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Wednesday, September 5, 2018
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ACADEMICS
New deans in four U-M schools talk objectives All deans have past experience with University, plans for DEI initiative KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter
PRASHANTH PANICKER/Daily
Council member Jane Lumm (Ward-2) speaks during the City Council meeting Tuesday evening.
City Council votes down attempt to increase setbacks for dispensaries Parents and physicians want greater distance between dispensaries and daycares RILEY LANGEFELD Daily Staff Reporter
While you were away, you may have missed some big stories out of Ann Arbor. This week The Daily will be publishing recaps
of the summer’s breaking news. Over the summer, Ann Arbor City Council voted to change zoning codes related to Greek life houses in Ann Arbor. The zoning codes, approved during the July 16 council session, would require new
CITY
fraternities and sororities to maintain affiliation with the University of Michigan or another collegiate institution to be permitted or allowed expansion within the city. If the fraternity or sorority loses its University affiliation in
the future, it can apply for a two-year special exception to prevent loss of its house. Some residents thought new zoning codes would help facilitate better relations between Greek life and See COUNCIL, Page 3A
The University of Michigan has appointed four new deans in the 2018-19 school year for LSA, the School of Music, Theatre and Dance, Rackham Graduate School and the School of Public Health. With the start of the new school year, the deans say they are prioritizing the interdisciplinary aspects of higher education to continue establishing the University as a nationally ranked institution. Elizabeth R. Cole, the newly appointed LSA interim dean, has served as LSA’s associate dean for social sciences the last four years. Though she believes former dean Andrew
Martin leaves big shoes to fill, she says her experience working under his supervision will make this a smooth transition. “The biggest task that we’ll have is to continue the regular functions of the college and to pursue the strong initiatives that we’re already working on,” she said. Primary among these initiatives is LSA’s Opportunity Hub. While its permanent space is a part of the extensive construction at the Michigan Union, the hub can currently be found on the second floor of the LSA building. The hub will continue its focus on connecting students’ classroom experience with real world experience via See DEANS, Page 3A
First Central Student Government Separation meets, focuses on voting initiatives of families ACADEMICS
In review: Ann Arbor zoning laws impact IFC New laws would prevent banned fraternities from living in fraternity homes
President Daniel Greene presides over first meeting of the year, discusses plans DANIELLE PASEKOFF Daily Staff Reporter
The University of Michigan’s Central Student
Government convened Tuesday night to introduce resolutions during their first meeting of the academic school year. Initiatives discussed
included amendments to the compiled code, funding for various University Career Center events and efforts to improve safety features in
RACHEL CUNNINGHAM Daily Staff Reporter
While you were away, you may have missed some big stories out of Ann Arbor. This week The Daily will be publishing recaps of the summer’s breaking news. Over the summer, Ann Arbor City Council voted to change zoning codes related to Greek life houses in Ann Arbor. The zoning codes, approved during the July 16 council session, would require new fraternities and sororities to maintain affiliation with the University of Michigan or another collegiate institution to be permitted or allowed See IFC, Page 3A
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Members of Central Student Government discuss new proposed initiatives during their meeting in the Michigan League Tuesday evening. AARON BAKER/Daily
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academic buildings around campus. CSG President Daniel Greene, a Public Policy senior, first summarized efforts made over the summer to improve campus and student life. There are also changes being made to the CSG executive board, including the addition of two new positions this semester. These positions, executive diversity officer and external relations officer, will be implemented this semester, then evaluated as to whether or not these positions are effective. “If we find it productive and to the benefit of the student body, then we will propose an amendment to the constitution to ensure that CSG in the long term can better commit itself to DEI, inclusivity and also student organization collaboration efforts long term,” Greene said. Additionally, CSG Vice President Izzy Baer, an See CSG, Page 2A
Vol. CXXVII, No.128 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
damaging, studies say University researchers use studies to build programs to aid affected families CATHERINE NOUHAN Daily Staff Reporter
University of Michigan have made strides in studying the effects of child separation and the psychological impact it has on families in cases of incarceration, military deployment, and border separation. This data has helped University psychologists implement programs such as Strong Military Families, Zero to Thrive and Parenting While Incarcerated, which focus on curbing the negative effects that may have occurred
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
See FAMILY, Page 3A
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................8
News
2A — Wednesday, September 5, 2018
MONDAY: Looking at the Numbers
TUESDAY: By Design
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WEDNESDAY: This Week in History
THURSDAY: Twitter Talk
FRIDAY: Behind the Story
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY: THE UNION: STUDENT CENTER GETTING A FACELIFT SEPTEMBER 6, 1976 An organization for all students, a place for them to meet, the unification of various factions of student interest — that was the dream of University student Edward Parker in 1904. By 1907 the Michigan Union, the “student union” — was first opened in an old home on State Street. But over the years the Union, housed in the current building since 1917, became
“more of an alumni center and hotel service… less of a student center,” according to Henry Johnson, University vice-president for student services. In the year of the Union’s diamond anniversary Parker’s dream is being rejuvenated — the Michigan Union is undergoing a facelift in structure and philosophy. The renovations now in progress are the result of a
year’s worth of efforts by students and administrators to change the building’s emphasis back to student activities. Currently, Barbers, billiards, books, bowling, and bus tickets are all available at the Union. There is also a box office, an art gallery, movies, and theatrical productions. Administrative officers for a wide range of student organizations and services are also housed in the
Union. This fall, for the first time, students will be living in the Union. Renovations are being completed on 91 hotel rooms and 127 graduate students and students over 21 have signed leases. All University students this fall will automatically be members of University Club, a restaurant on the first floor. Formerly only dues-paying
students, faculty, alumni, and staff were members of the club, and relatively few students chose to join. Plans are also being made to move and expand a section of the University Cellar into a snack bar. The new food service will be similar to the “MUG” (the Michigan Union Grill) which was a popular place for students to meet until it was closed in the early 1970’s. A 24-member task force of students, faculty, alumni, and administrators was appointed in February to assess the operations of the campus landmark. Sub-committees of the task force submitted recommendations for programming, food service, and physical changes.
A report detailing the recommendations of the task force was delayed during the summer and is expected to be released next week. Despite the “slow progress” made on the report, feasibility studies were conducted this summer and renovations and clean-up have already started, according to Jeff Lebow, a member of the task force who is serving as an intern in the Office of Student Services (OSS) working on Union planning. “I’ve been working all summer long to make sure they don’t forget it’s a student union,” Lebow said.
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ON THE DAILY: BRAYLON EDWARDS SUSPENDED FROM BTN FOLLOWING AGGRESSIVE TWEETS TOWARD MICHIGAN FOOTBALL KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporter
Braylon Edwards, a former Michigan Football wide receiver and Big Ten Network analyst, was suspended from his role by the network after he tweeted negative remarks about the U-M football team following Saturday’s loss to Notre Dame. Edwards’, now-deleted tweet, was posted Saturday night after the game and
read: “(Cesar) Ruiz is weak, line is weak, shea (Patterson) is scared, (expletive) Michigan offense is so predictable..... Michigan football is sadly one thing......Trash.” The BTN suspended Edwards indefinitely, announcing on Twitter that the words were a violation of social media guidelines. Since then, he has tweeted a comment and later apology regarding the initial attack on individual players, while still affirming his criticism of the
team as a whole. During his career at the University, Edwards won the Fred Biletnikoff Award, given to the best wide receiver in the country, and earned AllAmerican honors. He continues to hold the school records for career receptions (252), yards (3,541) and touchdowns (39). While talking to reporters, Harbaugh commented on his disappointment in the comment. “Number one, first of all, (what he said) is not true. It’s
not factual. There’s nobody in our program who thinks those things about any player on our team. Let alone the two players he described,” Harbaugh said. “On another level, it’s disappointing that a member of the Big Ten Network would choose to attack the character of two of our players. That’s disappointing.” Harbaugh followed up his defense of his players during a press conference on Monday. “If somebody wants to attack
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listed for each food item to EpiPen training administered to all dining staff, these changes aim to make all students comfortable eating in the dining halls regardless of diet. It was also announced that hydration stations will be available again this football season, providing students with water, snacks and portable
phone chargers throughout the A resolution funding the day to better ensure student Buses to Ballots initiative, safety during these high-risk which aims to increase voter events. participation and accessibility A resolution introduced among students on election LSA junior, explained recent during the assembly addressed day, by providing shuttle buses updates intended to improve the need for a basic centralized to off-campus polling stations accommodations for students room reservation information incited much conversation. with dietary restrictions in the site for general student use Many students have class on University dining halls. on campus. Using an online election day and cannot afford Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ From listing ingredients database, this service would to spend time waiting in long provide students with lines to vote. a list of available study “We already have the routes spaces on campus they laid out, as well as the number could reserve for work or of impacted students, which meetings. would be a huge number,” said Rackham student Rackham student Nicholas HARD Austin Glass said first- Fadanelli. year and transfer Other initiatives have been students are especially enacted to alleviate this issue, disadvantaged in terms including ride-sharing app of having established Lyft’s offer to provide voters connections to resources with free rides to polling that provide spaces to places this November. Some study and congregate. representatives said one “This is more of a call problem many students face, to action rather than a in addition to a lack of time, is specific action that I’m the inability to pay to get from asking CSG to take,” campus to a local polling place. Glass said. “In this case Engineering senior AJ Ashman I’m asking (student spoke to the assembly about his organizations) to all look past experience traveling far into a very simple resource distances to vote, citing large that would present to fees to get from one location to students rooms that are the other. available for reservation.” “In my mind … the fact that Upon consideration, there is a cost to go to vote, these rooms would seems to be kind of like a poll be available in three tax to me,” Ashman said. “I areas on campus where think this (initiative) is going student residences are to turn out to be a very good © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. concentrated, including opportunity for us.” BAACK! puzzle by sudokusyndication.com North Campus, the Hill neighborhood, and South Read more at Quad. Generate and solve Sudoku, Super Sudoku and Godoku puzzles at sudokusyndication.com!
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COUNCIL From Page 1A neighboring residents. Others saw it as unfair to the owners of the houses and unclear as to who would be affected under the new guidelines. Interfraternity Council President Sam Finn, a Public Policy senior, said the concerns raised by area residents regarding Greek life behavior demonstrated a need for greater effort to facilitate positive relationships with the Ann Arbor community. “This summer served as a wakeup call to IFC that more has to be done to address neighborhood concerns and improve community relations,” Finn wrote. “Over the next
FAMILY From Page 1A within the family unit due to separation interference. Katherine Rosenblum, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University and the founder of Strong Military Families, said this research is so important because there are still misconceptions about the severity of separation. “I do think that often the emotional experiences of infants, toddlers and young children are overlooked or misunderstood, and that parents are often surprised by how impactful these experiences are even for very young children,” Rosenblum said. “And of course, parents have their own feelings about these experiences. Therefore, support for families who have experienced disruptive separations is very important.” Rosenblum said this support can come in many different forms, such as distributing information on what to expect from children, connecting families experiencing similar trauma or connecting families to advocacy organizations who can offer additional services. Rosenblum’s 11-year-old daughter, Maja RosenblumMuzik, created a publicly available coloring book in conjunction with Rackham student Paige Safyer titled “Cecilia and the Long Walk.” The coloring book illustrates a separation scenario through the perspective of the child. The book follows the main character, Cecilia, who is a horse traveling across a
DEANS From Page 1A internships, alumni mentors and on-campus research. Cole was one of the team members who developed the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plan — which aims to diversify the campus community and create a more inclusive climate — in its beginning stages. She will continue spearheading the third year of DEI initiatives. Her work and research as a professor in women’s studies, psychology and African and Afro-American studies has allowed her to highlight the intersectional nature of the University experience and continue facilitating and supporting the five-year DEI plans developed by each department. Though the DEI plan has faced criticism for its inability to quickly address several recent racist incidents on campus, Cole plans to build momentum for the DEI plan through projects such as the Comprehensive Studies Program, Summer Bridge Scholars Program, LSA Laptop Loan Program, Passport Scholarships and the Kessler Presidential Scholars program. In addition to all these initiatives, Cole said it is
semester, we will work with National Pan-Hellenic Council, Multicultural Greek Council, and National Panhellenic Conference to expand the efforts of the Community Relations Taskforce. We hope this will allow us to work to foster a closer relationship with Ann Arbor residents and more effectively address community concerns.” During the July 16 session, residents also raised concerns about fraternities that no longer had an affiliation with the University but still operated within a fraternity house, leading to complaints about noise and cleanliness. Peter Nagourney, the co-chair for the North Burns Park Association and neighbor to several Greek life houses,
border with her parents. This resource was created to “help children understand their recent experience, providing language to help organize internal confusion and terror,” according to their website. Rosenblum wrote an op-ed for The Hill this past June, where she argues her research on military families can be used to explain the severity of separation at the border. She also explains every experience is different for each family— at the border or in the military — but there are certainly similarities that should be extrapolated. “My point in sharing our work with military families was not to say that the experiences on the border are the same,” she told The Daily. “Obviously there are many differences in the experiences of military families and families on the border. My point was to highlight that even when there is time to prepare and access to resources, support, and information during the separation, the disruption is still impactful and emotionally challenging. Therefore, separations should not be taken casually.” Public Health professor Alison Miller has also researched parent-child separation. She partnered with Motherly Intercession to create a program called Parenting While Incarcerated, which helps mothers continue to develop their parenting skills while behind bars. Miller said her evidencebased program was created in response to incarcerated
especially important to highlight the many spaces on Central Campus that allow students, faculty and staff to gain experience in promoting dialogue. She wants to encourage dialogue among people with different experiences with the additional aid of organizations such as the Program on Intergroup Relations as well as We Listen and Our Community Listens. “At this point in our history, it’s really important for those honest conversations to take place, and I want to make sure everybody’s aware of the opportunities on campus to have those respectful, honest conversations,” Cole said. Michael J. Solomon, a professor of chemical engineering, has been appointed as the dean of Rackham Graduate School, also holding the title of vice-provost for academic affairs and graduate studies. For the more than 8,000 Rackham students on campus, Solomon said his primary responsibility is supporting the experience and education of graduate students, in all facets of the University. “Our goals are a continuation of a need. As society gets more complex, there’s more and more need for this advanced training,” Solomon said. “I would like
News discussed one neighboring residence that housed a banned fraternity. “You should know that one neighbor spent nine months constantly, and I mean daily, dealing with city, University police and Greek life entities before one of these party houses set up by members of a banned fraternity was shut down,” Nagourney said. “This is a real problem. Others in this neighborhood must constantly deal with trash, public drunkenness, loud music and other violations of city ordinances. Oversight of these groups is not done at the national level despite the claims of their attorneys. Oversight by the University and the Office of Greek Life does not seem to make much difference.”
mothers’ needs. This educational opportunity allows these mothers to improve communication skills and develop nonviolent discipline strategies. “The program allows mothers to step back from the immediacy of parenting and ref lect on the relationships with their children in a way they haven’t done before,” Miller said. Another University initiative, Zero to Thrive, is led by Rosenblum and psychiatry professor Maria Muzik, along with Miller. Zero to Thrive focuses specifically on the first 1,000 days of an infant’s life and the critical role that stress can play in development. The initiatives that arose out of the University’s research on child separation are benchmark programs for other organizations these seeking solutions. And with the recent child separations at the border, Rosenblum hopes these findings will shed light on the caliber of the repercussions. “For an infant, being abruptly separated from your parent for several days is an eternity, and likely traumatizing,” she said. “The parents and infants at the border experienced these separations under significant duress, often without any information about what was happening and when or if they would see each other again. There is no doubt that this was extremely traumatizing for many of these parents and children, and that there will be a need to work through the feelings associated with that trauma after they reunite. Healing takes time.”
to catalyse discussions with faculty and students about how we need to organize graduate education on campus to address future needs.” Though his work as associate dean and vice-provost, Solomon has worked to advance DEI initiatives in Rackham as well as network with graduate school partners on campus. He highlighted that the diversity of graduate education presents certain challenges, but also can be harnessed to benefit education as a whole. “We really need to grow and sustain the focus on this education as being studentfocused, it being inclusive, and the leveraging of values of diversity,” Solomon said. “A challenge is an opportunity.” Solomon noted one of his favorite aspects about working at Rackham is the ability to work with professionals in different fields that are student-focused and provide opportunities and workshops. An engineer by training, Solomon supports and is exposed to advanced education in a wide variety of fields. “Everybody is getting the same degree, but how they go about that is just remarkably diverse, and that really is a strength at the University,” he said. David Gier, newly appointed
Attorney Stephen Bernstein, a general counsel to the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, said to The Daily in May the zoning codes create issues with third party regulation over privately owned property. “The issue generally stated is whether the city of Ann Arbor is legally allowed to delegate decisions which impact the rights of property owners to a third party, in this case the University,” Bernstein said. Finn also wrote the IFC understands the zoning codes were changed because of community concerns regarding Greek life housing. “While individual IFC chapters, Inter/National Organizations, and housing groups may maintain their own perspectives in regards
IFC From Page 1A expansion within the city. If the fraternity or sorority loses its University affiliation in the future, it can apply for a two-year special exception to prevent loss of its house. Some residents thought new zoning codes would help facilitate better relations between Greek life and neighboring residents. Others saw it as unfair to the owners of the houses and unclear as to who would be affected under the new guidelines. Interfraternity Council President Sam Finn, a Public Policy senior, said the concerns raised by area residents regarding Greek life behavior demonstrated a need for greater effort to facilitate positive relationships with the Ann Arbor community. “This summer served as a wakeup call to IFC that more has to be done to address neighborhood concerns and improve community relations,” Finn wrote. “Over the next semester, we will work with National Pan-Hellenic Council, Multicultural Greek Council, and National Panhellenic Conference to expand the efforts of the Community Relations Taskforce. We hope this will allow us to work to foster a closer relationship with Ann Arbor residents and more effectively address community concerns.” During the July 16 session, residents also raised concerns about fraternities that no longer had an affiliation with the University but still operated
dean of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance, is currently preparing for his term, which begins in October. Gier graduated from the University with a bachelor’s degree in music and continued to earn a doctorate degree from Yale University. We started his work in higher education by serving as a professor and director at the University of Iowa School of Music. He said his experience as a University undergrad student motivated him to return. “My whole professional path was propelled by my experience at the University of Michigan,” Gier said. “The quality of that experience and what it meant to me were really defining, and it set me up for success in the future. So I’ve always had this respect and admiration and love for the University of Michigan. To return is kind of a dream come true.” Gier’s first order of business is familiarizing himself with the faculty, students and staff. He says he will gauge long term goals and utilize the University’s unique aspects to create collaborative projects with the public and connect students with the professional world. “The vitality of SMTD comes from the faculty and the students, the plans that they make and the aspirations they
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 — 3A to the new zoning codes, the IFC understands that this change was a direct result of concerns expressed by Ann Arbor residents,” Finn wrote. “We will continue working collaboratively with the City, University, and Inter/National Organizations of IFC chapters to better address concerns raised by Ann Arbor residents and promote the positive impact our chapters have on their communities.” Mayor Christopher Taylor stated during the July 16 session the new codes will improve relations between area residents and Greek life members. “Our goal is to more accurately increase the likelihood that fraternities and sororities are good neighbors to everyone,”
within a fraternity house, leading to complaints about noise and cleanliness. Peter Nagourney, the co-chair for the North Burns Park Association and neighbor to several Greek life houses, discussed one neighboring residence that housed a banned fraternity. “You should know that one neighbor spent nine months constantly, and I mean daily, dealing with city, University police and Greek life entities before one of these party houses set up by members of a banned fraternity was shut down,” Nagourney said. “This is a real problem. Others in this neighborhood must constantly deal with trash, public drunkenness, loud music and other violations of city ordinances. Oversight of these groups is not done at the national level despite the claims of their attorneys. Oversight by the University and the Office of Greek Life does not seem to make much difference.” Attorney Stephen Bernstein, a general counsel to the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, said to The Daily in May the zoning codes create issues with third party regulation over privately owned property. “The issue generally stated is whether the city of Ann Arbor is legally allowed to delegate decisions which impact the rights of property owners to a third party, in this case the University,” Bernstein said. Finn also wrote the IFC understands the zoning codes were changed because of community concerns regarding Greek life housing. “While individual IFC
have as they go to their work throughout the year,” he said. Gier finds that the size of SMTD will present certain challenges but also highlights the exciting aspects of working in the arts. “The way that the arts are constantly evolving and changing, there’s an inherent challenge in that. We have great traditions, but at the same time, for instance, the influence of technology is changing the way that students and the general public and our faculty engage with their art form,” Gier explained. “I think we’re always challenged in the arts to hang on to our roots and to our deep disciplinary traditions while at the same time evolving so as to be totally engaged and relevant.” F. DuBois Bowman has been appointed the dean of the School of Public Health, his term beginning in October. Currently concluding his work as chairman of the Department of Biostatistics at Columbia University, his appointment at the University will allow him continue his work in the field of public health while bringing him back to his native city and the school at which he earned a master’s degree in biostatistics “U-M is a school that I have connections with as an alumnus, and being from Ann
Taylor said. “In many cases they are. Occasionally they are not. I think this ordinance change will give us the opportunity to do something about it in that minority case.” According to Finn, IFC has also made progress in its activism and voluntary efforts throughout the community. IFC had the largest number of applicants for the Michigan Ambassadors Program in the program’s history. The volunteer program helps provide additional safety monitors throughout campus during high-activity days, such as Football Saturdays or Halloween. IFC has also remained active in the Big Ten Voter Challenge and partnered with other offices on campus such as SAPAC.
chapters, Inter/National Organizations, and housing groups may maintain their own perspectives in regards to the new zoning codes, the IFC understands that this change was a direct result of concerns expressed by Ann Arbor residents,” Finn wrote. “We will continue working collaboratively with the City, University, and Inter/National Organizations of IFC chapters to better address concerns raised by Ann Arbor residents and promote the positive impact our chapters have on their communities.” Mayor Christopher Taylor stated during the July 16 session the new codes will improve relations between area residents and Greek life members. “Our goal is to more accurately increase the likelihood that fraternities and sororities are good neighbors to everyone,” Taylor said. “In many cases they are. Occasionally they are not. I think this ordinance change will give us the opportunity to do something about it in that minority case.” According to Finn, IFC has also made progress in its activism and voluntary efforts throughout the community. IFC had the largest number of applicants for the Michigan Ambassadors Program in the program’s history. The volunteer program helps provide additional safety monitors throughout campus during high-activity days, such as Football Saturdays or Halloween. IFC has also remained active in the Big Ten Voter Challenge and partnered with other offices on campus such as SAPAC.
Arbor, I have deep roots and feel a connection to the city, which also was certainly a factor that drove my interest and decision ultimately to return,” Bowman said. One of Bowman’s main priorities for the upcoming term is spearheading community engagement and impact in the state of Michigan, targeting public health needs such as infant mortality, asthma, lead exposure and adult obesity. “I want to make sure that through the great resources of the school, more research and more education, we work to have the strongest and biggest impact that we can in the state of Michigan,” Bowman said. The School of Pulbic Health is undergoing only its second year of undergraduate education, and Bowman will work to continue to evolve the program and prepare for the first graduating class at the end of the academic year. Additionally, the School of Public Health plans to launch the nation’s first online Master of Public Health degree, which will launch in the fall of 2019. “One of the things that I really value is interdisciplinary research and education,” Bowman said. “I look forward to partnering with the other deans trying to determine some synergies where we may establish some new programs.”
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4A — Wednesday, September 5, 2018
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ABBIE BERRINGER | COLUMNW
‘They Don’t Want Our Intelligence’
T
hey don’t want our intelligence,” a classmate of mine conf idently proclaimed to our 75-person Late American Political Thought class last spring. The statement was followed by many nods of ag reement from the class. Surprisingly enough, he wasn’t talking about some form of extraterrestrial life, but rather about people living in rural America. Our discussion was on America’s invisible poor a topic we had been reading about in “The Other America: Poverty in the United States,” an acclaimed book by Michael Harrington published in 1962. Harrington described the ever-growing economic divide in the country during the era of aff luence, talking about how as the middle class grew, it was becoming farther removed from the realities of the impoverished, often rural or deeply urban, American communities. He used the Appalachian region as one example of a community that was not seeing the increase in wealth that other parts of America were. In a very brief summary that does not do the book any justice, he talked about how this inequality was affecting the psyches of the people in these communities and those who were blind to their struggles. He called these people “The Other America” and described the effect of being forgotten on the residents and society as a whole. The student in my class’s response was in answer to the question “Why is there a cycle of poverty in these communities?” His answer was that these people simply don’t want our intelligence. His definition of “our” referred to the people who have been able to move up the socioeconomic ladder— those in the suburbs and cities who, in his view, made it due to their heightened intelligence. What was surprising was how much of our class seemed to agree with his statement. If this had been the only time I had heard a student at the University of Michigan voice such a negative opinion about America’s rural class, maybe I would have chalked it up to one case of ignorance, but, on the contrary, I have heard many similar statements among my peers. In another conversation in an earlier class, I overheard
two people discussing what it was like to live in a small town. A girl said, “I grew up in a small town and it was awful.” The boy she was talking to, in an attempt to connect with her, said, “Yeah I can imagine you must have wanted to get out of a place where people’s minds are so small.” After the election of President Donald Trump in 2016, I found myself shocked by some of the statements made by my peers describing what they thought anyone who voted for Trump must be like. Adjectives that I’ve heard used include but are not limited to: ignorant,
What I see on our campus is a deeply rooted classism and elitism stupid, bigoted, racist, evil and abhorrent. I felt an immense amount of duty to defend the people from rural America as these were my people. I grew up in rural communities and have a deep respect for the people in our country who work our farms, fix our cars, build our houses and keep our streets safe from crime. By now, many sociologists, psychologists and journalists have taken on the task of looking into what caused so much of working class America, particularly regions such as the Rust Belt, which have historically voted Democrat for almost 20 years, to make such a drastic switch by voting overwhelmingly for Trump. Every source from Newsweek to CNN to USA Today has published articles citing various studies and proposing a myriad of theories. One thing I know, however, is that there has been very little empathy in these articles for the people they are analyzing, as if they are nothing more than animals in a zoo to be evaluated and yet not truly with whom to be related. Often times these people’s feelings, whether they are said to be based on economic hardships, cultural concerns or some form of paranoia, are portrayed to be inherently false, not grounded in rational logic and out of touch with reality.
Yet, it is not very often that the people writing these articles have truly seemed to step into the shoes of these individuals. They draw a very hard line based on what they deem to be unacceptable political affiliations. They protest all over the country in cities like Ann Arbor that are touted as some of the most “inclusive” places to live in America, and yet they seem to have little concern with actually empathizing with a portion of the population large enough to come together and vote Trump into office as the president of the United States. What I see on our campus is a deeply rooted classism and elitism that breeds a superiority complex that has enabled our student body to create an “us” and a “them”. We see ourselves as the educated, and therefore the superior minds. Yet, and maybe as a symptom of arrogant youth, we lack an understanding of how the environment and livelihoods of the people in these communities have shaped the way they think. I have intentionally avoided delving into the myriad of theories as to why people in rural America believe the things they do because that is not the point of my article. Rather, my point is this: On a campus that preaches so much “tolerance,” it is undoubtedly hypocritical to hear people talk so disgracefully about rural communities the way they do. Is it okay to generalize and stereotype them because we see them as majority white? I certainly don’t think so. Is it okay to call them “stupid” or “ignorant” because they don’t have what we perceive as a high standard of education? The average liberal student may not say so considering they’d never make such statements about people from other cultures or of differing education systems because this would be seen as racist and culturally arrogant. Yet we catch ourselves saying these things about those in rural America. It is time we evaluate our own “tolerance” as well as our own perceptions of ourselves. If we truly are “the leaders and the best,” it is time that we realize that the best leaders listen to those who are struggling and truly Abbie Berringer can be reached at abbiebr@umich.edu
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T
he Urban Meyer scandal of 2018 is exactly what our misogynistic, selfabsorbed culture desperately needed. Unfortunately, faced with the opportunity to make a powerful statement about the gravity of domestic abuse and the need for systemic cultural change, the Ohio State University Football Program fundamentally failed. The Urban Meyer scandal of 2018 is exactly what our misogynistic, self-absorbed culture desperately needed. Unfortunately, faced with the opportunity to make a powerful statement about the gravity of domestic abuse and the need for systemic cultural change, the Ohio State University football program fundamentally failed. Before I go any further, let me first clarify that I say this not as a football fan and a Wolverine, but as a human being. Second, let me also clarify that I don’t necessarily believe Meyer should have been fired. In fact, let me backtrack a little and give a quick summary for those of you who are unfamiliar with the recent scandal within OSU’s football program. Up until this August, Zach Smith was an assistant coach for the OSU football team. Smith is the grandson of Earle Bruce, the iconic former OSU football coach who, in his lifetime, served as a mentor for Meyer, OSU’s current head football coach. Ultimately, the gist of the scandal is this: Courtney Smith, Zach Smith’s now ex-wife, pressed charges against Smith for domestic abuse in both 2009 and 2015. It is widely implicated that Meyer was aware of these abuse allegations and swept them under the rug in order to keep Smith on his coaching staff, and that he lied about doing so at Big Ten Media Day. After a report implied that Meyer had intentionally looked the other way from Smith’s alleged domestic abuse, OSU put Meyer on paid administrative leave and launched an investigation into Meyer’s handlings of the issue.At this point, all eyes were
on the OSU football program. Why? Well, college football fans were curious about the fate of one of the country’s powerhouse football programs. But this issue extends far beyond the realms of college football. One in every three women will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime. During the investigation into Meyer, OSU had a once-in-alifetime stage, an opportunity to send an invaluable message about the gravity of domestic violence and how much more important of an issue it is than winning football games. But, like I said before, OSU failed. Completely, utterly failed. First off, certain OSU fans partied at an “Urban Meyer rally” and tailgated outside of the Board of Trustees meeting that determined the fate of Meyer’s career. This is despicable because it shows a desire to win football games at all costs, even if it means treating a sensitive issue like domestic abuse with carelessness and disrespect. However, I refuse to condemn all of Buckeye nation simply because of a few disgusting fans. I’m sure every program has some fans who would do the same thing. When the investigation concluded, OSU announced Meyer made “insufficient” actions regarding Zach Smith. Meyer was not fired, but he will have to serve a three-game suspension. As measly as that punishment may sound, I’m not an investigator and I don’t know what Meyer knew and did when faced with such a sensitive issue. I can speculate, but I can’t determine whether OSU’s punishment for Meyer is appropriate. In my opinion, OSU’s ultimate failure comes in the form of Meyer’s statements during the press conference. It’s important to remember that the OSU investigation this August was not an investigation into whether or not Zach Smith abused his wife. Therefore, any he-said-she-said surrounding the abuse allegations is irrelevant. The OSU investigation this August was about how the football program handled a issue
as delicate as domestic violence. It’s about whether Meyer took the allegation seriously and went to every length he could to ensure it was properly reported and investigated, or whether he swept it under the rug. It’s not an investigation into whether Zach abused Courtney. It’s an investigation into whether, in the case that abuse may have occurred, the football program cares more about properly reporting abuse than it does about winning football games. In his press conference, Meyer never once addressed the issue of domestic violence or mentioned Courtney Smith. He talked only about what a pain this “situation” was to him and his fans. He began by apologizing to Buckeye Nation: “I followed my heart, not my head.” When asked what he would say to Courtney Smith, he said, “I have a message for everyone in this, I’m sorry we are in this situation.” I know I said earlier that my disdain for OSU’s recent actions comes from me as a human being, not me as a football fan, but if you know me, then you know that I live and breathe college football every fall. It’s nearly impossible to separate Hannah the football fan from Hannah the person. I hope that if a similar situation were to arise at Michigan, I would be significantly more heartbroken that someone was abused than I would be at the thought that Harbaugh could be fired. Ultimately, though OSU significantly missed the mark when it comes to showing the seriousness of an issue like domestic violence, this past August should be a lesson learned for all of us. Do we care about complex, sensitive issues like domestic violence no matter what, or only when it’s good PR? After OSU showed how not to handle such an issue, let’s all look a little more deeply into ourselves and see if we would’ve handled it the same way. Hannah Harshe can be reached at hharshe@umich.
ERIN WHITE | COLUMN
The Epitome of Hometown Hero
A
retha Franklin has lovingly been coined the Queen of Soul. Her decades of music have represented her roots through powerhouse hits and beautiful ballads, and her legacy as one of the greatest vocalists of all time is eternal. Her recent death has left members of every generation remembering the impact of soul on the music industry, but more importantly, the communities that fostered its growth. And no community has celebrated this impact as extensively as Franklin’s hometown: Detroit, Michigan. As Franklin’s career began to take off, there was never a doubt about from where her understanding of music came. Her early years in the considered “home of blues” were fundamental to her musical elocution and ability. Daughter to a Detroit pastor, Franklin was raised on the music of Baptist churches and quickly became a singer for her father’s New Bethel Baptist Church. These gospel inf luences are what made Franklin’s voice so memorable and improvisational, and both gospel techniques and jazz rhythms were discernible throughout her six-decade career. Just as these stylistic choices remained based in Detroit, so did her heart and life. While she spent time touring, Franklin shuttled between the various venues across the country and her hometown of Detroit, finally moving back in 1982. Her time spent in Detroit showed love for a city that truly loved her back. She was a philanthropist who donated and gave back to her father’s church, sending $10,000 checks several times a year. She organized annual concerts and holiday meals. She has been recognized for supporting other churches and local food banks in the
area. And she always made her presence quiet and humble. Detroit is the home of the popular American music movement known as Motown, and it is also a center for gospel, R&B, jazz and blues. These musical influences are a staple of Detroit culture and give the city’s artistic world something to look up to and of which be proud. Despite this rich cultural history and the fact that Detroit has recently been regarded as “up and coming” and “rebuilding,” the city has not been immune to negative coverage and opinion in the last
Aretha Franklin was a constant reminder of what can come from a place like Detroit. few decades, especially around the time of the city’s welldocumented 2013 bankruptcy. Articles with titles like “Detroit: a city in decline” and “Anatomy of Detroit’s Decline” in well-read publications are what have fueled the pessimistic national narrative of Detroit. Dangerous. Inefficient. Frightening. These are only some of the descriptors outsiders are used to hearing about the Motor City. People look in on Detroit from far away and question its livelihood. They look at its missteps and make those blunders its entire existence. But a city is so much more than strictly numbers and generalizations. A city is built on people. And the culture of Detroit is something that shows these people to the world. When you see that
culture, Detroit begins to mean something to you. Living in Metro Detroit my entire life, I have always viewed the city in a different light than the media would like me to see. Artistic. Resilient. Strong. Detroit has a unique energy, and it moves those who care enough to search for it. Franklin made people want to search. She was a mouthpiece for everything Detroit stands for, and a constant reminder of what can come from a place like Detroit. A city with culture, history, heart. A city that makes you work. A city that has undergone hardship and still managed to persevere. Franklin was a perfect example of the type of success a community like Detroit can create. She loved her city, contributed to her city and, most importantly, was present in the community. Her contributions are what make her the epitome of a hometown hero. She was an advertisement for everything Detroit means to the people who live there. In her death, Detroit quickly turned from a place of mourning to a place of celebration. Her life is being memorialized in every corner of the city, and the Queen of Soul is being treated as royalty. There have been constant reminders of her life, from billboards up and down every Detroit highway to hundreds gathering at her church to have a gospel choir tribute. Her two-day open casket viewing at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History brought in thousands of fans and citizens who wished to pay their respects. What you give to life will come back to you. Franklin gave her community everything she had, and made sure the rest of the world knew it too. In doing so, she will forever be remembered as a symbol of Detroit. Erin White can be reached at ekwhite@mich.edu
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 — 5A
TV NOTEBOOK
COMEDY COLUMN
The aesthetics of trauma SAM ROSENBERG Senior Arts Editor
In the past couple of years, TV shows have started to portray mental health — specifically trauma and its psychological and physical repercussions — in more authentic ways than before. Comedies like The CW’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” present enlightening and thought-provoking depictions of trauma through a humorous lens without resorting to superficial stereotyping. TV dramas, however, still seem to be fixated on using trauma as a catalyst for suspense. Crime procedurals such as “Law & Order: SVU” often address the trauma of every episode’s victim through their harrowing testimonies, treating their painful experiences with admirable albeit somewhat surface-level reverence. More controversially, Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why” tackles trauma through the protagonist Hannah (Katherine Langford, “Love, Simon”), a high schooler whose tragic suicide is not only displayed in full, but the circumstances of which are serialized through 13 cassette tapes made for all the people “responsible” for her death. Though its attempts to spotlight the detriments of trauma and bullying are well-intentioned and occasionally nuanced, watching “13 Reasons Why” can be almost too violent and melodramatic to stomach, especially with one supporting character’s unexpected (and unnecessarily brutal) rape in the season two finale. How, then, can a show attain an in-depth illustration of trauma without dumbing it down or glamorizing it? In the case of HBO’s slow-burning murder mystery miniseries “Sharp Objects,” the portrayal of trauma is
transfixing and meticulous, acting as both a recurring theme and as a heavily stylized aesthetic. Trauma itself becomes a character rather than a mere plot device. Based on the novel by “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn (who also wrote a few episodes for the series), “Sharp Objects” follows hard-drinking journalist Camille Preaker (Amy Adams, “Arrival”) as she returns to her hometown of Wind Gap, Mo. to investigate the murder of two young girls. As Camille becomes more invested in the crime, the sparse details surrounding her history of self-harming and troubled relationship with her domineering mother Adora (Patricia Clarkson, “Delirium”) gradually come to light. Rather than exploit Camille’s trauma for the sake of spectacle, “Sharp Objects” deftly underscores Camille’s fraught emotional interiority through the show’s disjointed editing, out-of-context flashbacks and disorienting sound design. These techniques certainly elicit a build-up of dread and terror. But more importantly, they are not made to entertain; they deliberately immerse the viewer into Camille’s fragile state of mind. Each scene in which Camille finds a clue to the crime, spots a curious object or recognizes a familiar face, she’s transported into her adolescence, her memories of which are paradoxically lucid and spotty. During some of these moments, the atmospheric sound from the scene set in the present — usually the hypnotic noise of summertime crickets or heavy breathing — remains, while the sound from the scene set in the past is erased completely. The vivid parallels between Camille’s fractured past and equally unstable present signify her inability to reconcile the unresolved issues of her childhood
(and even adulthood) trauma. It’s a smart, riveting and haunting way of showing that trauma is a very real, inescapable wound, an eternal, ominous specter that can only be vanquished once it’s faced head-on. This, of course, isn’t the first time this kind of depiction has been executed. “Sharp Objects” director Jean-Marc Vallée (“Demolition”) is known for incorporating a similar evocation of trauma in his other acclaimed HBO miniseries “Big Little Lies,” wherein young mother Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley, “Adrift”) experiences a slew of intense flashbacks to her rape a few years before moving to the seaside town of Monterey, Cali. Similar to “Sharp Objects,” “Big Little Lies” focused less on how Jane’s trauma and emotional troubles could be used as a marker for tension and more on how it informed who she was as a character. Netflix’s “Jessica Jones” also gives a notable take on trauma, wherein the titular superhero (Krysten Ritter, “Marvel’s The Defenders”) uses her superhuman strength (both physical and emotional) to combat her inner turmoil from witnessing the death of her family, as well as the evil forces that threaten to destroy her and the world at large. Though “Jessica Jones” doesn’t shy away from explicit violence, it manages to remain grounded by emphasizing Jessica’s struggles and eventual triumph over controlling her PTSD. A topic like trauma is as difficult to talk about in real life as it is difficult to translate on screen. Luckily, “Sharp Objects” and programs like it operate as complex models for how trauma can be properly discussed and dissected on TV — and perhaps they can also further the conversation of coming to terms with the hard truths that dictate our own inner lives.
Comedy catharsis BECKY PORTMAN Senior Arts Editor
Thanks for turning to this page, clicking on this link or picking this particular piece of paper off the gum that has been stuck to the bottom of your shoe since day one of Welcome Week. But enough about you, this column is about me. I wanted to write a humor column because comedy has always been a form of catharsis for me, a way to let go of things and just laugh. Ever since I was a chubby kid in the chorus of every JCC community theater play from 2005 to 2010, I turned to making others laugh in order to make myself feel better. I was overweight and not even talented enough to play one of Tevye’s irrelevant daughters (their names are Bielke and Shpritzke, and I am proud that I didn’t even need to look that up). So, cracking up the cast backstage was the only way to get the attention I craved and most certainly deserved. My hope for you, dear reader, is that you find some catharsis with this column as well. Perhaps, between stressing about class and stressing about love and stressing about stress, you can read my carefully crafted prose and giggle, smile or grimace, and let go of something keeping you down. This column is an experiment: An amalgamation of my own perverse mind farts and unwelcome suggestions from my mother that combine to craft a piece of journalism so hysterical that President Schlissel himself will add it to his stack of required morning reading. I may have high hopes for this column, but don’t be discouraged by
my cockiness, dear reader, I am, in fact, terrified that no one, not even Schlissel, will laugh at my column. However, I promise you, no matter how un-funny this column ends up becoming, I swear I will keep writing it until, of course, I decide to stop writing it or my editor commands me to do
Comedy has given me the outlet and confidence to hold nothing back and to put it all out there, potential mates be damned
so. Consider this a contract of sorts, a way to hold both you and me responsible. I, as writer of this column, vow to provide you with funny content that may be deeply and uncomfortably personal while occasionally offering my expert and valid opinions on the state of comedy today. While, you, dear reader, must do your due diligence in not hurting my feelings because I am honestly, like, really sensitive, so if you have a negative review of this column please try your best to sandwich the insult with praise so the mean stuff doesn’t hurt so bad. I respond really well to positive reinforcement, so keep the compliments flowing and criticism minimal because my self-esteem is, like, really, really
low and I just don’t know if I can handle a hit like that right now. I mean, there is this guy… and I just read a really sad article about dead puppies… and the economy… so I feel like I really can’t handle any negativity right now. You know how the spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down? I want you to flatter me before you tear me to shreds. That pretty much covers your end of the deal. In summation, I will try to make you laugh and you should really try to not be a dick. I mean, I am really putting myself out there with this thing. So a little respect would be nice. As a woman (since the age of 11, thanks Aunt Flo) I have heard time and time again that I have to censor myself. I should be less loud so as not to threaten potential mates. I should be less silly as to seem more attractive to potential mates. I should be less myself as to more easily attain and hold onto potential mates. Comedy has given me the outlet and confidence to hold nothing back and to put it all out there, potential mates be damned. Comedy is about making others laugh at you before they laugh about you. Comedy should be cathartic. It should be a release — a breath of fresh, hilarious air that reminds you that there are more reasons to laugh than cry. That chubby girl in the chorus still lives in a really messy attic with “Twilight” posters on the walls and a collection of feather boas. She is somewhere deep in my subconscious, but she is still there. She is desperate and eager to make you laugh to make herself feel better. So humor me, dear reader, and stick with me on this wild experiment, you might get a laugh out of it.
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6A — Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
FESTIVAL REVIEW
Four days at Lollapalooza: A supposedly fun thing I will probably do again
ALICE LIU / DAILY
JONAH MENDELSON Daily Arts Writer
When I get past the gates, I am immediately overwhelmed, my sight overloaded by summer citrus colors and the blurs of passing faces. My only prior experience with a music festival was Loufest, which now seemed fairly podunk and lame in comparison. There is stimulation in every direction. In addition to the frankly massive crowd and eight main stages, there is the FYE Music Experience Tent, the Bud Light Dive Bar, the Fruit of the Loom Human Claw Experience, the Cupcake Vineyards’ Poptail Shop, Neighborhood of Good® Brought to You by State Farm® and the Toyota Sienna Festivan Wonderland Presented by SiriusXM, as well as a dizzying array of local restaurant booths. Feeling a little paralyzed by all the options, I decided that while I wait for my friends to arrive, I would check out the press lounge. I can’t pretend that it didn’t feel good to be able to flash my credentials at the burly sunglasses-sporting guard as I walked into the restricted area, but that feeling of confidence was quickly displaced by a strong sense that I did not belong in this world of lanyards and golf carts and professionalism. I relieve the press lounge of some of their complimentary drinks and am on my way. I receive word that I am to meet my friends at the Perry’s stage, the designated home of most EDM acts at Lollapalooza. The first thing I notice is the stench: The whole field was suffused with an odor I can only describe as biological. The second thing I notice is the distinctive nature of the crowd at Perry’s, which appeared to have the lowest median age and the highest median family income of any stage (also, I would wager, the highest volume of body glitter per capita). London on da Track was performing a DJ set and doing a pretty good job of it, his hiphop-based sound going over well with the young Lollapaloozians. I (briefly) joined a mosh pit, which, while certainly of a bizarrely milquetoast variety given the crowd and environment, was fun nevertheless. After some difficult scouring in a remarkably homogeneous crowd of Lollapaloozians, I’m able to find my friends from home along with a blue-jawed, shirtless man I don’t recognize — one comes up and whispers to me that his name was Hunter and that he bought them drinks and that as a direct result he was to be our friend for the time being. One of my friends vouched
for his character by informing me that he had yet to drug them. This turn of events did not end up bothering me as much as I thought it would — he turned out to be quite the entertaining character. Hunter had a psychedelic tank top of a lurid metallic hue that put all other colors to shame (I say “had” rather than “wore” as it spent most of its time tied around his backpack rather than on his torso). He wore a hat to cover his heavily receding hairline. I don’t think I ever saw him take off his sunglasses. Hunter was a self-described professional drug dealer in his thirties who viewed himself as a festival veteran. His duty was to help everyone else have fun. He came alone. While at first his behavior seemed obsequious, as I became more and more intoxicated off of the free alcohol he provided us I started finding him to be better company. Hunter possessed many peculiar mannerisms, including but not limited to a tendency to skip as his mode of transportation whenever he went off to buy us more $30 plastic bottles of wine and a strangely servile attitude (such as picking up all the trash on the street around us when we sat down on the curb to eat). When I pressed him on this, he reassured me that “it was his job” to ensure that we had a good time. He refused to accept payment for the alcohol, claiming to have made over $8,000 that week alone. While he was ostensibly quite friendly, there was something undeniably unctuous about Hunter, and I can’t say that I was disappointed when we parted ways. We arrive at Billie Eilish, who I will admit I was very excited for. She drew what was apparently an unexpectedly large crowd, as she was placed on the fairly small Tito’s stage. When we got there, it was her brother Finneas on stage performing an unknown solo song of his. This was not a crowdpleasing number — they had clearly come to see Billie, not her brother. His stage presence was overly serious and unintentionally comical. Eilish’s performance, however, was not a great one either. Her vocals seemed enervated and her stage persona was eye-rollinducing. I overheard a significant amount of Lollapaloozians complain of boredom as they left, despite the fact that a great portion of the crowd was filled with adulating fans who knew every word to every song. I think at least 90 percent of the crowd was singing along when she played “Ocean Eyes.” I’ll forgive Billie Eilish for her rather affected stage
presence given her inexperience and young age (at 16, I was trying to figure out how to smoke weed out of an apple and spray painting the walls of parking garages). At the same time, I wish I had gone to see CHVRCHES instead. Travis Scott was one of the most anticipated shows of the night, both due to the imminent release of the long-hyped Astroworld and his infamous reputation as a live performer — last time he performed at Lollapalooza, he was arrested after inciting a riot a mere five minutes into his set. The atmosphere was electric. I was at a level of drunken vigor that was perfect for the occasion, and someone dished me out some apple-flavored vodka out of a lotion bottle — things were starting to shape up nicely. He opened with “Stargazing,” a single off Astroworld released a day or two ago that a great deal of the crowd already knew the words to. “Mamacita” and “Dark Knight Dummo” were the highlights of the show, both Travis and the crowd utterly fervid. It was a performance with high highs and low lows, the lows mainly consisting of Travis slowing the momentum with a few bemusing moments of protracted crowd interaction. The first involved a guy named Steve in a Phoenix Suns jersey who managed to get up on stage — at first Travis told him to do a stage dive, later recanting this suggestion after what looked like some intense thought led him to realize that Steve could not execute such a stunt without serious bodily injury. Steve, for what it’s worth, absolutely blew his shot by ignoring Travis’s increasingly urgent entreaties to stop trying to take pictures with him, slowly but surely drawing the snarling ire of both Travis and the crowd. Steve’s time in the spotlight lasted around five minutes, ending with a halfassed stage dive that pleased no one. The second baffling event involved a man Travis brought up on stage who went on some extended, indecipherable rant that concluded with him proposing to his girlfriend who was apparently in attendance. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such acute second-hand embarrassment as I did for our friend onstage when he was waiting for his (potential) fiancée to come up — the general sentiment in the crowd was that she had dipped out. Eventually, thank god, she does emerge from the crowd, and the happy couple awkwardly embrace. “This a beautiful moment,” Travis muttered in such a way that it sounded like he was trying to convince himself. “Play
Astroworld!” someone yells. Say what you will about these unwise interludes, one aspect of Travis’s character that is indisputable is that he cares about his fans and his music. He was not afraid to call the V.I.P. section out for their elitist lack of engagement; he seemed to interpret their lack of energy as a manifestation of feelings of superiority. He just wants everyone to rage. You can imagine him as he started out — a teenager alone in his dark fourcornered room illuminated only by the cold light of his screen as he tried to get out all the fire inside him, just wanting to be like Kid Cudi. Brockhampton attracted both the youngest and most zealous crowd I had seen so far. At one point, I was caught in a mosh pit that was led by a kid who can’t have been older than 14, his face beet-red with subtle purplishblue webs under his watering eyes formed by broken capillaries. There are a lot of die-hard Brockhampton fans out there apparently, and most of them wear checkered Vans. Logic is a little too easy to dunk on, so I’ll refrain from doing
a brief bass solo that included the “Seinfeld” theme song. Vampire Weekend felt fresh off of a long touring hiatus, announcing that their fourth studio album was imminent (in the process of being mastered). They closed with “Walcott,” a fan favorite. ODESZA is quite possibly the best live performance I have ever seen, the production value surpassing that of any other artist I saw all weekend. They opened with “Intro/A Moment Apart,” replete with triumphant brass additions and bright white lights that gave the performance a nearbaptismal effect. Their already cinematic music was made even more so through the strategic use of a drum line and other live orchestration. Each song was accompanied by synced visuals; glitched-out celestial graphics, flashes and specks dancing across the screen, occasional pyrotechnics in moments that carried particular climactic weight. It was beautiful, and a fitting conclusion to my time in Grant Park.
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FOR RENT Release Date: Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Tot’s drink, to the tot 5 Side-by-side truck tires 10 Fifth Avenue landmark 14 Help with a heist 15 Play direction 16 Lint collector 17 Sci-fi princess with a twin brother 18 BLOCK 20 Abs exercise 22 Take out of the packaging 23 CATCH 26 Picnic crasher 28 Harrison of “My Fair Lady” 29 Help 30 Tiny Lab, e.g. 33 “But seriously folks ... ” is one 35 Forest ranger? 36 Selfish shout 37 KICK 41 “What __!”: “I’ve been had!” 42 Little chap 43 Big dipper 44 Many a dad joke 45 Transparent art surface 46 MADD message, e.g. 48 __ Lingus 49 PASS 52 Legend automaker 55 Alternative medicine staple 58 RUN 61 Its oxide makes Mars red 62 Retired tennis pro Kournikova 63 Bartlett entry 64 Gunk 65 Woodpecker’s tool 66 Go over the limit 67 Ball elevators DOWN 1 Outlet site 2 Busy as __ 3 Reason to purchase a new belt 4 Pong maker 5 Get off the fence
ALICE LIU / DAILY
so. I will say that he has a great relationship with his fans — he loves them and they love him. So at least they both have someone. I got a lobster corn dog. It was the best thing I ate all weekend. Grant Park had at this point taken on a subtle saffron hue as the sun set behind the jutting Chicago skyline, and while my friends all went to go see the brooding Weeknd, I walked across the park to Vampire Weekend, who I’ve best heard described as “a boat shoe you don’t hate.” It was more crowded than The National’s show but was suffering from a similar phenomenon of being up against a pop titan. Ezra Koenig walked out in his System of a Down long-sleeved tee and grey cargo shorts and kicked off the show by playing “A-Punk” three times in a row. It got better with each rendition and the crowd got progressively wilder. This was the most Vampire Weekend-esque way they could have opened the show, and frankly, I’m here for it. They played their classics with consummate elegance, every song well-received by the crowd. Their personality burst through in little jocular moments such as
6 Like the name Pat 7 When some local news airs 8 Emmy-winning ESPN reporter Bob 9 Soon-to-be alumni: Abbr. 10 Smarted 11 Riyadh resident 12 Pecan pie syrup 13 Glasses, informally 19 College courtyard 21 Campaign pro? 24 Counter offer? 25 Goddess of victory 26 Music rights gp. 27 ’60s jacket style 30 Apartment used for overnight trips to the city 31 “I give up!” 32 Saint at a gate 34 Official behind a catcher 35 Word with tight or split 36 Juilliard deg. 38 Away from the wind
39 Beaufort scale word 40 Cereal bit 45 Study a lot in a short time 46 Pontius __ 47 Checked (out) 49 Come unglued, with “out” 50 Lake near California’s Squaw Valley 51 Throw out
52 Queequeg’s captain 53 Scoop perch 54 Military sch. whose mascot is Bill the Goat 56 Casanova 57 Common conjunctions 59 Brightness figs. not measured in watts 60 “What’s goin’ on?”
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Sports
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 — 7A
VOLLEYBALL Hawkins settled in as replacement for Metellus ‘M’ cruises past Crusaders MAX MARCOVITCH Daily Sports Editor
Sophomore safety Brad Hawkins saw the ball go up. He turned his hips, his eyes fixated on the opportunity that he’d long awaited. “(I) thought it was mine,” Hawkins said Tuesday. Of course, it wasn’t. Instead, Notre Dame receiver Chris Finke leapt over Hawkins’ back, snatching a 43-yard touchdown that sent the stadium into a frenzy and gave the Irish a 14-0 lead halfway through the first quarter, a lead Notre Dame carried through the end of the game Saturday. “He Moss’d him,” exclaimed television commentator Mike Tirico, referencing a play hallof-fame receiver Randy Moss might make. Finke is 5-foot-10, half a foot shorter than Moss. Four plays after replacing junior safety Josh Metellus, who was ejected for targeting, the 6-foot-2 Hawkins found himself the victim of a surefire poster. It was far from the auspicious start Hawkins might have imagined after countless hours honing his coverage skills, lifting in the weight room, watching film. Defensive coordinator Don Brown simply told him he’d make the play next time, that all he can do is move on. At halftime, Hawkins spoke with Metellus who relayed a similar message. Hawkins saw the game as his opportunity — one that some never see. He wasn’t going to let a single play derail that. “It happens,” Hawkins said. “I moved on to the next play, and I continued to play the way I know I’m capable of playing. … I definitely was surprised, but it happens.” Hawkins came into the
JACOB SHAMES Daily Sports Writer
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Sophomore safety Brad Hawkins notched six tackles and one pass deflection after giving up a touchdown on Saturday.
program as the 66th-ranked receiver in the country, according to 247Sports’ composite ranking. But when he got on campus, Brown approached him with a proposition. Brown asked Hawkins to do something most with that pedigree would scoff at; he wanted him to switch to the defensive side of the ball. Far from opposition, Hawkins was eager to make the move — in fact, he’d decided during his senior year at Suffield Academy in New Jersey in 2016 that his future would be best as a defensive back. That’s where he concluded his size and ability fit best in his football future. It doesn’t mean the move came without trepidation. “I thought I was going to be bad at covering,” Hawkins said, retrospectively, thinking about when he first made the move to defense in 2017. “Coming into this system, you’re playing man. I’d never really covered anybody in my life, honestly.”
“I’d never really covered anybody in my life, honestly.”
Hawkins turned to Devin Bush Sr., on Michigan’s staff as a defensive analyst at the time, for guidance. Bush Sr. played safety at Florida State and then in the NFL for eight years, winning championships at both levels. He lent Hawkins some tricks of the trade during a freshman season in which Hawkins played sparsely. “Coach Bush helped me a lot with my covering,” Hawkins said. “Just him playing in the league. He has a lot of experience. He’s a winner. He has a national championship, he has a Super Bowl. Having that type of mind in the safety room with you is definitely a help.” With more refined technique and 20 extra pounds, Hawkins came into camp and earned praise from the coaching staff. Though Metellus and senior safety Tyree Kinnel came into the spring and fall entrenched as the returning starting safety duo, Hawkins fought to claim the role of next man up. Sure enough, that became a necessity
eight minutes into the season. On the road in a hostile environment, against a top-15 team, Hawkins was ready. “About two plays,” he said, when asked how long it took to become comfortable. “I just went in there and just did my job. It’s something that I’ve been doing for the past two years now. I thought I was comfortable back there.” For some, in the interim, the touchdown will mask all. It’s a play Hawkins should have made. He knows that. Those people will then forget Hawkins’ six tackles and one pass deflection, his strong positioning and dutiful work all night in replacing Metellus. His teammates are not among them. “I think he did well,” said sophomore linebacker Josh Ross. “He’s also a young guy that came in. But we’re all trying to get to the level where we’re above anybody and everybody.”
“I think he did well. He’s also a young guy that came in.”
At some point this year, the Michigan volleyball team will lose a set. Right? But that’s a question for another time. Certainly not for Tuesday night against Valparaiso, whom the 20th-ranked Wolverines defeated in three sets (25-19, 25-13, 25-20) for their sixth sweep in six games this season. It was a typical early-season takedown of an overmatched opponent, done in style. While the contest — especially the first set — was pockmarked with bouts of sloppy play, Michigan mostly did what it was expected to do, pummeling the Crusaders (6-2) into oblivion with fluid chemistry, formidable skill and sheer physical power. Junior setter MacKenzi Welsh orchestrated the offense to perfection, dishing out 30 assists with a diverse arsenal of passes, while keeping the tempo smooth and balanced. There to turn Welsh’s sets into kills was an imposing front line led by freshman outside hitter Paige Jones, junior outside hitter Sydney Wetterstrom, senior outside hitter Carly Skjodt and redshirt junior middle blocker Cori Crocker, who contributed to a season-high .363 hitting percentage. In particular, Crocker was nearly unstoppable, as the Wolverines recognized a glaring mismatch between their middle blockers and Valparaiso’s right out of the gate. So Crocker went to work, hitting at a .778 clip with eight kills for the contest. How do you stop that if you’re the Crusaders — and you have only one starter taller than six feet, compared to Michigan’s five? For the most part, you don’t. “Today was definitely a pretty obvious mismatch,” Crocker said. “We had a couple people that definitely could have dominated who they were matched up with.” As Crocker feasted, her towering presence also opened up the outside for Jones (.438 hitting percentage),
Wetterstrom (eight kills) and Skjodt (14). But the offensive onslaught didn’t stop there. With a two-set lead in hand, coach Mark Rosen was able to ease his reserves into action in the final frame, as freshmen Lizzie Sadilek and Kayla Bair and junior Katarina Glavinic all contributed. Sophomore libero Jacqueline DiSanto also saw considerable playing time in relief of senior Jenna Lerg. While many starters and key players sat for long stretches of the third set, Skjodt, who Rosen called the “glue” of the team, remained in throughout. Rosen described her presence as crucial for lineup consistency. “We don’t want to have a new player in there with a bunch of other new players,” he said. “Because then, it’s not like they get a chance to acclimate to what the lineup is like, so we try to sparingly put those kids in, get them experience with veteran kids, with the experienced kids. Because that’s a better way to learn, and they don’t feel that pressure in having to do everything.” The Wolverines aren’t going to dominate all their opponents the way they did Valparaiso. Not while competing in a Big Ten which claims seven teams — including Michigan — in the AVCA Top-25. As such, there’s plenty of room for improvement. “I think our services could still get better,” Jones said. “First-ball contact, first serving and passing.” Added Rosen: “We’re settling in on what our top group is and what our lineup is … (and) what our team is looking like.” But then again, if there’s ever a good time to be patient, to ease up on the concern, it’s right now. School is just getting back into swing. Conference play is over two weeks away. The Wolverines still haven’t dropped a set. They’ll eventually have more questions to answer, but they can afford to take their time.
Read more of this story online at MichiganDaily.com
statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | S E P T E M B E R 5 , 201 8
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Wednesday, September 5, 2018// The Statement
statement T H E M I CH I GA N DAI LY | S E P T E M B E R 5 , 201 8
Managing Statement Editor: Brian Kuang
Photo Editor: Amelia Cacchione
Managing Editor: Dayton Hare
Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford Jennifer Meer
Editor in Chief: Alexa St. John
Copy Editors: Elise Laarman Finntan Storer
Copy That: Renditions and traditions BY ELISE LAARMAN, COPY CHIEF
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here are times when you just can’t get it right, and then there are times when you learn you haven’t been getting it right your entire life. This summer I learned the difference between accuracy and precision. The lesson came in the form of a centuriesold folk song. It’s estimated “House of the Rising Sun” has been covered well over a hundred times, and I made it my mission these past few months to find the very best version. Copydesk is big on tradition. A
to be covers, with the first version sung in a different country, possibly in a different language, long ago. The Animals launched the song onto the global stage in 1964, inspiring many musicians to lift their voices to that recognizable A-minor pattern, including Kesha, Toto, The Dead South, Hank Williams, Jr. and Bon Jovi. Other artists decided to ditch the chord pattern and make the song from scratch, producing truly unique renditions from a multitude of genres such as Jimi Hendrix’s psychedelic rock, Doc Watson’s bluegrass, Lead Belly’s Delta blues (titled “In New Orleans”), Bob Dylan’s folksy Americana, Jerry Reed’s outlaw country, Idris Muhammad’s jazzy funk and Muse’s heavy rock. The list goes on and on. One question stuck with me on this quest to find the best cover: what’s better, precision or accuracy? A fascinating query for a neurotic copy editor. My job revolves around correcting style precision and grammar accuracy, but there was a lot that had to be analyzed and there was even more than meets the eye. I define precision as how close a song comes to the popular version by The Animals. This definition fits the songs by Kesha, Bon Jovi and the others who use the same cyclical chord pattern and forces artists to emphasize their idiosyncrasies to create a distinct sound; therefore, it’s more about the artist’s interpretation of the song rather than a remaking of it. The version I believe emulates this the best is an instrumental version by The Ventures recorded live in Japan in 1965. This particular rendition took the traditional chord pattern and broke it down throughout Columbia Graphophone the course of the song until it
stubborn copy editor is a good copy editor, and we obstinately stick to our stylebooks and grammar laws despite the fact that the greater population of the world wouldn’t care whether or not a writer used an extraneous comma. It’s come to my attention that in the music world it’s tradition to think the original is always the best — pioneering, innovative, uncorrupted by others’ versions and opinions. What’s unique about “House of the Rising Sun” is no one knows the original. In fact, all recordings today are believed
is nearly unrecognizable through a beautiful and unpredictable mess of guitar riffs. On the other hand, I define accuracy as how close the song comes to what’s believed to be the original lyrics. Because the song’s oldest published lyrics predate the song’s oldest recording, there is no original music genre. This definition would include songs that differed from The Animals’ accustomed rock-and-roll style. “House of the Rising Sun” has been recorded in a surprisingly wide variety of musical genres, and its lyrics vary from song to song. The oldest published lyrics, written by Robert Winslow Gordon in 1925, tell the story from the perspective of a woman abused by her husband instead of the more popular story of a man abused by life. Nina Simone performed the original lyrics live at the Village Gate, New York in 1961 and, in my opinion, stunningly captured the sorrowful tale with her soft, longing voice like no one else. The background noises of people shuff ling around the nightclub only add to the song ’s overwhelming lonesomeness. Put against one another, The Ventures’ and Nina Simone’s renditions are almost complete opposites. I am unable to choose between precision and accuracy because both yield such different yet beautiful results. I think this is an important lesson for all artists out there, and for all who edit artists’ work: to focus on perfection with respect to tradition is quite limiting. Both songs take something from the original but end up making another thing entirely. This revolt against tradition doesn’t mean I’m about to toss my stylebook out the window — we still need coherence and consistency in our writing — but it is enough to make me pause. I now find myself more curious in the reasoning behind the grammar rules and style guidelines, and I hope this curiosity will make me a better editor.
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 // The Statement
3B
Tea Leaves: I am happy to chat with you, just not at Starbucks BY SHANNON ORS, DAILY STAFF REPORTER
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here are certain places I tend to avoid when I return to my hometown after a year away at college. The notorious town watering holes: June graduation parties, the grocery store on Sunday evenings, Starbucks. These three places can all be classified by their likelihood of neighborhood small talk, typically conversations that often prompt questions concerning my own college experience. Still, I acknowledge these exchanges are inevitable when you leave a place that knows all the sticky PB&J crumbs of your childhood (including a Bangles talent show routine and cringeworthy f loral headband phase) and then you return to find a local cavity of knowledge. So instead, I do my best to see the people with whom I genuinely owe a candid conversation, and for those brief interactions at the watering hole, I rely on my rolodex of prepared responses. I spent the summer quite successfully adhering to my plan. That is, until a good friend invited me for a cup of coffee at the third destination on the list of places I avoid in my hometown: Starbucks. When she picked me up in her doorless Jeep, I knew that discretion was not going to be the vintage of this excursion. Starbucks. The town square for 21st century suburban life. Besides a corporate guarantee that no matter which Starbucks location you visit your nuanced drink order will taste the same, there is also a latent promise that you will run into at least three people from your life. Going to Starbucks is akin to posting a social media photo in real life. The experience is specifically crafted to let the world know you were there. Think about it. There is a reason beyond caffeine that people feel the need to walk into a meeting with the ubiquitous mermaid-stamped cup in their hand. The convoluted drink orders are like the personalized photo edit settings of your VSCO feed — a strange mix of pride and mystery veils both. The Lululemon clad mother in front of me orders, “I’ll have a caramel macchiato, venti, skim, extra shot, extra hot, extra whip, sugar free.” I haven’t had a “go to” Starbucks drink order since seventh grade when everyone drank chocolate chip frappuccinos. For those who
are unfamiliar with this gem on the Starbucks menu, a chocolate chip frappuccino is what you drink when hot chocolate becomes a faux pas circa fifth grade. It is the middle school drink of choice. You know, when you need all that caffeine to finish reading “Crispin.” It is my turn to order and I am already f lustered. I have taken Spanish for 12 years yet my acquaintance with the romance languages still does not prove useful when trying to decode the Starbucks menu. “Umm, I will have a medium Earl Grey tea.” The barista is staring me down when she asks, “You mean a grande?” I have never understood the logic behind the Starbucks drink sizing. You would think “grande” would mean “large” but it doesn’t — it implies medium. I reach into the depths of my Vera Bradley wallet (the occasion called for it) and hand over a dusty Starbucks gift card left over from a high school secret Santa gift exchange. “There are only 43 cents left on this,” the barista says. Forty-three cents left on the $5.00 gift card — matching the subtle five points of a star and the $5.00 price tag that paints the chalkboard menu. The signature scent envelopes me
as I carry the $5.00 cup of tea. The distinct aroma of a Starbucks — nodes of java beans and burnt cheese — become my perfume for the rest of the day. Everyone knows where you were after you spend an hour sitting in a Starbucks. No need for an Instagram geotag. My friend chooses a seat on the storefront patio to soak in the dog days of summer before we both head back to school. She asks if the seat is okay, given her awareness of my preference to avoid the inevitable neighborly interactions of a Starbucks visit. I reply that the seat is perfect, mostly because I don’t think it is possible to be a f ly on the wall in the bustling hometown coffeehouse. I smile and nod as the overlapping figures of our past wave, approach the table and affectionately question us both about college. A trademark Midwest politeness threads each conversation, which instantly warms up my cold aversion to their questions, just like chicken noodle soup from the crock pot on a subzero snow day. Admittedly, these impromptu college recap Q&A’s that have become routine upon a year at college are a privilege in itself. The opportunity to talk about personal interests and
File Photo/Daily
academic achievements are questions to which I am lucky to have at least some version of an answer. Even if those answers rival the incompleteness of the 1000-piece puzzle that sits on the dining room table all summer. I asked my friend why she choose Starbucks as the venue for our final goodbyes. She laughed and explained how in her mind, docking in Starbucks for an afternoon lets everyone know she survived a year at college. That she is alive and well. She calls it “letting them know she has a pulse.” As I processed her response, I began to wonder, maybe I had been viewing the genre of college recap conversations wrongly. We live in an age trademarked by the pressure to share with people where we are and what we are doing — it’s the very ethos of the Starbucks experience. But, for those brief interactions at the watering hole, maybe small talk is a rare chance to tell the Hollywood version of the story: to share an elegant, G-rated, 90-second exchange about the college experience. Your high school algebra teacher, the mother of kids you use to babysat and the peers you graduated with all know college is hard. Small talk shouldn’t be too.
4B
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 // The Statement
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 // The Statement
How a local service dog became the University’s unofficial mascot
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lexandra Ngo, who graduated in 2018, sat with Michael Sola in the Michigan Union Billiards Room, where Ngo worked, watching Vine compilations one night in Spring 2017. Sola, a local retiree and Pembroke Welsh corgi owner, found the Vines both amusing and perhaps a bit bewildering. They were seemingly ridiculous videos that garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Ngo joked anyone could post pretty much anything online, which they could then monetize and popularize — like Sola’s dog, Reggie, for example. “You can make a Facebook page,” Ngo told him. “Something where people can follow Reggie.” It was at this moment in the nowdefunct Billiards Room that the former junior excitedly helped Sola establish an avid following on campus. The plan was to construct a Facebook profile for Reggie Bee, Sola’s eight-yearold corgi that Ngo had grown to love through moments like these in the Billiards Room and her own interest in corgis. And thus, from a spontaneous Vinewatching session, the online profile of the University’s famous dog — and some would argue mascot — came to be. Now, nearly a year-and-a-half later, everyone knows Reggie: student organizations use him on their brochures, pho-
by Avi Sholkoff, Daily Sports Writer Sola would be that person — to nurture and provide him an environment, and eventually an entire University student body, that would care for him deeply. However, Reggie’s primary role is to be a service dog for Sola — to help him in case of an emergency if he happened to be alone or could not use his cell phone. “If I start to have a heart event, if I’m in a park or something like that, he will go get me help,” Sola said. “He will run and go get somebody and they will know to follow him. He’s trained to do that.” The possibility of needing to save Sola’s life is also why Reggie doesn’t require a leash. Sola explained most service dogs can’t be off leash. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act website, service animals must be harnessed unless it impedes the animal’s job. Such is the case for Reggie. University police know Reggie well enough now that they don’t question why he is off a leash. “Reggie was trained to be off leash because if he’s running through the park and gets his leash caught on something, that shuts the whole show down right there,” Sola said. Fortunately, Sola has never experienced a horrific event that would require Reggie to save his life, but he claims Reggie helps everyday with companionship or if he hurts his foot, for example. Reggie will hear his voice and come immediately to aid his owner. “He’ll start licking and he’ll jump right up in my chair,” Sola said. “He’s so attuned to what I’m feeling, it’s unbelievable. He’ll offer support. He’s basically coming up and licking my face because he wants to support me.” But most importantly and profoundly for Sola, Reggie has been a positive force on the student body. He said it is his favorite part about spending time with Reggie. Since he first created the Facebook page in March 2017, students eagerly run across campus to pet Reggie, the cuddly campus corgi, and for just a few minutes forget about the stresses of coursework, extracurriculars and social struggles. Rackham student Flynn Darby surprised his corgi-loving girlfriend, Kinesiology alum Andrea Kooistra, by bringing Reggie and Sola to her birthday last October. Medical student Mark-Anthony LinAmelia Cacchione/Daily gaya purchased his own corgi puppy and received extensive advice from Sola on
tos of him proliferate social media and, of course, he appears in a multitude of memes. Sola loves it. For the semi-professional photographer, taking pictures of University students at some of their happiest moments, with his dog Reggie, brings him great joy. Searching for a dog to help him if he ever faced a life-threatening event, Sola — an Air Force veteran who served outside of San Francisco during the Vietnam War — adopted Reggie six years ago and had him trained as a service dog. Because of a heart condition, Sola would rely on Reggie’s assistance should an event put Sola in danger. Sola’s first searches for a cute canine companion proved fruitless. However, after speaking with a corgi rescue, Sola made up his mind to adopt one. “There (was) a corgi up in Gaylord and so I called up there and the lady said to come on up,” Sola recalled. “So I went up to Gaylord, and I met Reggie, Reggie’s older sister Sandy Dee and two other labs. And this lady has had Reggie since he was a baby. She said she’s held him in her arms when he was a baby and actually fed him with a little bottle. He’s a well-liked dog, has all his shots and she has lived with him all his life. He was two years old and she had too many dogs so she needed to find someone who would take Reggie.”
Reggie gets pets and attention from passing students on the Diag.
where to purchase it. For others, seeing Reggie simply brightens their day. “Reggie created his own group here, he fulfills a need,” Sola said. “There’s a student body here and they need a dog like Reggie. I usually just want the interaction to be between them and Reggie, because that’s therapy. That’s why we call him the therapy dog. I want them to have that experience.” ola became interested in photography when he traveled throughout Asia, going to Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines, taking portraits of both the scenery and people he met. His appreciation for photographing the everyday scenery overseas carried over to his life and passions in Ann Arbor. For Sola, there isn’t anything drastically different about what he’s been doing during the past year and a half. Despite the creation of the Facebook page and students’ affinity toward his dog, he’s doing what he’s been doing for the past six years — walking around campus with Reggie. When Ngo helped him develop the Facebook page, he had no idea how popular it would become — it eventually reached Facebook’s cap for 5,000 friends by the midpoint of summer 2017. “I’ve been bringing him on campus and he goes virtually everywhere I go,” Sola said. “He’d walk around without the leash so (the students would) find this corgi, and say, ‘Wow what’s this?’… The common question even now is, ‘Do you own that dog?’” Sola said he often jokes in response by saying, “Do you own that dog?” Ngo, too, was particularly surprised how rapidly Reggie gained popularity on campus. “I thought it would be popular for a couple days,” Ngo said. “I didn’t anticipate Reggie continuously being a meme. I never thought everybody would be like, ‘Oh my god! It’s Reggie.’” Ngo, who worked in the Billiards Room at the Union all throughout college, met Sola her freshman year, calling him one of a handful of regulars who frequented the historic spot on campus. Sola was the first to initiate a conversation during Ngo’s freshman year after seeing her laptop covered from top to bottom with corgi stickers. “Michael finally walked up and said, ‘Wait a second, I have a corgi,’” Ngo said. “We kept talking about how it’s so easy
S
to get on campus and distract (passersby), just because so many people want to pet their dog when they’re walking. You know someone is going to stop and talk to you. And that’s when I mentioned, ‘You should honestly walk him through campus and you never know how many students will stop by.’” In the years leading up to the creation of the Facebook page, Ngo said, Sola loved seeing how happy Reggie made everyone around campus. “That’s when I finally said, ‘You really should make a Facebook page or something. You’d get so much more show for your photography.’” lynn Darby knew how much his girlfriend Andrea Kooistra loved corgis and Reggie in particular. She is a member of multiple corgi Facebook groups and loves seeing Reggie on campus. Consequently, he invited Sola to participate in Kooistra’s 21st birthday festivities. While Kooistra had seen and spent a great deal of time with Reggie on campus, Darby’s first encounter with Reggie was when he threw her the surprise birthday party. “It was a surprise,” Darby said. “And 15 minutes before party started, (Sola) came and then Andrea had 15 minutes of Reggie to herself. She took lots of pictures and then everyone came over and had a great time. (Sola and Reggie) ended up staying for about a half hour.” Sola has seen Reggie’s impact to a different extent on campus; he says that he has begun to see more corgis around campus and knows three different Ann Arbor community members people who have purchased corgis since meeting Reggie. One such person was Lingaya, who sought Sola’s advice about where to find a dog. Lingaya had always wanted a dog growing up but never had one of his own. It wasn’t until he neared graduation that he began to look into buying a puppy. Sola offered advice on where to search (on Facebook) and the types of breeders (those who breed for temperament) to seek out. These tips proved invaluable when Lingaya finally found King, his sixmonth-old puppy. King and Reggie have met multiple times and, according to Lingaya, are great friends. Lingaya and Sola bonded because, as Lingaya recalls, they spoke about spending time in the Philippines where Lingaya lived for a few years and Sola had visited on vacation. Lingaya always loved seeing Reggie and as a result became closer with Sola, too. “One day when I saw him I went up to him and said, ‘Oh you have the cutest dog ever,’” Lingaya said. “I talked to him when I decided I really wanted to get a puppy and so I went to him with those questions of where to get one.” Lingaya said Sola was extremely helpful and receptive. “He even checked in to see how the
F
5B
process was going in terms of looking for the puppy, which I really appreciated,” he said. “You could also tell he was really looking out for me because he didn’t want me to fall into trap to the scams that happen when you get a new puppy.” Business senior Maureen Wu is always excited to see Reggie on campus. “I like Reggie because it’s nice to see a cute and friendly face on the middle of the Diag,” Wu said. “He and his owner are always super friendly.” Engineering senior Justin Pawloski loves seeing Reggie because he said it brings him joy and fulfillment. “Reggie inspired me to be who I am today,” Palowski said. “He’s just such a cute and little corgi. He should’ve been president, he is the greatest of all time.” Sola hopes Reggie continues to impact the campus. “Hopefully, this will become Corgi Amelia Cacchione/Daily Campus,” Sola said with a smile. “What if there were just 10 corgis that were just Reggie gets a treat from his owner, Michael Sola, on the Diag. periodically going through the campus?” campus know who Reggie is even if they little brother tags you in. Yet through Some may reason that petting a dog haven’t seen him. People who haven’t it all, there is Reggie the Campus Corgi for just a few minutes hardly qualifies seen him want to see him, people who pictured with smiling students, who for a as therapy. Sola though, would disagree, have seen him want to see him again. moment lack a care in the world. It’s the smile that stays. It actually helps and he has the evidence to prove it. “It’s such a charismatic figure to look “I’ve had mothers (of University stu- their mental health and mental well- forward to on your timeline,” Kooistra dents), actually, a number of times, being which I think is why people have said. “It’s the reason why I think it was message me to tell me how grateful and accepted Reggie.” shared so many times and seen by so how thankful they are that I bring Regart of what makes Reggie such a many people.” gie down here because their daughter or As Welcome Week comes to an end and staple of campus is his accessitheir son is having a horrible semester,” bility. Because Reggie is not on Syllabus Week turns to midterm season, Sola said. “They’re stressed and every a leash, he can roam freely around the Reggie Bee and Michael Sola will be there time they see Reggie they have a good Diag and other parts of the U-M campus waiting. Reggie will be on the Diag or day.” near the Union, roaming and stoking out essentially untamed. In fact, Sola has been approached about The students have grown to enjoy this treats from friendly and upbeat students. partnering with mental health organiza- aspect of their favorite campus corgi. Sola will be there too, sitting on a bench tions on campus. For Sola though, Reg“I think it’s welcoming that he’s not on some feet away, just as eager to spark up gie’s role on campus is unique and best a leash,” Kooistra said. “Because if a dog conversation with U-M students. independent from existing mental health is on a leash, it’s kinda intimidating to It may be worth speaking to him or support organizations, where he believes go up and ask if you can pet the dog, but spending time with Reggie. their resources exhaust what Reggie since Reggie is so free roaming, it’s just It may just make you want your own could offer. dog, or — if you’re lucky — spend time very inviting to go and pet.” “I’m retired, so I have the time to When scrolling on facebook, posts can with him on your birthday. walk around here, walk around campus, seem monotonous. There is the off-kilter Lingaya sums it up best: “I feel like then go home and process the pictures,” political post from your crazy uncle, an now Michigan isn’t Michigan without Sola said. “You see everybody walking infinite amount of pictures from last mentioning Reggie.” through the Diag and they’re all happy week’s tailgate and random memes your and everything, but in their mind they’re worrying about their tests or their relationships or their finances. I’ve learned that. Reggie’s clientele is the students on campus. And I think I’d rather keep it that way, too.” Other students like Lingaya believe Reggie truly has clout on campus. Some people on campus might not know Shea Patterson plays quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines, but everyone seems to know Reggie, whether you’ve just begun at the University or are in your final year. “Reggie’s a member of the community,” Lingaya said. “I’d Amelia Cacchione/Daily even go as far to say that he is a celebrity. Most people on Reggie the Campus Corgi.
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6B
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 // The Statement
Conditional love from tiger parents BY ROMY SHARMA, CONTRIBUTOR
“T
hank you for applying to the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. We regret to inform you that you have not been admitted to the Class of 2020. We encourage you to apply again next Winter...” Rather than a boozy, relaxed year of skipping classes and taking blowoff courses, autumn of 2015 would launch my toughest year yet. After running a three-year marathon of extracurriculars, AP classes and a set of parents perpetually disapproving my efforts, the end was nowhere in sight: It was finally time to apply to colleges, and it was going to be my year. With undying ardor, I chased the forbidden parental words: “I’m proud of you.” I’ve had the same circle of friends since kindergarten — that seemed to be the way of the land back home. We did everything together, from taking the same classes to sleeping over at the same houses. But this foundational common ground soon became grounds to compete upon. With the ACT season closing and college application season commencing, many turned our backs against each other, whispering tidbits of envy and contempt to one another. “Did you hear that Jack went to the Dartmouth information session? Like, there’s no way…” “You don’t really believe Christine got a 36, right? She’s been insecure since like fifth grade about this stuff…” The race for valedictorian-esque titles became tighter, and most chose the challenge over our friendships. What once was a unified group of 10 nerds soon became three exclusive cliques, broken up by ACT scores and desired school admissions. Our lunch hour became grounds for subtle insults of one another’s intelligence, creating exclusive Saturday night plans in front of those uninvited and a tireless game of one-upping each other’s accomplishments. The sleepovers got smaller. The carpools disappeared. My phone buzzed less, until it became every man for himself. My parents are immigrants from India: The only people in long generations of family history to escape their hometowns and establish a life via the American Dream. I always felt they assimilated with me, growing up while I did, navigating the United States. I grew up getting spanked, teaching my parents how sleepovers work and begging them not to make me perform a walk of shame out of Health class, sitting out of the sex module while my
peers snickered at how much of a prude interest... My parents expressed intense levels I appeared to be at 13. My parents grew up in households of of disappointment in my inability to tradition, beatings and strict allegiance impress the nation’s finest universities. I had gotten into the University of to academia. Extracurriculars came third in a tier of school and family, and Michigan months prior, but this didn’t fun was a taboo rather than an element make my parents blink an eye. “Everyone gets into Michigan around of growing up. School was their religion, and I largely owe my success today to here. It’s just a public school. Now their undying allegiance to education. you’re no better.” Up to 10 college rejections later, my only But alongside their expectations stood an everlasting custom of verbal abuse. plan was the University of Michigan. A good grade meant you can always But there was an 11th that remained: do better. A bad grade led to week- Ross School of Business. I put my utmost long silent treatments and outcries of time and emotional investment into wishing they had a daughter with value, my Business School application, and a daughter they wouldn’t regret having. felt the pressure of hope deepening Because of this regular familial event, each day of April, awaiting fate in my fear largely drove my motivations. inbox. Perceiving Business School to be Committing mistakes as I grew older more “prestigious” than the rest of the drove them into worsening abuse. The University, I came to see it as the key comments got harsher. Their demands to my parents’ approval. I convinced got stronger. I soon found myself with myself that this could be how I finally a 9:00 p.m. curfew at 17 years old, rise to true value in my parent’s eyes, and ultimately getting my phone bring some form confiscated and a of peace to my string of damaging household. insults for pulling And then I got into the driveway the email. at 9:02 p.m. after For the rest of marching band the year, I would rehearsal. Their cry myself to outcrys shattered sleep, withdraw my composure myself from all of each time, my my friendships, 12-year-old sister declare myself growing to be the rebellious to my only person who parents’ wishes, kept me alive for and let their the next morning. ILLUSTRATION BY ROSEANNE CHAO daily reminder Between parents whose expectations replaced my of my failures seep into my blood and oxygen and friends who were no longer f low into my most controlling thoughts friendly, I decided to let my anticipated and dreams. The girl who won “Most college acceptances lift me into the now Optimistic” in high school marching foreign concept of happiness. I knew band lost her faith in God, her that each acceptance would bring me friendships, her parents and the sight closer to my parents, and hopefully new of herself. Summer 2016 consisted of my first beginnings. But this utopia of thought would slowly, and surely, be destroyed. internship for which my parents would Spring break of 2016: A family eventually accept me leaving the house. vacation to Barcelona. They call it rush But once I came home, I was confined. hour, but it felt far from. En route to the Newly rekindled friendships were airport, I received five emails within a quickly put out by an unmoving curfew. Silent treatments were incessant. single hour. Cornell University: We regret to Prayers for happiness were denied. Ann Arbor quickly became the enchanted inform you… Harvard University: Thank you for light I dreamed about finding at the end of a relentless tunnel — especially when your interest… Yale University: This year’s pool was it meant I could apply to the Business School one last time. My parents the most competitive... New York University: Thank you for begged me not to attend the University of Michigan, their pleas deriving from applying to the Fall 2016… Georgetown University: The fear to be let down again by another admissions team thanks you for your rejection letter if I reapplied. My
resilient sister and poetry journal kept me sane, becoming the only things that kept me out of depression. Imprisoned in a home where I was not welcome and having no outlet to vent to but to my sister, I poured the only energy I had into hope, hope that the grass was greener in Ann Arbor. Move-in day. The sun was brighter and my steps were lighter. The air smelled sweeter, absorbing parental complaints before my ears could. Symbols of freedom decorated my clothing and room decor: bright yellow block M’s. Just a 90-minute drive stood between me and the rest of my life. I could feel a chapter closing in the air — or perhaps it was just postponed. All I had was all I ever really wanted: a fresh slate for new friendships, hopes, whirlwinds and hopefully, accomplishments. persisted through two semesters of snarky remarks and doubts of my second admittance to the Business School on the other line. Then, in the middle of a meeting on the first day of my internship, I refreshed my email. “Congratulations! You have been admitted … ” I ran on unadulterated adrenaline for the rest of the day, and finally called my parents after work, who finally uttered, “We are proud of you” on the other side of the line. This was the first stepping stone toward an authentic relationship with my parents. In a deliberate effort to cultivate a more personal relationship, I began to steer topics during phone calls home toward my personal life and admitting small failures. Shifting conversation from academia and grades to dating and dealing with stress resulted in unforeseen friendship with my mom and long, nourishing conversations with my dad. Though a measure of my parents’ love was never what you’d call unconditional, their expectations always served as a barrier growing up, culminating into which university I’d leave the house for. Though an unhealthy basis for our relationship, it is a product of their own upbringing to which I owe, in part, where I am today. I haven’t yet addressed my grievances with how they treated me in high school in contrast to now, but I endure in the ambition of changing the only parenting style they know, hoping to eventually shift their mark of value from rank and numbers to simply love. And perhaps that day will come.
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Wednesday, September 5, 2018// The Statement
7B
I’ll take my identity for 800 dollars BY ARIA GERSON, DAILY SPORTS WRITER
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ec. 30, 2016: I’m watching the Michigan football team play in the Orange Bowl when Head Coach Jim Harbaugh starts wildly clapping, clipboard in hand. I turn to my dad and shout, “Jim Harbaugh claps like a seal!” Then I take to Twitter and retweet everyone saying the same thing. I had been accepted into the University of Michigan about a week before, but this was the first real bond I felt with my future school. See, Harbaugh and I have something in common: We both made fools of ourselves by clapping incorrectly on national TV. uly 4, 2011: I’m sitting on my couch, family gathered around, watching myself on “Jeopardy!” Being on the kids’ version of the quiz show was a dream that had materialized out of nowhere, one I thought would never happen. And yet, here I was, watching my TV debut. On TV, I hit a Daily Double and began clapping, as is customary on the show. But instead of clapping like my competitors, like a normal person, I held my hands perfectly straight and parallel to each other and clapped, well, like a seal. I put my head in my hands, unable to watch. The first thing no one tells you about being on a quiz show: Watching yourself on TV isn’t fun. It’s a cringefest made infinitely worse once you realize millions of people are watching it. I was self-conscious about the way I clapped from then on. Hey, at least Harbaugh is good company. My second-place finish netted $2,000 and 15 new friends (the other contestants from my tape day — they tape a whole week of shows in one session). Not bad for a day’s work. But after that, I came to the realization that maybe I would never do anything that cool again. I was washed up at the age of 12. Still, I had been on a quiz show, and that itself was something I could use to my advantage — or so I thought. A year after my show aired, I moved to Michigan where I would start eighth grade not knowing anyone. Everyone already had their friends, so I needed a way to stand out. By my second week, the entire grade might as well have known. I got the attention I wanted, but there would be unintended consequences. By making my “Jeopardy!” appearance the first thing anyone knew about me, I was basing my identity around it — an identity I would later realize I
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didn’t want. The second thing no one tells you about being on a quiz show: You’re quizzed about your experience. Constantly. “How did you get on the show?” (Online test, in-person audition, lots of luck.) “What’s Alex Trebek like?” (We barely interacted with him, but nice I g uess.) “Is your episode online?” (No, thank god.) And of course, “Did you win?” (The conversation usually ended when I said no.) The third thing no one tells you about being on a quiz show: There comes a point when the show becomes your identity, and at that point it almost becomes out of your control. There were no words I dreaded more from a teacher than, “We’re playing Review ‘Jeopardy!’ this week.” Review “Jeopardy”! was usually a PowerPoint with “Jeopardy!”-style questions where teams competed for extra credit right before a test. Every time, all my classmates — some of whom I barely knew — raced to be on a team with me, convinced I would lead them to victory and the ever-important extra credit points, never mind that Review “Jeopardy!” requires very different skills from actual “Jeopardy!”. A win was meaningless because of how I had been used. A loss meant I had let everyone down. Being introduced to people often followed a script: “Hi, this is Aria, and she was on ‘Jeopardy!’” It was cool, until my appearance got further and further in the rearview mirror and I was dying to be known for something else. Anything else. oward the end of my freshman year of high school, I discovered Twitter. It wasn’t long before my curiosity got the better of me and I looked up tweets from the day of my “Jeopardy!” appearance. I had to see what people had said.
“What the hell they got this little girl dressed in?” one tweet said. “Looking like a freeze-dried strawberry?” “Aria looks like Gilbert Gottfried,” read another. And then, sure enough: “This little girl Aria on ‘Jeopardy!’ claps like a seal.” They were supposed to be insults, that much I knew. But here I was, years removed from my 15 minutes of fame, and all I could do was laugh. The mean tweets were ridiculous and overblown, but I could see a kernel of truth in them, and that was all the ammunition I needed to reclaim my identity. I did something I hadn’t been able to for years: rewatch my episode. I found the exact moment that spawned the “claps like a seal” tweet. I made it into a Vine, which I subsequently posted on Twitter. It was my pinned tweet for almost two years. The Vine was a joke, yes. But I didn’t make it to own the haters, at least not really. I made it because it finally gave me control over the narrative. If I was going to be washed up, at least I could make fun of myself for it. nce I got to college, I realized that people didn’t have to know about “Jeopardy!” –– so I didn’t tell them. In Introduction to Psycholog y we played Review “Jeopardy!”. My team was a random group of people who sat near me. We didn’t win and they didn’t care. It was refreshing. When people did find out I had
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been on “Jeopardy!”, it was usually because they’d gone to my Twitter and seen the Vine. We’d laugh about it together, but the pressure was gone, because I was no longer “that girl who was on ‘Jeopardy!’” Instead, I was Aria: Amateur sports writer, Twitter addict, U-M student. “Jeopardy!” was a thing I had done, but as it faded further and further into the past, it became less and less a part of who I was. Maybe getting bylines in a student newspaper isn’t quite as cool as being on a quiz show, but it’s close. It took a surprisingly long time for me to unpin the tweet about clapping like a seal, because it had become as much a part of me as my original appearance on the show. But it was the moment I realized I didn’t need it anymore — that I didn’t have to dwell on the past to find something I was proud of — that I started to feel like maybe I hadn’t peaked after all. Nowadays, my pinned tweet isn’t about “Jeopardy!” It’s about my favorite stories I wrote while covering softball for The Daily. Of course, I haven’t left my quiz show days totally behind. It’s still in my Twitter bio, and sometimes, people still find out, and they ask me about it, the same gamut of questions I’ve gotten for seven years now. But it’s different. “Wait, you were on ‘Jeopardy!’?” they say. “Did you win?” “Nope,” I say. Then I smile and change the subject.
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Courtesy of Aria Gerson
8B
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 // The Statement
V I S UA L S TAT E M E N T:
Where in the world was photo staff? Utah - Ryan McLoughlin
Italy - Alexis Rankin
Indiana State House - Katelyn Mulcahy
Ann Arbor - Max Kuang
Smithsonian Building Museum in D.C. - Prashanth Panicker
New York City - Alec Cohen