was different with Obama, the pair said, praising Obama for his thoughtful leadership and attention to the academic research they used in their work. See PANEL, Page 3

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

Associate Economics Professor Betsey Stevenson and Susan Dynarski, University of Texas Economics Professor, share their experiences in White House policy making in Weill Hall Wednesday afternoon.

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LSA sophomore Samuel Morse, an internship coordinator for Abdul El-Sayed’s gubernatorial campaign, believes the circulation of fake news on Facebook played a decisive role in the 2016 election. “58 percent of American adults are on Facebook, and Facebook has become a primary news source for many of them,” Morse said. “So when people are, instead of picking up copies of The (Washington) Post and The (New York) Times, seeing that on their Facebook news feeds, that will affect their thoughts on the election.” In light of the 2016 presidential election and subsequent findingsof Robert S. Mueller III, with the special counsel investigating Russia’s electoral interference, Facebook has now been thrust into the center of a national conversation about the content-monitoring responsibilities of social media platforms. Even more recently, Facebook found itself embroiled in controversy when The New York Times reported Cambridge Analytica, a political firm hired See FACEBOOK, Page 2

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FACEBOOK From Page 1 by President Donald Trump’s campaign, had access to the private data of 50 million Facebook users, scaring users who were apart of one of the network’s largest data breaches. That led to a two-day congressional hearing, which ended Tuesday, to gauge just how much control Facebook users have over their data. No consensus in terms of future legislation resulted from the hearings, though Zuckerberg agreed “some regulation” is needed. Representative Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., expressed the frustration felt by many University students at the hearing. “Some things are striking during this conversation,” she said. “As CEO, you didn’t know some key facts.” Facebook said it is weeding out Sudoku Syndication fake accounts and news to prepare

for the 2018 midterm elections and prevent its 2016 election mistakes. The social media platform is using machine learning to identify these accounts rather than relying on user reports, product manager Samidh Chakrabarti said in a conference call with Detroit News. University of Michigan librarian Jo Oehrli teaches the class “Fake News, Lies, and Propaganda: How to Sort Fact from Fiction,” in which students learn how to identify false or misleading news, examine media biases across the political spectrum and factcheck information found in articles. Oehrli said people have the tendency to view free social media platforms as public utilities rather than for-profit companies. Facebook generates revenue from advertisements, which can perpetuate the fake news problem. “We’re in this in-between state right now where we aren’t realizing that these (social media) companies are for-profit

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companies … ” Oehrli said. “They did in the U.S. in the 2016 election,” aren’t utility. They are a company Zuckerburg said. “We were able and even though you don’t pay to disable them and prevent that for them, when you sign on for from happening on a large scale in the Terms of Service, you are the France.” product.” Morse said that given its scope, As part of its anti-fake news the onus is on Facebook to monitor efforts, Facebook plans to go the quality of news content being beyond fact-checking written shared on the platform. posts and expand into fact“When they create something checking photos and videos. The like (Facebook) that has the effects company also plans to create an that it has on millions and millions archive in which the public can of people in America, and billions access information about the of people worldwide, they have a target audience demographics responsibility to us as voters, to for election-related ads and how us as citizens, to us just as having much money was spent on each of Facebook accounts, to be honest the ads. with us, to be upfront about what In February, Mueller’s they’re doing with our data, and to special counsel released an monitor what goes on on their own indictment that confirmed sites,” Morse said. Russian agents had been using For those who work on Facebook and other social media political campaigns, Facebook platforms to disseminate fake carries potential to influence news and politically persuasive campaigning efforts. Adam messages, possibly interfering Joseph, communications director with election results. for Abdul El-Sayed’s gubernatorial http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ Trump himself attributed part campaign, says the onus is on of his success in the election to Facebook to prevent the fake news social media platforms such as circulating on the site. Facebook and Twitter. “The revelations about “The fact that I have such Facebook are deeply disturbing,” power in terms of numbers Joseph said. “It’s time they accept with Facebook, Twitter, that they have a role in protecting Instagram, etc.,” Trump said our democracy from the fake news on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “I think that threatens its very core.” it helped me win all of these The University Chapter of races where they’re spending College Republicans did not much more money than I respond to requests for comment. spent.” While Facebook has seemingly In an interview with The been the foreground of fake New York Times, Facebook news, it has also been a place CEO Mark Zuckerburg said of positive political action and now that the company is community-building. On the end aware of how Facebook was of the Facebook users, Oehrli said abused, they are better able it’s important to approach news to develop the tools necessary with a critical eye and review it to prevent it from happening thoroughly before sharing it. again. He said he is assured “That’s why we have our own by the elections that have critical thinking skills, right?” happened since 2016, such Oehrli said. “If (social media as the French presidential companies) are going to be so election and the Alabama influential and if it’s going to take special election. so long for Facebook to catch up “The new A.I. tools we built and try to address this in a way after the 2016 elections found, through technology, which I’m I think, more than 30,000 fake not sure what this will look like, accounts that we believe were we have to use our own critical linked to Russian sources who thinking skills and not turn our were trying to do the same thinking over to the technology or kind of tactics (in France) they to the platform.”

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DINING From Page 1

O D I S S I DA N C E

RUCHITA IYER/Daily Sreyashi Dey, founder and artistic director of Srishti Dances of India, hosts an Odissi dance workshop for Michigan Dance students in the Dance building Wednesday evening.

PANEL From Page 1 “Even when we lost (a debate), the thing that was important to me was to know that the views we were putting forward at CEA were being heard,” Stevenson said. “And that was one of the things that the president was amazing about; he clearly heard them.” Stevenson spoke about efforts to increase the national minimum wage while she was on the CEA. Obama was unable to make progress with Congress, but he worked with the CEA to raise the wages for some government workers, relying heavily on academic research showing increased productivity with higher wages. The panelists also touched on the difficulties of being women in the largely maledominated field of economics, including sexual harassment

SAFE From Page 1 Samer Ali wrote the center was “concerned that the event was laden with the ultranationalist messaging,” particularly the phase “In honor of the 70th Anniversary of Israel. . .” “If you think about it, that equates attending with honoring,” Ali wrote. “A truly public event open to opposing views must not imply an ideological litmus test for participation. In effect, the event manufactures consent by soliciting a sympathetic audience to normalize statesponsored atrocities, while excluding those who might want to attend for the purposes of disagreeing and dissenting in a public forum.” According to the email, CMENAS was unaware of “the full nature of the event” or “the event’s nationalist framing” when it initially took on co-sponsorship. Tamir is currently the director of international affairs at the Peres Center for Peace, an Israel-based nongovernmental organization. Before his career in diplomacy, he served in the IDF as a

A/PIA From Page 1 “Often times, it’s a very underutilized or forgotten program, (but) has a lot of opportunities or benefits that can be offered to students of color on campus,” Timban said. “So, we really just want to be able to share that with the community, especially because UAAO is a space for Asian and Pacific Islander students.” Panelists answered questions about their own relationships with the program, as well as speaking on ways students can work to help bolster the program, maintain its importance outside of the classroom and ensure

and discrimination. They discussed ways to combat such discrimination, and Stevenson said she believes the situation will improve if more women choose to study economics. “We have a cultural shift that needs to take place,” Stevenson said. “And one of the few ways to get cultures to shift is to change the people in the culture, so I do think that improving the pipeline and getting more women into economics is an important part of this.” Stevenson and Black said the gender dynamics in the White House were notably better than in their previous workplaces. Stevenson noted in particular there was a wide range of representation in terms of gender, race, sexual orientation and economic status, which she said helped greatly with crafting policy and opinions. “There was a lot of diversity, and that meant that there was a different dynamic,” Stevenson

said. “There wasn’t a feeling of a dominant group. There was a feeling of a diverse group. And you’re forced to interact in a more inclusive way once you’re in a really diverse group like that.” Rackham student Hanna Zlotnick, a research assistant for the Education Policy Initiative, helped organize the event and read audience questions to the panelists. She also co-authored a paper with Stevenson about gender representation in economics textbooks. Zlotnick said she believes events like these are a critical way for students to learn about the work of people in their field. “It’s really important because a lot of people, especially at the Ford School, might not have the exposure to how the work they’re doing in the classroom and the work their professors are doing is really impacting the real world,” Zlotnick said. “And all of these professors

have come from the position of both academic research as well as being in policy work right at the White House. I think it shows people that your work is influential. It might require reframing your work so that the general public can see it. … But it is really valuable work, and there are a lot of people who really care.” Zlotnick also expressed her happiness with the sizeable crowd that came to see the panel, comprised of both University students as well as those outside of the University. “It’s great that the general public came,” Zlotnick said. “Sometimes these events only have Ford students or undergraduates from other programs. I always think it’s nice when Ann Arbor community members come because they’re taking advantage of an opportunity to hear from people who are really involved in this field.”

company commander and fought in the First Lebanon War, retiring with the rank of major. His lecture focused on the possibility of peace between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East, including Palestine. He discussed how the trauma of the Holocaust affects Israel’s approach to national security and peace processes. “We are not the only traumatized people in the Middle East,” Tamir said. “The Palestinians are also traumatized for other reasons and this is one of the reasons why it’s so hard to solve this conf lict, because you’re dealing with two traumatized people.” Tamir endorsed a twostate solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conf lict and called for immediate negotiations between the two parties. He also said while he was a “die hard Zionist,” he was still very critical of the Israeli government. “You can love your country and be completely against its government,” Tamir said. “I think many Americans feel that they don’t like your president at the moment, but are very

proud to be American.” An LSA freshman who attended the talk and asked not to be named said she thought Tamir offered an optimistic outlook on achieving peace. “I think that sometimes people think that he’s coming at from a pro-Israel perspective,” she said. “It’s true that he does believe in the existence of the Israeli state, but what I got out of this talk is that he really seems to be working toward peace in general and he wants a win-win solution, not a winlose one.” Tensions between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian student groups have simmered since Central Student Government’s passage of #UMDivest, a resolution calling on the University to investigate its investments in companies committing human rights violations in Israel. During a question and answer session held after the lecture, event facilitators asked questions be written down on notecards. After reading the cards, they would then pose questions to Tamir. After several rounds of questions, SAFE member Carly Marten, an LSA junior who participated in the die-

in, spoke directly to Tamir in reference to Palestinian casualties during protests this month. “Literally your organization just shot down 700 people in Gaza and you want me to write down my thoughts on a notecard about that?” she said. “You are a terrorist. You’ve been calling people terrorists all day and you yourself work for a terrorist organization.” When Tamir began to answer, she grabbed her backpack and left the auditorium. LSA sophomore Alex Harris, who helped facilitate the event, wrote in an email he admired how Tamir responded to the protesters at the event. “I was impressed with the way Mr. Tamir engaged with people with differing opinions from his own,” he wrote. “He demonstrated that even the conf licting narratives surrounding the IsraeliPalestinian conf lict can be bridged through productive conversation if we respect and acknowledge each other and our unique perspectives. I believe that this is the only way that real, positive change will happen.”

administration can be held accountable for its lack of program recognition. Rackham student Ivy Wei sat on the panel, explaining her own experiences growing up in a Midwestern area that lacked cultural diversity, speaking on the importance of ensuring representation in the current narrative. “When I was growing up in the Midwest, I really didn’t see any cultural or media representations of myself,” Wei said. “It’s really important for us to reclaim that narrative of who we are and what we are in society.” Lawsin expressed similar sentiments, explaining the first time she worked with teachers and professors who shared her

cultural identity was when she was ethnic studies student. The educators provided Lawsin with resources to more deeply study figures and theories that shaped her identity. “Ethnic studies changed my life because for the first time I actually had teachers and professors in front of me who looked like me and I could read about all of these people who were like me and like my parents and our family,” Lawsin said. “I think it’s very important for us to realize that here in the Midwest, unlike the West coast where I grew up, we have so few Asian Americans in leadership positions, at the front of the classroom … or even in administrative positions here in the University. We have to

Thursday, April 12, 2018 — 3

ask, ‘Why? Why is that?’ And I think that’s why A/PIA studies is important to me, because it allows us to look at those things, to study those things, and to talk about those so we can actually make some serious social change.” The beginnings of AsianAmerican studies didn’t come without conflict, Kurashige emphasized. Protests, police brutality and riots erupted as students in universities began demanding for the existence of these programs. Even more alarming, he noted, is these programs were established only recently— despite centuries of cultural struggles. “The important thing to realize is that the first Asian-American studies programs were created 50

Walker said. “They would call a special dish ‘Indian food’ even though that food could be found throughout Southeast Asia. The RAs caught wind of this and complained to the Hall Director and the Hall Director ended up shutting it down before they let the Multicultural Council know about it.” Walker said he understood why people did not want to go through with the event. He realized incorrect labeling — such as calling a multiethnic dish “Indian” — could result in the exclusion of members from other countries in Southeast Asia. “If MDining would have went through with it, then it would have looked bad for students who are from Southeast Asia who (would have) walked in and said, ‘Oh, I have this in my country,’ or ‘This is not limited to India,’” Walker said. “I wasn’t upset about (cancelling the event) because the reasoning behind it made sense.” As a member of a multicultural council, Walker emphasized the importance of thoroughly planning events to involve other nationalities so all cultures are accurately represented. “It’s not easy to push for multicultural events because you have to take a whole bunch of factors into consideration,” Walker said. “You have to make sure you aren’t offending anyone and make sure you’re being respective of different sensitivities.” MDining Marketing Coordinator Elliott Rains said he appreciated the feedback from various East Quad community members. “I know that (MDining) did have some meetings with RAs, and they did have some concerns that it would not be authentic,” Rains said. “We always want to be respective of the cultures in the room and the cultures that we serve on a day-to-day basis, so anytime people bring to us they feel they’re culture is being misrepresented, we want to hear their concerns. I think that was an instance that happened where we have some RAs and some housing staff members bring their concerns to us.” However, since this incident, East Quad has made increased efforts to serve quality international food. For example, this semester, the unit partnered with the Office of Student Life to begin talks around including an improved selection of Middle Eastern and North African food in dining halls. Rains explained while the increased efforts to serve were not in direct response to the incident in East Quad, MDining is aiming to ensure a more inclusive campus environment and worked to improve its menus and provide authentic food from different areas of the world. “It was not necessarily a reactionary measure; it was something that we have been working on for a while,” Rains said. “We have internal trainings that we do and external trainings that we do. I think it just kind of compliments the theme that this is in an incident where people had concerns, and we’re working on this at the same time and as we’re doing these trainings we are getting better at representing people’s cultures and bringing people recipes that are authentic to their culture.”

years ago. The student strikes to create them started 50 years ago,” Kurashige said. “It was because people demanded these programs … They wanted to change what we studied, but they also wanted to change the power dynamics in education.” Kurashige further highlighted struggles of the A/PIA program at the University, noting the program currently does not have a full staff, a large budget and even lacks a sign. Furthermore, Kurashige spoke on difficulties with past and present LSA deans while attempting to make coordinated efforts to boost the program. He expressed his opinions on the faults of administration, noting their actions go against A/PIA

Director of Student Engagement Keith Soster said MDining’s learning objectives when researching multicultural foods include understanding the history of the food, identifying ingredients and spices used, practicing cooking techniques common in ethnic dishes and analyzing existing recipes. He also underscored MDining’s commitment to DEI initiatives through food. “Researching and training around international authentic cuisine speaks to the DEI work that we are all embracing on campus, and we want to serve food that students want and, because we have a diverse community, we are listening,” Soster said. Along with incorporating student feedback, Rains explained MDining is working with chefs who specialize in international cuisines to increase the cultural food authenticity. Most recently, MDining has worked with a chef from India and a chef from Japan. The dining program has also worked with students to create halal, plant-based and kosher menus. “One thing we’re really trying to emphasize this year is bringing in different perspectives on a lot of different things,” Rains said. “So last month we brought in a chef from India to work on some of our Indian recipes, and we also brought in a chef from Japan to work on some of our Asian and Japanese restaurants as well. You can bring in as many chefs as you want, and I think our chefs are learning a lot in these training processes. But it’s the student feedback we get that is ever evolving.” Though MDining is making an effort to improve the international foods available to students, Walker discussed how the exclusive partnership between MDining and various campus buildings can be restrictive in terms of what food students can cater for cultural events they want to hold. “In order to get food, we have to get it from MCatering or from MDining. You can’t order outside food, and it is to my understanding that they do not offer an incredible array of cultural foods,” Walker said. “The few that they do offer, they often don’t cook it well, so natives of respective countries and cultures complain about it.” East Quad Hall Council member Lauren Lee, an LSA sophomore, noted MDining’s willingness to work with students and take feedback into account in response to catering complications. In an email to The Daily, Lee wrote she was pleased with MDining’s effort to provide cultural food. “MDining still served dishes that Hall Council requested and really took our feedback about this event,” Lee said. “I really appreciated them for this because we chose this theme and we chose a list of countries we wanted to see represented.” Moving forward, Walker emphasized how he hoped more thoughtful research would be conducted both on the part of multicultural councils and MDining to ensure an inclusive environment. “I think that people should do their research – both multicultural councils and dining,” Walker said. They should do their research to make sure that the food that they’re providing under the name of the culture they’re providing is accurate and inclusive.”

program efforts to increase institutional equity. “There are clear rules as to how these programs are governed, and when you ask (the deans) for the rules, they change them,” Kurashige said. “(The programs) really set up to fail and the only way they can succeed is if you find faculty that care enough to devote lots of free labor to the University. I think the deans need to be held accountable for these decisions.” In addition, panelists spoke on the current campus climate and necessary changes to promote the diverse atmosphere the administration advertises.

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Opinion

4 — Thursday, April 12, 2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

ISAIAH ZEAVIN-MOSS | COLUMN

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KRYSTAL HUR | COLUMN

Emasculation and “yellow fever”

s children, my friends and I used to watch TV shows, usually produced by Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. Some of our favorites included “Hannah Montana” and “Drake and Josh.” We idolized the characters and the actors who played them, and, of course, with such media consumption came childhood crushes. From what I remember, glossy posters of teenage heartthrobs Jesse McCartney and Justin Bieber covered many girls’ bedroom walls. The “Twilight” craze that came later resulted in perhaps one of the most talked about debates for not just teenagers, but all fans of the franchise: Team Edward or Team Jacob? However, as far as I can remember, there were no Asian characters, other than the occasional extra who served a role that fulfilled stereotypes, such as a “math nerd.” There certainly wasn’t anyone worthy of having a crush on. This kind of limited and often flat portrayal of Asians bolsters the message that all Asians are damned to be “nerdy” and weak. This depiction of Asians aligns with a general consensus in American society that Asian people are not attractive, or are attractive for reasons rooted in disgusting and untrue stereotypes. These messages are not only false but perpetuate harmful stereotypes about Asians that homogenize them. Interestingly enough, Asian men and Asian women are defined by differing stereotypes, with Asian men often emasculated and Asian women fetishized. Steve Harvey mocked Asian men on his talk show in early 2017 by first stating no woman would ever want to date a man of Asian descent and then asking, “You like Asian men? I don’t even like Chinese food, boy. It don’t stay with you no time. I don’t eat what I can’t pronounce.” He later apologized for his comments on Twitter, claiming the “humor was not meant with any malice or disrespect whatsoever.” It’s interesting to note he believed stating that all men of Asian descent are not attractive would not be offensive. Is it so deeply ingrained in society that Asian men

are not attractive that it’s not even considered to be offensive to joke about it? Obviously, that’s not the case for everyone, since Harvey’s joke received backlash for its insensitivity. In a New York Times op-ed titled “Hey, Steve Harvey, Who Says I Might Not Steal Your Girl?” Eddie Huang, the writer of TV series “Fresh Off the Boat,” wrote, “Attractiveness is a very haphazard dish that can’t be boiled down to height or skin color, but Asian men are told that regardless of what the idyllic mirepoix is or isn’t, we just don’t have the ingredients.” He further discussed how after hearing Harvey’s jokes, he “told (himself) that it was all a lie, but the structural emasculation of Asian men in all forms of media became a selffulfilling prophecy that produced an actual abhorrence to Asian men in the real world.” In contrast, Asian women are fetishized for their supposed heightened femininity, and such a perception has birthed the term “yellow fever.” Yellow fever is when men, often Caucasian, have a strong sexual preference for East Asian women. This offensive exoticization of Asian women can be seen both in media and in everyday life: the musical “Miss Saigon,” which depicts a tragic love story between a white U.S. GI and Kim, a South Vietnamese bar girl, supports stereotypes that Asian women are docile and weak. Tim Teeman reveals in “Sexism, Race and the Mess of ‘Miss Saigon’ on Broadway” Kim is represented as a woman who lacks agency, stating “Kim’s solo songs … are ones of sacrifice and the impossibility of dreams or love being fulfilled. She is often lying down, looking up and cowering. The one moment where she takes action against a villain gets a resounding cheer — and she is only then protecting her son.” Kim’s depiction in “Miss Saigon” exemplifies widespread beliefs in America that while Asian women can be beautiful, their beauty only comes from their supposed weakness and ability to “take care” of others. Such characterizations affect Asian women in everyday life, and these effects are not limited to the United States. In an article from

the British paper The Telegraph titled “‘Yellow fever’ fetish: Why do so many white men want to date a Chinese woman?” writer Yuan Ren explains how she is affected by stereotypes. She writes, “I’ve heard my Caucasian friends recommend to their male, single mates that they should date ‘nice Chinese girls,’ with the added bonus that Chinese women are far more sexually openminded than Caucasian girls.” She also mentions one interaction, writing, “One acquaintance told me in wonderment that Chinese women are great in the bedroom — as if I wasn’t one — to being casually asked if I’d be interested in a guy ‘who has been with Chinese girls and likes it.’” These interactions took place in the United Kingdom, but similar ones exist in other places as well. The media’s portrayal of Asian people homogenizes a diverse group of people who are resilient, and yes, attractive. Promoting stereotypes about Asian people, unintentionally or not, only serves to further alienate Asian people from American society by establishing them as an “other” defined solely by untrue stereotypes. I’ve seen this type of behavior in my life, with people automatically assuming I must be uninteresting and bookish because I’m Asian-American, as well as people emasculating my Asian-American male peers. People expect me to by shy and docile, when they don’t expect such characteristics of people who aren’t Asian, and are surprised when they find out I am neither. Such preconceived notions about people of Asian descent are unfounded and need to stop being perpetuated. Asian men are attractive, and it is through their strength that they are able to achieve success in a society that tells them that they are not goodlooking or interesting enough. Asian women are not sexual objects meant to cater to men’s sexual fantasies and they possess powerful agency. It is time that the media treats people of Asian descent with respect and create a truthful depiction of what it means to be Asian. Krystal Hur can be reached at kryshur@umich.edu.

HANNAH MYERS | CONTACT HANNAH AT HSMYERS@UMICH.EDU

Reflections on bargain jargon

write this on Monday, April 9, the day that the Lecturers’ Employee Organization was initially going to begin its work strike, protesting the University of Michigan’s hypocrisy and greed in their ongoing bargaining negotiations. Before I provide my take on this movement, with which I have become pretty involved over the past several weeks, I want to provide some statistics. Right now, the minimum salary for a lecturer is $34,500 in Ann Arbor, $28,300 in Dearborn and $27,300 in Flint. Lecturers frequently work second and third jobs — as baristas, Uber drivers or teachers at other schools — to make a livable wage. On Feb. 12, in its first salary counterproposal, the University offered a $1,000 increase in 2019, a $750 increase in 2020 and a $500 increase in 2021. On March 23, in its second counterproposal, the University offered to increase minimum salaries by $2,000 in 2019 and 2020, providing 2.25 percent annual raises over three years in Ann Arbor, but giving nothing at all to lecturers already making above the minimum salaries. Finally, in its third counterproposal March 28, the University offered a $5500 starting salary increase for lecturers only in Ann Arbor, while offering no new negotiations for either of the University’s other two campuses. And then, last night, the University offered a $10,000 increase in minimum salary wages in Ann Arbor and a $7,500 increase in Dearborn and Flint. This was the most significant movement with respect to salary so far, so LEO decided not to strike and to continue bargaining, with the hopes that they now have the necessary momentum to move forward. I provide this timeline to convince you of one crucial fact: The University’s ostensibly benevolent move Sunday night was not anything besides it realizing it cannot continue to disrespect its lecturers. A strike would make bad optics at this school, which loves more than anything else to tout its legacies and its traditions, as it prepares to celebrate the annual Commencement ceremonies. This

shift in the bargaining only took place because of the tireless efforts of LEO and its allies who have consistently packed bargaining rooms and organized a substantial campaign effort on all three U-M campuses. Please, in trying to understand why this happened, focus on the grassroots work that has happened to force the hands of our administrators. Now, a few reflections on my experiences as an ally working with LEO. These bargaining meetings are incredible affairs to take part in. Here’s why: The work going on at the bargaining table is extremely boring. We, the allies — lecturers, people’s families, etc. — sit in chairs set up for us with our computers and notebooks in hand, passing the time, looking up now and then to see what’s going on, feeling frustrated that we cannot hear anything or, even when we can, that we cannot understand the bargain jargon, inhaling a rush of body odor pouring off of us in this humid, disgusting room, wondering why someone can’t just open a window and then ultimately returning to our homework with a wry smile as we look around at all of the friends with whom we sit, knowing we are in solidarity, knowing we are on the right side of history. My experiences at these bargaining meetings — along with the gradual progress the various grassroots protest demonstrations have created — have furthermore taught me another crucial fact: Protest is often boring. It often takes place in crowded, sweaty rooms where nothing is officially happening. Where the task is to wait — nothing glamorous or loud or spectacular to show for it. Just a bunch of smelly people crowded together in a bland, fluorescently lit room who have decided to attend this meeting out of a sense that how we treat our lecturers represents how this University, in practice — as opposed to all of the chitchat about the Leaders and Best — fosters inclusive, egalitarian, participatory community. Family members shared stories about why they need their spouses to earn more money for their newly-born child.

Tenured professors offered heartwrenching testimonies about their colleagues. Students whose University experiences have been fundamentally transformed by lecturers told their own stories. And, of course, lecturers themselves described the everyday struggles into which the University has forced them. For all skeptics of this movement, I suggest going to an open bargaining meeting. I suggest speaking to these lecturers and their allies about this movement, about what it means to them. I suggest hearing their stories, so as to humanize the people whose lives are at stake. This is my last column for The Daily, because I’m graduating in a few weeks, and I would just like to say these experiences have made me proud to be part of this community. They’ve taught me education does not need a classroom or a university to support it; in fact, these deeply educational experiences have taken place as a university specifically tries to suppress them. We can make our own education in small, unexpected (humid, sweaty) pockets. We can form our own communities, working against or outside of any institutional affiliation. It seems like this is the direction life heads toward now: finding solidarity and community on our own terms, knowing it can take place and grow in surprising ways and places. Living life curiously, open to this possibility. It all comes back to perception: As Henry David Thoreau wrote, “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of (a person) to elevate (their) life by conscious endeavor.” Join a movement you believe in, invest in the community that movement creates, look around and, despite the sweat and the humidity and the stubborn, cruel administrators trying to stamp you out, that community will not falter. And you will grow into yourself, as an individual, as a social being, as a thinker and a writer and a citizen of the world, all the time. Isaiah Zeavin-Moss can be reached at izeavinm@umich.edu.

ERIK NESLER | COLUMN

Maybe Trump isn’t so bad

ournalists Mary Jordan and Scott Clement of The Washington Post recently wrote a piece on the surge of political activism experienced throughout the nation in response to the Donald Trump presidency. The two wrote, “One in five Americans have protested in the streets or participated in political rallies since the beginning of 2016. Of those, 19 percent said they had never before joined a march or a political gathering.” This involvement is both unprecedented and inspiring. It is also absolutely necessary if we want to change the status quo. Jordan and Clement attribute much of this activism to Trump. Whether they love or hate him, Americans are playing more active roles in our democracy. People are actually caring. Even if you’re unhappy with Trump, something good may come out of his presidency. As I began writing this column, I couldn’t help but think of a piece written by Co-Editorial Page Editor Anu Roy-Chaudhury in September 2016 titled “Maybe we needed a Trump.” Though she wrote the piece before Trump was elected, I believe her arguments have become more and more relevant with time. Roy-Chaudhury discussed how the Trump candidacy had, to a certain extent, given a voice to previously uninvolved Americans. Trump garnered significant support during the election by shining a light on this group of individuals — specifically people who felt cheated by the

political establishment after experiencing great hardship as a result of the advancing economy. These members of our society, who Roy-Chaudhury properly labeled “neighbors,” deserve to be heard. Since the election, people have turned to books like “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance in an attempt to understand what life is like for these displaced Americans. Vance gives us a slight glimpse into the lives of this highly marginalized group of individuals. Even if you disagree with their political ideologies and beliefs, it is important to be aware of what our neighbors are feeling. However, Trump has given more than just this group a voice. He has prompted all sorts of people to speak their mind and become more involved in politics. The Women’s March, a protest that sprung up immediately following Trump’s inauguration and has become a global phenomenon, is a powerful force advocating not only for women’s rights and gender equality but also for racial equality and LGBTQ rights. The recent March for Our Lives demonstrations that called for tighter gun control also reveal the heightened political activism experienced throughout the nation. Protesting is one way people are showing their discontent with the current status quo. Deciding to attend may seem trivial, but protests can have lasting effects: Suffragists marched for the passage of the 19th amendment, and protesters pushed along the Civil Rights

movement. People are also taking more behind-the-scenes political action by contributing to or volunteering for certain campaigns. I volunteered for a local campaign my first year at the University of Michigan, and it was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had in my undergraduate career. You don’t need to be out protesting to make a difference. The Trump presidency has also prompted an unprecedented number of women to run for seats in the House of Representatives in this upcoming midterm election; there are currently 548 female candidates that will be campaigning in the coming months. Despite making up just over half of the population, women make up only 20 percent of Congress. I hope this surge in the number of women candidates can bring about a more balanced Congress. Though I disapprove of Trump, I acknowledge his presidency may be advantageous to our democracy in the long run. We need more and more people getting involved politically, especially considering that 40 percent of eligible voters haven’t voted in the most recent presidential elections. Instead of sitting idly by for another election, Trump has motivated scores of people to take action to change the status quo. Maybe Trump isn’t so bad after all. To echo Anu RoyChaudhury, maybe we needed a Trump. Erik Nesler can be reached at egnesler@umich.edu.

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Arts

5 — Thursday, April 12, 2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

MUSIC

Roundtable: on the importance of album cover art Music writers of Daily Arts understand the importance that lies within an attractive binding and how an album’s cover can offer a glimpse of the story its music contains. Thus, in no particular order, we have compiled a list of our favorite works of album art. packaging. It’s minimalist, it’s raw and instead of augmenting an album’s innate qualities of massproduction and digitization with life and creativity as album art typically aims to do, it DEF JAM RECORDINGS completely Yeezus, Kanye West embraces the album’s CD-ness. Yeezus: The anti-cover. What Ironically, these characteristics better feature for our series (or lack thereof) brilliantly mimic about cover art than an album the tone of the album. Sonically, with no cover at all? For his sixth Yeezus differs drastically from studio album, established hip- Ye’s traditionally warm and hop innovator Kanye West took polished sound, instead offering a step toward the avant-garde, a chaotic array of unfiltered, bringing the design of its cover digital mush. Its tracks are cold, with him. The Yeezus “cover” is abrasive and overwhelmingly best discussed in terms of a CD artificial — attributes that a plain, and case, as the digital version metallically reflective compact is simply an image of the two: disc perfectly embodies. For With no design aside from a small example, “On Sight” is both parts square of red sealant tape, the a jarring imitation of Afrika physical Yeezus disc is completely Bambaataa’s condensed electro exposed through its clear, plastic beats of the ’80s and a brilliant

Doolittle, Pixies Doolittle by the Pixies stands as one of the most influential rock records since its release in 1989. It moves through poppy instrumentals with perfect bass lines that contrast its dark subject matter referencing biblical violence, surrealism and death. These things melt into one cohesive album that conjure up an unsettling feeling, and Doolittle’s iconic album cover gives those feelings a face. Frontman Francis Black gave the album’s lyrics to photographer Simon Larbalestier and artist Vaughan Oliver, allowing them to make images directly related to the songs. They produced multiple images: everything from a stark black and white photograph of a crab and broken boot to represent the mentioned crustaceans on “Wave of Mutilation” to a chipped, broken bell that queues the “ringing bell” in “I Bleed.” After much pondering, Black chose the uncanny and memorable image of the monkey with a halo on its head under a layer of odd geometric shapes. The image recalls the song “Monkey Gone To Heaven,” as Black’s harsh voice gives purpose to the three numbers branded

on the cover: five, six and seven. Black sings, “If man is five / Then the Devil is six / And if the Devil is six / Then God is seven,” with a gutwrenching shriek emphasized on “God” that lingers in your eardrums. In a Consequence of Sound review, they mention a quote by Black explaining that “Mr. Grieves” is about Death in mythology. A line in the songs references Dr. Doolittle embodying Death because they are both people who pass through multiple planes of existence. Black says, “The ‘man in the middle’ is Dr. Doolittle, because if you could speak to the animals you would be the great link between mankind and the animal world,” making the monkey a symbol of the otherworldly. The cover has a distinct feeling of distortion with its grey and red

Seek Magic, Memory Tapes I first came across Seek Magic during Mar. of my senior year of high school. I was a Future Islands fanatic — some things never change — and my obsession with the band set me down a winding path that ultimately led to ’70s and ’80s inspired synth-pop revival and doused-out chill wave in equal measure. I was knee-deep in the youth lagoon, if you will, encountering Twin Shadow, Chromatics, Wild Nothing, Washed Out, Craft Spells and Neon Indian for the first time. Somehow, maybe through Spotify’s “Related Artists” feature or a 2009 “Best Of” list, I stumbled upon Memory Tapes and Seek Magic caught my eye. The album’s cover art could be mistaken for a sun or waterdamaged photograph from afar, but it’s actually a painting, though it’s difficult to tell what of. I’ve tried many times over the past three years to find information on the cover’s artist, but never succeeded. Memory Tapes has a Bandcamp page, but Seek Magic is glaringly absent, and the album’s Wikipedia page is about as helpful. Left to my own devices, I have always imagined that the artist’s goal was to challenge the border between the above and the below, the sea and the sky. What seem to be clouds line the top of the image, while the lower two thirds consist of reflective strips, like inconsistent little pools of oil whose iridescence causes

their reflections to be unfaithful replications of reality. The centerpiece of the cover is plain to see but difficult to describe. Intuition tells me that it’s an island — a distant one, certainly — either peeking out from the water or hanging in midair. Whatever the case may be, the sum total of the landscape’s features seems to represent a magical half-reality, suitable given the album’s dreamy feel. “Swimming Field,” the album’s first cut, begins with the sound that insects make in the night at warmer latitudes. The familiar drone of bugs is punctuated by a dog’s bark even further in the background — you might miss it if you’re not listening on headphones. The effect is immediate nostalgia at its purest and most intense, and a feeling of space, like walking down an empty street somewhere in coastal Fla.. There’s no sidewalk, but no cars either, so you amble along the side of the road, appreciating more than usual both the light provided by street lamps and the space in between them. While the

example of the power of gospel sampling, either section starkly contrasted without traditional regard for blend or balance; “I’m In It” boasts a gigantic, angry beat that could be classified as some corelary of rap metal with ear-piercing screeches to match. It’s only appropriate that the album’s cover breaks the mold as well. In 2013, Ye ranted about Yeezus and its cover: “With this album we ain’t drop no single to radio. We ain’t got no NBA campaign, nothing like that. Shit, we ain’t even got no cover. We just made some real music.” Disgruntled with the state of the music industry in 2013, viewing pop radio as uninspired, Ye indicated that an additional motivation for a coverless album was to recenter focus strictly on the album’s content. This was an especially strong decision given that Yeezus is difficult to digest upon first listen; any additional art would have made the record’s dark experimentation overwhelming and unpalatable. Instead, Yeezy let the CD speak for itself.

Revolver, The Beatles Prior to Revolver, Beatles album covers had been fairly straightforward photos of the four members, and although Rubber Soul did feature a marijuana-fueled distortion of their faces, Revolver was still a major departure. The cover consists of drawings of the Fab Four rather than photographs, intermingled with a psychedelic collage in black and white, which was a subversive artistic decision in an era where intense color was de rigueur. This was the cover art of a band who had begun to take their work more seriously, certain now that this was not just pop music — it was art. Paul had immersed himself in the London avant-garde scene, devouring anything hip and interesting, from Stockhausen to cocaine. This

— Mike Watkins, Daily Arts Writer

included tape loop collages — a sonic innovation that would find its way onto the ultra-experimental closer “Tomorrow Never Knows” (and in a much more extreme form on John’s “Revolution 9” a few years later). On the cover Paul is looking outward, much like how he spent the Revolver era searching for external inspiration, synthesizing the innovations of his time with The Beatles’ pre-existing musical sensibilities (visually reflected in how the old images of The Beatles are melded with the nouveau illustration of Klaus Voormann). John, conversely, had become reclusive — eating acid, watching TV and idling in Ringo’s garden. His withdrawn and contrary worldview emerged in songs like “I’m Only Sleeping” and “And Your Bird Can Sing,” and is also reflected in the subversive black and white cover art. When most were moving towards technicolor psychedelia, The Beatles eschewed color altogether. Lennon’s gaze on the

cover is shifty-eyed and his face is partially obscured, looking with near-condescension at the older images of the mop-top Beatles, an era he was soon to reject. George is the only Beatle to be looking directly at the viewer, coming into his own creatively on the record from his original pieces (in particular, the Indian-influenced “Love You To”) to his scorching guitar parts on songs like “She Said She Said” and “And Your Bird Can Sing.” The quiet Beatle began to find his voice on Revolver, and his intense gaze on the cover suggests that he intends to be heard. Finally, Ringo is gazing upwards, a receptive pose befitting the Beatle whose role was to support the others on their creative journey — his drum-playing never missing a beat — despite the fact that he himself never instigated any of this development, from his brain-crushing thumps on “Tomorrow Never Knows” to his intense technical performance on “She Said She Said.” The cover of Revolver is emblematic not just because it is visually engaging, but because it captures the spirit and sound of the album. It is the audacious epitome of a moment when The Beatles made their biggest leap from pop icons to art musicians. — Jonah Mendelson, Daily Arts Writer

PARLOPHONE

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colors. They match the rustic tone of Black’s voice throughout the record, especially in songs like “Dead,” when his voice seeps into a indistinguishable abyss of sound as he sings, “You’re suffocating you need a good shed / I’m tired of living, shebe, so gimme / Dead.” The record’s constant references to death and things beyond paired with the creepy cover pushes listeners into a curious middle ground of light and darkness melting together in entropy. — Selena Aguilera, Daily Arts Writer

album art alone might not merit the recognition I’ve given it, the interplay between the visual and aural within this album especially has always stuck with me. Lyrics are subdued throughout, and the general mood is one of longing. For me, this has always meant longing for the past, for simplicity and the space to not feel so bad about being lazy. This idea of the past as being perfectly simple isn’t an accurate one though, thoroughly colored by rosy retrospection. Seek Magic’s fantastical landscape is analogous to the places that populate my memories. It exists as they exist, certainly there but not quite real, tantalizing and comforting in that I can never quite return to the place I recall, because I was never actually there. — Sean Lang, Daily Arts Writer

SOMETHING IN CONSTRUCTION

The Kick Inside, Kate Bush The UK release cover of The Kick Inside by ethereal songstress Kate Bush has always been one of my favorite examples of album art, from the moment I first saw it to every time it comes up on my phone to this day. A stark yellow background embellished with red details, the cover exudes the brilliant life of the record’s contents — the debut album for Bush and the first chance the world had to experience her genius. In the artwork, Bush appears to be exploding out of a watchful eye on a sail of fire, surrounded by swirling Chinoiserie fabric and a title written out in careful calligraphy. The bright contrast between the red and yellow of the cover shows the lively and beautifully alien aspects of Bush’s work in one glance, as each portion of the art works together in a strange yet innovative manner. If there was anything to describe The Kick Inside, that would be it: strange, yet innovative.

Carrying her top single and most memorable song from the album, “Wuthering Heights,” the album was released to international acclaim, yet this haunting cover art did not go with it everywhere. The United States release of The Kick Inside instead bares just a photo of Bush comfortably sitting, wearing jeans and a red blouse, supposedly more appealing to an American audience who wasn’t so adapted to the intrigue of Bush’s artistic sensibilities. Nonetheless, the UK cover became the accepted version of the album, and its longevity has carried Bush’s wonderful weirdness into the

hands of many since its release. This is a record you can truly judge by its cover, because the art is a perfect replication of what lays within — a lasting and memorable show of a young Bush’s prodigal talent and “it” factor which echoes into the present.

Melodrama, Lorde When I think of the summer of 2017, I think of driving and I think of Lorde’s Melodrama. My first time listening to the album in full was during my daily commute from home to campus, where I was taking classes for the summer. The most vivid memory I have of that experience is hearing “Homemade Dynamite” f loat through my car speakers like some sort of chilling dream: “We’ll end up painted on the road / Red and chrome / All the broken glass sparkling.”

Most of the albums I listen to are black and red, not just in color scheme, but also in tone. More often than not, artists will fixate on a single emotion, weaving it in and out of every single track until LAVA RECORDS it positively blots out everything else, which doesn’t leave much room for nuance. Take My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge; although the pace changes slightly from song to song, anyone who isn’t particularly into the genre might not be able to pick apart the tiny differences that separate the individual tracks. My favorite part about Melodrama is how complete it is: There’s a song for every single emotion on the spectrum. Underlying it all is a somber, brilliant blue

that Lorde somehow manages to balance just right. There’s the slow, heartbreaking build of “Liability” that renders it Melodrama’s ultimate sad song, contrasted with the dramatized, deceptively bright “Green Light” and the heartracing, free-falling beat that drives “Perfect Places.” The vivid brights of Melodrama’s album art are the sights to the sound, the precise visual manifestation of how much of herself Lorde puts into her work. On Melodrama, Lorde condenses the essence of teenage relationships in all of their turbulent glory, from the before to the during to the after, and does it all without abandon. She leaves us with a final parting gift: an image of her at her most striking, when she’s unf linchingly staring right at the viewer.

— Clara Scott, Daily Arts Writer

EMI RECORDS

— Sam Lu, Daily Arts Writer

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Arts

6 —Thursday, April 12, 2018

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

TV REVIEW

COMMUNITY CULTURE COLUMN

‘Vice’ explores juvenile justice in Beauty of ‘Angels a moving sixth season premiere in America’ lies in the confusion MAITREYI ANANTHARAMAN Daily Arts Writer

The real tragedy of juvenile incarceration is that it robs children of everything we hold dear about youth: all of the innocence, all of the freedom to dream, all of the joy. Early in “Raised in the System,” the first episode of the sixth season of the gritty HBO newsmagazine series “Vice,” an incarcerated young man named Jabar says of the first time he was locked up, “I was 15 years old. Five years before that, I was believing in Santa Claus.” It’s both a haunting remark and a recurring theme throughout this sophisticated, revelatory look at the juvenile justice system. Vice Media’s documentaries have cultivated a bit of a reputation for sending white Brooklynites with unkempt hair to romp around dangerous locales, searching for the likes of Somali warlords and blackmarket kidney brokers. It’s a style that’s grating at best, ignorant at worst and, more often than not, does a disservice to the subject being covered. But “Vice” has an outstanding host in Michael K. Williams (“The Wire”), whose worldview is rooted not in 2010s Williamsburg, but in 1980s East Flatbush. Williams speaks candidly about his own upbringing, marked by drugs and violence, and about his personal interactions with the system. His nephew Dominic, who appears in the episode, was sentenced to 25 years in prison as a teenager. It lends him an instant kind of credibility — rather than being sustained by some perverse sense of adventure, “Raised in the System” feels motivated by Williams’s earnest curiosity about the institutions that have

shaped the lives of his family and community members. The charm and affability that made him so enjoyable to watch as Omar Little on “The Wire”

“Vice” Season Six Premiere HBO Fridays @ 7:30 p.m. is on full display here. Williams is an exceptional interviewer who is able to quickly establish a rapport with each of his subjects — whether they be a distinguished researcher or a seventh grader in Newark. The U.S. has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, and, lately, there has been plenty of excellent media exploring the policy decisions that have got us to this point. Ava DuVernay’s (“Selma”) eyeopening Netflix documentary “13th” dutifully chronicles the

history of incarceration from the era of slavery to the modern prison-industrial complex. Journalist Nell Bernstein’s book “Burning Down the House” tells the story of the cultural and legal origins of juvenile justice. In the opening minutes of “Raised in the System,” we see some brief, damning news clips from the ’80s and ’90s — a Newt Gingrich soundbite is immediately followed by Hillary Clinton’s infamous “superpredator” remarks, reminding us that there’s an equal opportunity blame here. But other than that, the documentary doesn’t spend too much time on history. Instead, “Raised in the System” focuses on where we are now and how people and communities are fighting to solve this problem. The documentary takes us around the country to visit various mentoring organizations and anti-recidivism programs trying to end the school-to-prison pipeline. These all certainly

make for compelling subjects, but “Raised in the System” reaches its emotional heights when Williams speaks with people who have been locked up since youth — the incarcerated people we meet all show keen emotional intelligence and genuine remorse. “Part of me’s glad I’m locked up, because I got my shit together while doing my years,” says 16-year-old prisoner Danielle. “But it don’t take 30 years for you to get your shit together.” And though the episode ends on a somewhat hopeful note, it’s a decidedly bittersweet one that leaves us with some lingering questions: Why do we choose to criminalize adolescence? Why does our society withhold the privilege of screwing up from Black youth? How much potential have we sentenced to waste away behind bars? What have we done? The issue at hand is a daunting, generational problem, and Williams has treated it with needed urgency and gravity.

HBO

Classifieds RELEASE DATE– Thursday, April 12, 2018

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ACROSS 1 Jay-Z output 6 Reach great heights 10 Attempt 14 White house? 15 Fair 16 Bear in the heavens 17 Carnivores 19 Invite abbr. 20 Job application fig. 21 Hang around 22 “National Velvet” sister 24 Appliance needed for a hot bath 26 Got the ball rolling? 30 Smooth-talking 31 “60 Minutes” regular 32 Improvised jazz part 34 Element Prometheus stole from Olympus 38 Latvia and Lithuania, once 41 Harbinger of spring 42 “Beetle Bailey” dog 43 1990s-2000s skating champ Slutskaya 44 Davenport’s place 46 1974 hit with Spanish lyrics 47 2015 NFL controversy involving air pressure 52 Italy’s __ Coast 53 Like arf and meow 54 Hallucinogenic letters 57 “Pleeease?” 58 It consists of a couple of couples ... and, when divided differently, a hint to something hidden in 17-, 24-, 38- and 47-Across 61 Writer Shere 62 Avant-garde 63 Font flourish 64 “Regrettably ... ”

65 Grasps 66 Like horror films DOWN 1 What “nothin’ but net” shots don’t touch 2 Periods 3 Not leave things to chance 4 Foldable bed 5 Succeeds 6 Tuned to 7 Daisy variety 8 Car ad abbr. 9 Botanical source of vitamin C 10 Commuter’s cost 11 “Have a taste” 12 In harmony 13 Kiddie lit elephant 18 Somewhat 23 __ Taco 25 Lover of Shakespeare? 26 Sibilant “Yo!” 27 Its motto is “Industry” 28 “Cheerio!” 29 Jittery condition 32 Curriculum __: résumé 33 Brief writer, briefly

35 Words before and after “what” 36 Dollars for quarters 37 Biblical twin 39 Good times for beachcombing 40 Indefatigable 45 Lummox 46 Lat. shortener 47 Russian country house 48 Online message

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HAPPY

THURSDAY

This past Thursday, I attended universally accepted as a a performance of the School of primary, or most correct and allMusic, Theater & Dance’s “Angels encompassing interpretation. in America” written by Tony I first analyzed the piece in Kushner. It was an incredibly my high school A.P. Literature intense experience. While I am class. Given the level of this class, still not sure what the play was we chose to use the religious trying to convey, I am sure that it interpretation of the work. is an important message. Godot’s name was taken as proof As soon as I got home from of the God-like symbolism of this the play, I set out trying to find character. We spoke about the different interpretations of loss of faith in the interwar and the play online. The dominant post-World-War generations, theme, as I learned, was the idea trying to connect Godot’s absence of community and throughout the play the groupings that with the questions separate members of being raised about a larger community. God and the role of This interpretation is God in 20th-century backed by Kushner’s Europe. assertion that “the While this question I am trying interpretation suited to ask is how broad is a the class quite well, it community’s embrace. never quite satisfied How wide does it my understanding reach?” He claims the of the play. Beckett work focuses on the himself was reported boundaries between to have explained SAMMY communities and SUSSMAN that the play is “all identities in American symbiosis.” Ignoring culture, particularly the questions of the during the Reagan years. authenticity that surround this To me, however, this thematic quote, I have always found the concept is wholly inadequate in very idea of symbiosis as the describing the significance and focus of the play to be unhelpful meaning of the play. This concept and unsatisfying. How can an is the driving force behind the entire play be about symbiosis? play, the lifeblood of its plot. But Is symbiosis not a basic aspect of it does not explain the questions the human condition? What can that the play raises or the be gained from understanding messages that it delivers about the play as revolving around contemporary culture. At no point symbiosis? did I find myself questioning the As I have continued to analyze breadth of a community’s reach or these two complex works of the intersection and limitations of theater, I have slowly begun to these communities. If anything, understand that their complex, the contraction of communities illusory meanings are what occurring throughout the play was make them so engaging. In all predictable from the beginning, my conversations about “Angels the boundaries between in America” I have never once communities already having been found myself holding the same clearly defined by the audience’s understanding of the play that I preconceptions. The divisions did before. And whenever I chose based on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, for example, conform neatly to what one would expect of society during the Reagan years. What then, I asked myself, was the meaning of the play? This was four days after I had attended the performance. I had been thinking about the play almost constantly in that time, and yet I was no closer to reaching an answer to this question than I had been when I left the theater. If anything, I found myself moving farther and farther away from a coherent answer. I had rejected political themes (too restrictive to the Reagan years); I rejected racial, ethnic and cultural themes (too narrow to fully encompass the religious and political allusions in the play); and I rejected religious themes (too infrequent and inconsequential to the plot as a whole). I had only been able to reject themes that I knew were incorrect. I was yet to find an answer that I found convincing: an understanding of the play that would finally allow me to stop thinking about it. To this end, I was reminded of to revisit “Waiting for Godot” one of my favorite plays, Samuel I find new thematic ideas and Beckett’s monumental “Waiting cultural references that lead me in for Godot.” This work, and the different interpretive directions. enigma surrounding the work, Fully understanding a has always fascinated me. On magnificent piece of art is the surface, the play is incredibly impossible. One cannot help simple, almost laughably so. The but see one’s ever-changing dialogue can be prohibitively perspectives and experiences confusing when one first hears it reflected in art. One cannot help — the rapid, illogical conversations but see in art what one wants to easier to reject as meaningless find, the various interpretations than to accept as holding some of the piece slowly drifting meaning. It is not uncommon to the surface of one’s own to hear laughter when one first interpretation. witnesses the work, the bizarre Though I still do not fully nature of the dialogue provoking understand Kushner’s “Angels an immediate, though perhaps in America,” I am confident that uninformed, response. I need not understand it to fully The more that one begins to comprehend its beauty. Though analyze and pull apart “Waiting I am no closer to understanding for Godot,” the more that the “Angels in America” than I various intersecting ideas and was when I first witnessed the interpretations of the work begin work, it is the constant journey to venture out from below this to understand art, and not my seemingly humorous surface. theoretical final interpretation, On Wikipedia, interpretations that gives it beauty. Beauty can be of the work fall under many found in confusion and confusion categories: Freudian, Jungian, in beauty. It is the road through existential, ethical, Christian, confusion to finding this beauty autobiographical and even sexual. that gives art its value, and the Each one of these interpretations ever-receding end of this road that capture some aspects of the gives art its timelessness and its play but none have ever been intrigue.

Though I still do not fully understand Kushner’s “Angels in America,” I am confident that I need not understand it to fully comprehend its beauty

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Sports

Thursday, April 12, 2018 — 7

Wagner, Matthews weigh the NBA Michigan takes first loss in Big Ten MARK CALCAGNO Daily Sports Editor

It’s the age-old question The Clash famously put to music in 1982. Should I stay or should I go? That’s the predicament in front of Moritz Wagner, as he mulls leaving Michigan and entering the NBA Draft for the second straight season. As expected, though, the junior center was non-committal about his plans at the Wolverines’ end-of-year banquet on Wednesday. “It’s definitely a good problem to have because I have great options,” Wagner said. “This is the second year in a row with no major injuries, where I can stand here in front of you and try to avoid questions about my future.” Wagner tentatively entered the Draft a season ago, moving without an agent to gain feedback on his abilities and stock. He ultimately decided against it. Scouts said he needed to bolster his defense and rebounding. The NBA was simply “too risky.” But the process wasn’t entirely futile. “(I learned) you got to give yourself time,” Wagner said. “You gotta be selfish, listen to your own heart, gut, talk to your people (and) take the time you need. Obviously,

there are deadlines, but at the end of the day, listen to yourself.” Time is even more of the essence this time around, however. With a late ending to the Wolverines’ season following the run to the Final Four, Wagner has 10 days to decide and meet the league’s April 22 deadline. “I’m old enough now to measure that and be confident in my ability,” Wagner said. “It’s more about a very, very special place, and that’s something that was very important to me last year that I wasn’t ready to (leave).” The readiness of Wagner’s game is, of course, the other side of the equation. Wagner indeed bettered his rebounding, averaging nearly three rebounds more than did a season ago. He also scored a hair below 15 points per game and was virtually unstoppable down the stretch, leading the Wolverines to the National Championship Game. Still, Michigan coach John Beilein — although undoubtedly considerate of his players’ professional aspirations — would rather prospects be overcooked than underdone. “We want you to be over-ready,” Beilein said. “…We’re getting the final information from the different sources. Just make an educated decision, and don’t turn back.”

That’s also the approach Beilein will take in advising Charles Matthews — the redshirt sophomore guard who’s rumored to be pondering the NBA too. After a sluggish start to the Big Ten slate, Matthews excelled down the stretch as he continually picked his spots more efficiently. The turnovers, and more specially the walks, dipped. The field-goal percentage rose. That’s why, suddenly, the Draft is a possibility for the Chicago native. Matthews also has the option of simply testing NBA waters. That was, of course, the choice of Wagner in 2017. Ultimately, it’s a nuisance Beilein sees both sides to. “There’s reasons both ways (to enter or not),” Beilein said. “People have seen them, people have come to our practices. Sometimes, the testing could show weaknesses they’re still developing on. On the other hand, testing could be, ‘Okay, I’m the real deal.’ That’s what we’re all trying to sort out.” Will Matthews be one-and-done in a Michigan uniform? Will Wagner leave for good? One way or another, April 22 is decision day for the pair. “We’ve got a lot of data for (them) to look at,” Beilein said. “And whatever decision (they) make, it’s gonna be a good one.”

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Junior forward Moritz Wagner decided to return for his junior season, and now he weighs his future prospects again.

PAIGE VOEFFRAY Daily Sports Editor

It’s a match she’ll surely want back. Yes, many other components factored into the Michigan women’s tennis team’s loss to Northwestern on Sunday, but all senior Mira Ruder-Hook will remember is the third set she couldn’t close out. After blanking No. 11 Illinois on Saturday, 4-0, the Wolverines entered Sunday ready to face No. 13 Northwestern. The Fighting Illini and the Wildcats were the only two teams that were likely to challenge Michigan for the Big Ten Championship, and due to Northwestern’s narrow 4-3 victory, the title will likely belong to the Wildcats. A lot of different things needed to occur for Ruder-Hook to find herself in the situation she was in. It started with a loss of the doubles point. The Wolverines found a recipe for success against Illinois with a hot start, clinching the doubles point easily with a pair of 6-1 wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles slots. Unfortunately for Michigan, it wasn’t able to do the same against the Wildcats. The point came down to the No. 2 doubles match. After fending off two match points, sophomores Chiara Lommer and Lera Patiuk couldn’t prolong it any further, as Lommer succumbed to an ace up the middle, sealing the point for the Wildcats. It wasn’t ideal, but nothing the Wolverines couldn’t manage. Junior Brienne Minor was the first off the court in singles competition, and she evened the score with a 6-3, 7-5 win. The score was 1-1. As Northwestern’s Inci Oguy tried to close out the match, Patiuk fended her off for as long as she could, but ultimately fell, 6-3, 6-2. The score was 2-1. An unlikely loss from junior Kate Fahey at the No. 1 spot followed quickly after. Fahey never seemed

DARBY STIPE/Daily

Senior Mira Ruder-Hook fell just short in her match-deciding matchup.

to settle into the match, and her frustration was clear in the 6-4, 6-3 loss. The score was 3-1. If anyone else lost their match, it would all be over. If that added extra pressure, it didn’t show. Freshman Alyvia Jones captured a two-set victory easily, winning, 6-4, 6-3. The score was 3-2. With the first set under her belt, Lommer had a safety net. She was down 5-3 in the second set, but had no interest in going to a third. Winning the next four straight games, Lommer took the second set — and the match. The score was 3-3. Ruder-Hook’s teammates had done all they could, and then it was up to her. She fell into an early 5-1 hole, but proceeded to win the next six games to take the first set. Set point was met with dispute — after a long rally, Wildcat Alex Chatt hit the ball just long. Complaints came from Chatt and her coach, but Ruder-Hook was already on her way back to the bench to prepare for the second set. When she returned for the second set, Chatt took it easily, 6-3, slowing Ruder-Hook’s momentum. Instead of a 10-point super tiebreaker, Ruder-Hook and Chatt had the opportunity to play the whole third set out — and it couldn’t have been closer. They traded games back and forth until it seemed as if a tiebreaker was the only option. That is until Ruder-Hook was up 5-4 and

the score was 40-15. She hit it just wide, but two match points remained. She tried to fire a shot down the line and it landed in the middle of the net, but one match point remained. She sailed the ball long, and the score was even again. “It’s not so much strategy, it’s just fighting,” said Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein. “Trying to keep her calm, because really she knows what she has to do there. It’s just being there and supporting her.” By the time the tiebreaker came around, it was anyone’s guess who would take — or even deserved — the match. But Chatt took control of the situation and maintained a solid lead until she closed it out, 7-4. The score was 4-3, and Northwestern was on top. “You’re not changing anything, technique or strategy,” Bernstein said. “It’s just being support because it’s a very stressful situation for a kid. Everything’s on you. “…We just told her to keep her head up and she gave us all she had. There’s still a lot to play for.” The Wolverines are no longer perfect in Big Ten play and will most likely have to relinquish their reign of the Big Ten title. But Michigan did prove it could hang with the best, and if the Wolverines meet the Wildcats in the Big Ten Tournament, the team and RuderHook would want nothing more than to change the outcome.

Sports

8 — Thursday, April 12, 2018

Michigan beats Spartans, 1-0, thanks to defense TIEN LE

Daily Sports Writer

Outstretched and tumbling, Thais Gonzalez dove to tap home just as the Michigan State catcher reeled in the ball and flew toward her in a desperate attempt to get her out. By the slimmest of margins, Gonzalez was safe. The No. 17 Michigan softball team was then tasked with protecting the lead in an otherwise offensively-lacking day. Where the offense failed, the defense thrived, as the Wolverines won, 1-0. “We’re not swinging real well right now,” said Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. “I can’t tell you why, but yesterday, I didn’t think we swung well, and we didn’t swing well tonight. And I think we allowed the opposing pitcher to get in our heads a little bit. “So as a coach, your job is to find another way to get it done, and that’s what we did today. And I knew it was going to be a defensive game, and I was not at all surprised that it was a close game and a low-

scoring game.” The Wolverines put on a clinic defensively, making plays when they needed to be made. Junior catcher Katie Alexander and freshman left-hander Meghan Beaubien understood this and played their roles to perfection. With one out and a runner on first in the top of the second, Beaubien baited the Michigan State batter into swinging with two consecutive rising fast balls, striking her out on a full count. Without a second of hesitation, Alexander rose after catching the final strike and threw a bullet to freshman shortstop Natalia Rodriguez to catch the runner attempting to steal second. With no margin for error, Rodriguez tagged the Spartan to end the inning. Later, with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, Rodriguez threw a rapid, aimless ball to senior first baseman Tera Blanco in hopes of preventing a base hit. It flew nowhere near Blanco and looked due to give extra bases. However, Alexander, in a fundamentally sound play, trailed

the baserunner and stayed close to the dugout so that she would be ready for a play like that. “Every single time there’s a play in the infield, the catchers follow,” Alexander said. “It’s just a routine play. Not all, we don’t throw the ball away a lot, but to be ready for it to actually happen, it just shows that we practice it, so just to be ready for it was cool.” Not only did Alexander assist the defense with plays in the field, but she helped Beaubien on the mound as well mentally. Right after her extra-base-saving play, Alexander met with Hutchins and Beaubien on the mound. They needed to calm the freshman’s nerves. “Tonight, she told me, ‘You were born to do this.’ ” Beaubien said. “And I thought that was really cool, because like, I’ve wanted to be here for so long, and she was just like, ‘Hey, you love this. You want to do this.’ And then you kinda remember, like, ‘Oh yeah, I do,’ and it kinda gets you back in the right mindset. So she’s awesome at knowing what to say at

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Junior catcher Katie Alexander left her impact on Tuesday’s game with strong defense and mental fortitude.

the right time.” Despite the inconsistency, Beaubien still performed at an elite level, recording a shutout. Up until being met at the mound for a conference, she had only allowed two hits and proceeded to close out the game, throwing a groundout and a line out in the final inning before striking out the last batter. While she loaded the counts on more at-bats than usual, she found ways to strike out the batter in many situations — finishing the game with seven strikeouts. On the offensive end, nothing Michigan tried was effective. Until it was. After three scoreless innings — one of which had an error the Wolverines couldn’t exploit — Michigan found its first run in a hustle play by Gonzalez. Alexander found first on a fielder’s choice, and Gonzalez got the nod from Hutchins to do her role: pinch running. When her time came, the sophomore went without hesitation. Freshman designated plater Lou Allan reached first, soon followed by a bunt by sophomore third baseman Madison Uden to advance the bases. Gonzalez was then pushed into the role of designated pinch runner for Allan. On a ground ball up the middle that resulted in a fielder’schoice out at first, Gonzalez kept running around third toward home. Recollecting themselves, the Spartans threw the ball home. But it was too late. With a wrap-around touch of home base, Gonzalez scored the only run of the game. The remaining innings turned into fruitless attempts to add to the lead, however. Stranding six runners on base and recording just six hits all game, the Wolverines failed to find an offensive rhythm for a second game in a row. But it didn’t matter. With a slim lead and an impenetrable defense, Michigan did what it needed, even if it took a low-percentage play to do so.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

SOFTBALL

Baserunning leads to

win for the Wolverines ARIA GERSON

Daily Sports Writer

Thais Gonzalez isn’t your stereotypical hero. The sophomore has all of 28 at-bats this season, just three of which resulted in hits. She’s started 10 games, has four runs batted in and has an on-base percentage of .219. On Wednesday against Michigan State, Gonzalez didn’t have a hit. She didn’t have an RBI, and she didn’t get on base. But with her legs, she made all the difference for the No. 17 Michigan softball team, scoring the only run of the game. For both teams, offense was hard to come by. But the Wolverines demonstrated that if they couldn’t create separation on offense, they’d do it on the basepaths. And ultimately, what separated Michigan from the Spartans in a 1-0 win was its ability to make the most of its few opportunities. In the bottom of the fourth, senior first baseman Tera Blanco sent a ground ball through the third baseman’s legs for a single. She was pulled for a pinch-runner, senior outfielder Nikki Wald, but there, things didn’t go according to plan. Instead of stealing second or taking the extra base on a hit, Wald was tagged out on a fielder’s choice off the bat of freshman designated player Lou Allan. But the Wolverines got a second chance. Sophomore third baseman Madison Uden laid down what looked like a sacrifice bunt, but she sped down to first base and beat the throw. Gonzalez pinch-ran for Allan, and suddenly it was first and second, one out. Gonzalez knew what she had to do. “When she put me in at

second, I knew she just wanted me to score on anything on the ground,” Gonzalez said. “So just trusting her instincts and finding home plate somehow.” Junior catcher Katie Alexander came to the plate and slapped a ground ball hard behind second base. For a fleeting moment, it seemed it would get through for a single, but it was instead collected by the shortstop, who threw to first for the easy out. Except Michigan State paused, and Gonzalez never stopped running until she had slid in under the tag at home. Michigan had its first — and ultimately, only — run of the game. “It wasn’t much decisionmaking (to send her),” said Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. “I saw the ball going up the middle, and I did not see the kid field it. I was sending her — I thought the ball was getting through and midstream I realized she actually had it and I thought, ‘We’re gonna keep going,’ and we snuck it in on them.” The two teams combined for three baserunners the rest of the game. Freshman lefthander Meghan Beaubien took control from there, and the Wolverines had their victory. That was all it took. Michigan hustled while the Spartans hesitated. And with their baserunning, the Wolverines manufactured the run — and the win. “It’s just a matter of taking advantage of your opportunities,” Gonzalez said. “We hadn’t really gotten a lot of runners into scoring position, so … you just really wanted to make sure you were taking good jumps off the bag and taking advantage of every opportunity you got.”

Michigan infielders settling into their roles after tough start to season THEO MACKIE

Daily Sports Writer

When the Michigan baseball team took the field eight weeks ago in Port St. Lucie, Florida, for its opening day matchup against Army, junior shortstop Ako Thomas was the only remaining starter from the star-studded infield that led the Wolverines to an NCAA tournament berth a year ago. At the time, the team and its coaching staff expected to experience growing pains. But the extent of those pains was not clear until a few weeks into this season, when the Wolverines opened their home season with an 8-3 loss to Lawrence Tech. “We’d like to think that coming into this season that we’ve put ourselves into a position to reload and not rebuild,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich after an earlier loss to Lipscomb. “But clearly we’re rebuilding right now. We’ll see how we progress from here, but so far this has been nothing but disappointment.” Now, the Wolverines are riding a 15-game win streak into this weekend’s series against Maryland. While Thomas remains entrenched atop the lineup, the rest of the infield consists of players who were not in Ann Arbor a year ago. Even Thomas, the unit’s mainstay, had to work through early-season defensive struggles to establish himself as the leader he was expected to be. He has just one error over his last 13 games, while hitting .310 with 12 stolen bases during the win streak. To his left, freshman Jack Blomgren has started all but one game at shortstop. But the defensive-minded Blomgren started the season as a black

hole in the lineup, batting just .154 with no extra-base hits in Michigan’s 4-11 start. Since then, he has hit .341 with four doubles and his first collegiate home run, while providing excellent defense. “You just want him to be able to be consistent,” Bakich said “… He’s a consistent worker, he’s got a great attitude, he’s a tough kid. He brings all the intangibles to the table.” In the corners, Bakich has inserted two newcomers in recent weeks after losing Jake Bivens and Drew Lugbauer to last year’s MLB Draft. Despite a rocky start, freshman first baseman Jesse Franklin has emerged as the starter out of an early-season platoon, hitting .354 with a team-leading four home runs since winning the full-time starting job. “Besides having really good upperclassmen role models, I think the biggest thing is just that all of the coaches really believe in us,” Franklin said after a 3-for-5 performance against Central Michigan. “Even if we do poorly in the field, they still encourage us, and I think deep down they really think we can do it. You can really see and feel that when you talk to them.” Perhaps the most striking example of that faith has come across the diamond in junior third baseman Blake Nelson. The college transfer had one at-bat in 13 games before starting the finale at Lipscomb. Since then, he has started every game and been moved into the clean-up spot. “He’s a tough gritty kid. He’s a (Junior College) bandit. He’s a high baseball IQ guy,” Bakich said. “I think he’s gonna be a great coach some day. “He’s not your prototypical four-hole hitter, because we’re not asking him to hit

“Guys are starting to settle into their roles.”

(extra-base hits), but he moves runners along and gets on base and knocks runs in when the opportunity presents itself. … He’s a tough out, he can hit and run, he can bunt, he can steal, he can handle the bat.” Nelson’s greatest contribution, though, has been completing the Wolverines’ infield. After seemingly playing a different combination every game early in the season, Bakich has run out the same infield in 11 of Michigan’s last 12 games — all wins. “Guys are starting to settle into their roles so that breeds confidence, and they can start to express themselves more freely and play more loosely,” Bakich said. “We were bouncing Ako between short and second and rotating third basemen, first basemen, second basemen. We had a lot of moving parts, and I think that (caused) the inconsistency.”

CARTER FOX/Daily

Junior third baseman Blake Nelson has started in every game since having just one at-bat in Michigan’s first 13 games.